Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe

Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe PDF Author: Robert Chazan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139493043
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
This book re-evaluates the prevailing notion that Jews in medieval Christian Europe lived under an appalling regime of ecclesiastical limitation, governmental exploitation and expropriation, and unceasing popular violence. Robert Chazan argues that, while Jewish life in medieval Western Christendom was indeed beset with grave difficulties, it was nevertheless an environment rich in opportunities; the Jews of medieval Europe overcame obstacles, grew in number, explored innovative economic options, and fashioned enduring new forms of Jewish living. His research also provides a reconsideration of the legacy of medieval Jewish life, which is often depicted as equally destructive and projected as the underpinning of the twentieth-century catastrophes of antisemitism and the Holocaust. Dr Chazan's research proves that, although Jewish life in the medieval West laid the foundation for much Jewish suffering in the post-medieval world, it also stimulated considerable Jewish ingenuity, which lies at the root of impressive Jewish successes in the modern West.

Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe

Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe PDF Author: Robert Chazan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139493043
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 291

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book re-evaluates the prevailing notion that Jews in medieval Christian Europe lived under an appalling regime of ecclesiastical limitation, governmental exploitation and expropriation, and unceasing popular violence. Robert Chazan argues that, while Jewish life in medieval Western Christendom was indeed beset with grave difficulties, it was nevertheless an environment rich in opportunities; the Jews of medieval Europe overcame obstacles, grew in number, explored innovative economic options, and fashioned enduring new forms of Jewish living. His research also provides a reconsideration of the legacy of medieval Jewish life, which is often depicted as equally destructive and projected as the underpinning of the twentieth-century catastrophes of antisemitism and the Holocaust. Dr Chazan's research proves that, although Jewish life in the medieval West laid the foundation for much Jewish suffering in the post-medieval world, it also stimulated considerable Jewish ingenuity, which lies at the root of impressive Jewish successes in the modern West.

The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom

The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom PDF Author: Robert Chazan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139459872
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
Between the years AD 1000 and 1500, western Christendom absorbed by conquest and attracted through immigration a growing number of Jews. This community was to make a valuable contribution to rapidly developing European civilisation but was also to suffer some terrible setbacks, culminating in a series of expulsions from the more advanced westerly areas of Europe. At the same time, vigorous new branches of world Jewry emerged and a rich new Jewish cultural legacy was created. In this important historical synthesis, Robert Chazan discusses the Jewish experience over a 500 year period across the entire continent of Europe. As well as being the story of medieval Jewry, the book simultaneously illuminates important aspects of majority life in Europe during this period. This book is essential reading for all students of medieval Jewish history and an important reference for any scholar of medieval Europe.

Living Together, Living Apart

Living Together, Living Apart PDF Author: Jonathan Elukin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691162069
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
This book challenges the standard conception of the Middle Ages as a time of persecution for Jews. Jonathan Elukin traces the experience of Jews in Europe from late antiquity through the Renaissance and Reformation, revealing how the pluralism of medieval society allowed Jews to feel part of their local communities despite recurrent expressions of hatred against them. Elukin shows that Jews and Christians coexisted more or less peacefully for much of the Middle Ages, and that the violence directed at Jews was largely isolated and did not undermine their participation in the daily rhythms of European society. The extraordinary picture that emerges is one of Jews living comfortably among their Christian neighbors, working with Christians, and occasionally cultivating lasting friendships even as Christian culture often demonized Jews. As Elukin makes clear, the expulsions of Jews from England, France, Spain, and elsewhere were not the inevitable culmination of persecution, but arose from the religious and political expediencies of particular rulers. He demonstrates that the history of successful Jewish-Christian interaction in the Middle Ages in fact laid the social foundations that gave rise to the Jewish communities of modern Europe. Elukin compels us to rethink our assumptions about this fascinating period in history, offering us a new lens through which to appreciate the rich complexities of the Jewish experience in medieval Christendom.

Under Crescent and Cross

Under Crescent and Cross PDF Author: Mark R. Cohen
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691010823
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
On the Jews in the Middle ages

The Murder of William of Norwich

The Murder of William of Norwich PDF Author: E. M. Rose
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190219629
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
In 1144, the mutilated body of William of Norwich, a young apprentice leatherworker, was found abandoned outside the city's walls. The boy bore disturbing signs of torture, and a story spread that it was a ritual murder, performed by Jews in imitation of the Crucifixion as a mockery of Christianity. The outline of William's tale eventually gained currency far beyond Norwich, and the idea that Jews engaged in ritual murder became firmly rooted in the European imagination. E.M. Rose's engaging book delves into the story of William's murder and the notorious trial that followed to uncover the origin of the ritual murder accusation - known as the "blood libel" - in western Europe in the Middle Ages. Focusing on the specific historical context - 12th-century ecclesiastical politics, the position of Jews in England, the Second Crusade, and the cult of saints - and suspensefully unraveling the facts of the case, Rose makes a powerful argument for why the Norwich Jews (and particularly one Jewish banker) were accused of killing the youth, and how the malevolent blood libel accusation managed to take hold. She also considers four "copycat" cases, in which Jews were similarly blamed for the death of young Christians, and traces the adaptations of the story over time. In the centuries after its appearance, the ritual murder accusation provoked instances of torture, death and expulsion of thousands of Jews and the extermination of hundreds of communities. Although no charge of ritual murder has withstood historical scrutiny, the concept of the blood libel is so emotionally charged and deeply rooted in cultural memory that it endures even today. Rose's groundbreaking work, driven by fascinating characters, a gripping narrative, and impressive scholarship, provides clear answers as to why the blood libel emerged when it did and how it was able to gain such widespread acceptance, laying the foundations for enduring antisemitic myths that continue to present.

The Jews in Medieval Normandy

The Jews in Medieval Normandy PDF Author: Norman Golb
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521580328
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 668

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Book Description
This 1998 book is a comprehensive account of the high Hebraic culture developed by the Jews in Normandy during the Middle Ages, and in particular during the Anglo-Norman period. This culture has remained virtually unknown to the public and to the scholarly world throughout modern times, until a combination of recent manuscript discoveries and archaeological findings delineated this phenomenon for the first time. The book explores the origins of this remarkable community, beginning with topographical evidence pointing to the arrival of the Jews in Normandy as early as Roman and Gallo-Roman times, through autograph documentary testimony available in the Cairo Genizah manuscripts and early medieval Latin sources, finally using the rich manuscript evidence of twelfth- and early thirteenth-century writers which attest to the high cultural level attained by this community and to its social and political interaction with the Christian world of Anglo-Norman times and their aftermath.

Leadership and Conflict

Leadership and Conflict PDF Author: Marc Saperstein
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1789627834
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
A multifaceted analysis of how Jewish leaders in medieval and early modern times responded to the challenges they faced. Based largely on the study of sermons and responsa—genres that show Jewish leaders addressing real situations in the lives of their people—it reveals how rabbis have handled intellectual, social, and political diversity and conflict in various vibrant Jewish communities.

Jewish People, Jewish Thought

Jewish People, Jewish Thought PDF Author: Robert M. Seltzer
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 9780024089403
Category : Judaism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This classic survey of the main features of the Jewish historical landscape exposes students to the rich scholarly literature on Jewish history, theology, philosophy, mysticism, and social thought that has been produced in the last century and a half. It shows Judaism as a creative response to ultimate issues of human concern by members of a group that has faced a unique concatenation of political, economic, and geographical circumstances. -- From product description.

From Anti-Judaism to Anti-Semitism

From Anti-Judaism to Anti-Semitism PDF Author: Robert Chazan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107152461
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
This book traces the hardening of Christian attitudes to Jews, Judiasm and their history during the second half of the Middle Ages.

Sea of the Caliphs

Sea of the Caliphs PDF Author: Christophe Picard
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674660463
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 411

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Book Description
Christophe Picard recounts the adventures of Muslim sailors who competed with Greek and Latin seamen for control of the 7th-century Mediterranean. By the time Christian powers took over trade routes in the 13th century, a Muslim identity that operated within, and in opposition to, Europe had been shaped by encounters across the sea of the caliphs.