Reference
- Jews in FranceIndividual Jews have lived in the geographic area that is now the republic of France since the first century CE. However, it was not until the fifth century that a significant community appeared. Although the church produced anti-Jewish legislation, it was somewhat ineffective, and the Jews were able to participate in the economy and even to pursue agriculture. In the sixth century a synagogue was built on the Île de la Cité, in what is now Paris, and a Jewish community thrived there. By the 11th century the Jewish community was producing important Jewish scholarship. The most outstanding figure was Rashi, whose biblical commentary is often the first source consulted when studying Torah, and whose frequent use of Old French words has made him an important linguistic source for students of that language...
- Jews in SpainBetween the sixth century and the early eighth century, significant Jewish communities lived under Visigoth rule. The Visigoths became Christian in the year 587. Over the next century the Jews experienced forced conversion and expulsion, and also at times tolerance. Some Spanish kings tried to forcibly convert the Jews to Christianity while others wanted the Jews to convert according to their own hearts. Some Jews converted and then returned to Judaism when a more tolerant king rose to power; still others left Spain only to return when a more tolerant king emerged.
The fourth Council of Toledo in the year 633 accepted the church doctrine that the Jews were not to be baptized by force. However, King Erwig (680–687) convened the 12th Council of Toledo to get permission to force baptism on the Jews; but he failed to get full support from the church or from his nobles, who depended upon the economic service of the Jews. Erwig's successor, Egica (687–702), took a different approach, offering financial benefits to converts and ensuring the impoverishment of those who remained Jewish. Egica then accused these Jews of treasonously supporting a Muslim invasion, and he enslaved those who did not escape. Thus, when the Muslims finally did invade in the year 711, there were no openly practicing Jews left... - Judaism in EnglandIndividual Jews may have lived in England from the Roman conquest, but it was the Norman Conquest of William the Conqueror in 1066 CE that brought the first notable Jewish community to the island. A significant number of Jews migrated from France, along with smaller numbers from Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Muslim areas. They built a Jewish community that by the mid 12th century had spread throughout England's cities, including York, Lincoln, Oxford, Winchester, Norwich, Bristol, and most important, London, which had the only Jewish cemetery. A larger Jewish population brought with it unprecedented levels of anti-Jewish sentiment. Violent incidents of blood libel, in which Jews were accused of using the blood of Christians to bake their matzah for Passover, cropped up in Norwich in 1144, Gloucester in 1168, Bury St. Edmunds in 1181, Bristol in 1183, and Winchester in 1192. English Jewry also suffered violence at the hands of the crusaders. Many survived only by the protection of the Crown, conversion, or good luck...
- TURKEY, JEWS OFFrom medieval times well into the twentieth century, Hebrew writers referred to the Turkish lands by the biblical name Togarmah. Togar and his brothers Ashkenaz and Riphat were sons of Gomer, grandsons of Japheth (Gen. 10:3). The people of Togarmah—Togar's descendants—were renowned horsemen and horse traders (Ezek. 27:14) and were associated with the Turks.
When the Ottomans captured the city of Bursa in 1324, Sultan Orhan granted the Jews of the city permission to build a new synagogue—the famous Etz Ha'Ḥaim (Tree of Life) synagogue, which was active in Bursa until the last quarter of the twentieth century. When Sultan Mehmet II took over Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, he transferred subjects from other areas of his kingdom to Constantinople, in order to populate the newly conquered city. Thus, the size of Jewish communities outside Constantinople was reduced, only to dramatically increase with the arrival of vast numbers of Jewish exiles from Spain. Constantinople, too, had a special name in Jewish writings: It was called Coshtandina, abbreviated as Coshta—the Aramaic word for “truth” and the name of a legendary city of truth-speakers (b. Sanhedrin 11a)...
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Christians and Jews under the Porte
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Under the Ottomans, Christian and Jewish subjects were classified as dhimmi ("people of the book") and were afford legal protection and the right to practice their faith. Explore daily life in some of the Christian and Jewish communities (millet) scattered across the empire.
Online Resources
- Anti-Semitism in medieval EuropeReligious attitudes were reflected in the economic, social, and political life of medieval Europe. In much of Europe during the Middle Ages, Jews were denied citizenship and its rights, barred from holding posts in government and the military, and excluded from membership in guilds and the professions...
- Debunking the myth of “elite Jews” in medieval EuropeCenturies of anti-Semitism have perpetuated stereotypes about Jewish people and financial success. These stereotypes are so strong that they often get projected farther and farther back into the past, as if they were timeless descriptions of Jews.
Based on present-day stereotypes, Jews are sometimes believed to have been elite financial professionals and merchants throughout history. But Jews in medieval times were not categorically the exceptional financiers and traders these myths suggest... - Jews and the Arts in Medieval EuropeSurviving works of art provide inadequate testament to the importance of the Jewish community of Europe in the Middle Ages. While always a minority population, and despite recurring, intense persecution and exile, Jews throughout Europe made key contributions to the intellectual life, art, science, and commerce of medieval and Renaissance Europe. Jews served as both patrons and artists, and the art that does survive reveals awareness by Jews of the artistic currents of the day and regular interaction with the majority Christian or Muslim (in the case of Spain) community.
- Medieval Jewish History - Resource DirectoryExplore a listing of resources online about medieval Jewish history.
The Jews in 1215 and Beyond
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowContinue your study of the Jewish experience in medieval Europe. Examine the aftermath of 1215 and the Fourth Lateran Council's insistence on Christian dominance. In the 13th century, institutional persecution began trickling down to the masses, leading to blood libel accusations, among other abominations.
Jewish Persecution during the Black Death
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowExamine the history of anti-Semitism in medieval Europe and the unfolding of conspiracy theories during the plague that Jews were poisoning the Christian population. Witness how anti-Semitic hysteria led to horrific violence and the execution of Jewish populations, even as both Christian and secular leaders attempted to quell such actions.
Perspectives
Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe : the historiographical legacy of Bernhard Blumenkranz
The name of Bernhard Blumenkranz is well known to all those who study the history of European Jews in the Middle Ages and in particular the history of Jewish-Christian relations. Blumenkranz was born in Vienna in 1913; he left for Switzerland during the war and obtained a doctorate at the University of Basel on the portrayal of Jews in the works of Augustine. He subsequently moved to France where his numerous publications revived and renovated the field of Jewish studies. The international group of scholars who wrote the fifteen essays in this volume, beyond paying homage to Blumenkranz's work, trace the trajectories of various lines of inquiry that he initiated: Christian theology of Judaism, problems of conversion and proselytism, geography and topography of Medieval Jewish communities, the representation of Jews in Christian art. These essays provide both an assessment of Blumenkranz's intellectual legacy and a snapshot of the evolution of the field over the last sixty years.
Living Together, Living Apart
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.
Colonial Justice and the Jews of Venetian Crete
When Venice conquered Crete in the early thirteenth century, a significant population of Jews lived in the capital and main port city of Candia. This community grew, diversified, and flourished both culturally and economically throughout the period of Venetian rule, and although it adhered to traditional Jewish ways of life, the community also readily engaged with the broader population and the island's Venetian colonial government. In Colonial Justice and the Jews of Venetian Crete, Rena N. Lauer tells the story of this unusual and little-known community through the lens of its flexible use of the legal systems at its disposal. Grounding the book in richly detailed studies of individuals and judicial cases--concerning matters as prosaic as taxation and as dramatic as bigamy and murder--Lauer brings the Jews of Candia vibrantly to life. Despite general rabbinic disapproval of such behavior elsewhere in medieval Europe, Crete's Jews regularly turned not only to their own religious courts but also to the secular Venetian judicial system. There they aired disputes between family members, business partners, spouses, and even the leaders of their community. And with their use of secular justice as both symptom and cause, Lauer contends, Crete's Jews grew more open and flexible, confident in their identity and experiencing little of the anti-Judaism increasingly suffered by their coreligionists in Western Europe.
The Sephardim: Iberian Judaism
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowFollow the changing fortunes of the Jewish people on Spanish soil, beginning with how they arrived in Spain, and how they prospered under Roman rule. Trace repression of Jews under the Visigoths, and how Jewish scholarship and poetic art thrived in Muslim Spain. Then witness the trials of Jews under subsequent Christian rule, leading to the 15th century exodus of many Jews from Spain.