The Jew in the Medieval World

The Jew in the Medieval World
Author: Jacob R. Marcus
Publsiher: Hebrew Union College Press
Total Pages: 603
Release: 1999-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780878201761

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To gain an accurate view of medieval Judaism, one must look through the eyes of Jews and their contemporaries. First published in 1938, Jacob Rader Marcus's classic source book on medieval Judaism provides the documents and historical narratives which let the actors and witnesses of events speak for themselves. The medieval epoch in Jewish history begins around the year 315, when the emperor Constantine began enacting disabling laws against the Jews, rendering them second-class citizens. In the centuries following, Jews enjoyed (or suffered under) legislation, either chosen or forced by the state, which differed from the laws for the Christian and Muslim masses. Most states saw the Jews as simply a tolerated group, even when given favorable privileges. The masses often disliked them. Medieval Jewish history presents a picture wherein large patches are characterized by political and social disabilities. Marcus closes the medieval Jewish age (for Western Jewry) in 1791 with the proclamation of political and civil emancipation in France. The 137 sources included in the anthology include historical narratives, codes, legal opinions, martyrologies, memoirs, polemics, epitaphs, advertisements, folk-tales, ethical and pedagogical writings, book prefaces and colophons, commentaries, and communal statutes. These documents are organized in three sections: The first treats the relation of the State to the Jew and reflects the civil and political status of the Jew in the medieval setting. The second deals with the profound influence exerted by the Catholic and Protestant churches on Jewish life and well-being. The final section presents a study of the Jew "at home," with four sub-divisions with treat the life of the medieval Jew in its various aspects. Marcus presents the texts themselves, introductions, and lucid notes. Marc Saperstein offers a new introduction and updated bibliography.

The Jew in the Medieval World

The Jew in the Medieval World
Author: Jacob Rader Marcus
Publsiher: Unknown
Total Pages: 532
Release: 1972
Genre: Jews
ISBN: PSU:000001741414

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The Jew in the Medieval World

The Jew in the Medieval World
Author: Jacob Rader Marcus
Publsiher: Unknown
Total Pages: 504
Release: 1975
Genre: Jews
ISBN: OCLC:642251243

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The Jew in the Medieval World

The Jew in the Medieval World
Author: Jacob Rader Marcus
Publsiher: Unknown
Total Pages: 540
Release: 1938
Genre: Jews
ISBN: STANFORD:36105000244421

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The Jew in the Medieval World

The Jew in the Medieval World
Author: Jacob R. Marcus
Publsiher: Hebrew Union College Press
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2000-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 081432892X

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First published in 1938, this sourcebook presents 137 documents that deal with individual Jews and the Jewish community during the Jewish Middle Ages. It offers a sweeping view of Jewish historical experience from late antiquity until modern times, with introductions and annotations to make these sources accessible to the modern reader.

Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe

Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe
Author: Robert Chazan
Publsiher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2010-09-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781139493048

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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.

Cultural Exchange

Cultural Exchange
Author: Joseph Shatzmiller
Publsiher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2017-05-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780691176185

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Demonstrating that similarities between Jewish and Christian art in the Middle Ages were more than coincidental, Cultural Exchange meticulously combines a wide range of sources to show how Jews and Christians exchanged artistic and material culture. Joseph Shatzmiller focuses on communities in northern Europe, Iberia, and other Mediterranean societies where Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries, and he synthesizes the most current research to describe the daily encounters that enabled both societies to appreciate common artistic values. Detailing the transmission of cultural sensibilities in the medieval money market and the world of Jewish money lenders, this book examines objects pawned by peasants and humble citizens, sacred relics exchanged by the clergy as security for loans, and aesthetic goods given up by the Christian well-to-do who required financial assistance. The work also explores frescoes and decorations likely painted by non-Jews in medieval and early modern Jewish homes located in Germanic lands, and the ways in which Jews hired Christian artists and craftsmen to decorate Hebrew prayer books and create liturgical objects. Conversely, Christians frequently hired Jewish craftsmen to produce liturgical objects used in Christian churches. With rich archival documentation, Cultural Exchange sheds light on the social and economic history of the creation of Jewish and Christian art, and expands the general understanding of cultural exchange in brand-new ways.

The Myth of the Medieval Jewish Moneylender

The Myth of the Medieval Jewish Moneylender
Author: Julie L. Mell
Publsiher: Springer
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2017-10-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781137397782

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This book challenges a common historical narrative, which portrays medieval Jews as moneylenders who filled an essential economic role in Europe. It traces how and why this narrative was constructed as a philosemitic narrative in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in response to the rise of political antisemitism. This book also documents why it is a myth for medieval Europe, and illuminates how changes in Jewish history change our understanding of European history. Each chapter offers a novel interpretation of central topics, such as the usury debate, commercial contracts, and moral literature on money and value to demonstrate how the revision of Jewish history leads to new insights in European history.