Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe

by Robert Chazan

• ISBN13: 9780521145435
• ISBN10: 0521145430
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-27
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book reevaluates 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.

Author Biography

Robert Chazan is S. H. and Helen R. Scheuer Professor of Jewish History in the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. His most recent books are God, Humanity, and History: The Hebrew First Crusade Narratives (2000), Fashioning Jewish Identity in Medieval Western Christendom (Cambridge, 2004), and The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom (Cambridge, 2006).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Prologue: Group Narratives: Their Tenacity and Their Accuracy	p. ix
Introduction: The Emergence of Medieval European Jewry	p. 1
Historical Schemes
The Jewish Middle Age: The Jewish View	p. 19
The Jewish Middle Age: The Christian View	p. 38
The European Middle Ages	p. 52
The European Jewish Middle Ages	p. 64
Historical Themes
Demographic Movement and Change	p. 85
The Wandering Jew	p. 86
Forced Dislocation	p. 90
Voluntary Migrations	p. 100
Economic Activity	p. 107
Shylock	p. 108
Limited Economic Outlets	p. 112
Economic Pioneers	p. 128
Status	p. 133
The Elder Shall Serve the Younger	p. 133
Jewish Servitude and Serfdom	p. 142
Jewish Rights and Utility	p. 150
Relations with the Christian Populace	p. 158
You Shall Be Constantly Abused and Robbed	p. 159
Popular Animosity and Violence	p. 163
Normal Human Relations	p. 182
Identity	p. 193
A People Dwelling Apart	p. 195
Challenges to Jewish Identity	p. 200
Reinforcement of Jewish Identity	p. 211
Epilogue: The Medieval Roots of Modern Jewish Life: Destructive Aftermath and Constructive Legacies	p. 222
Destructive Aftermath	p. 227
Constructive Legacies	p. 236
Concluding Remarks	p. 247
Bibliography	p. 253
Index	p. 261
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.