Jews in the Middle Ages

The Early Middle Ages 496-1550 CE

• The Dark Ages500-1000 CEPrimitive living

conditionsWarsMost people

uneducatedJews the exception

• The Renaissance1420-1550 CELearning and art

flourished

For Jews the Middle Ages last until 1791 and the Emancipation by Napoleon of Jews in France

Jews as Merchants

• Jews thrived as merchants– Spoke common language with other Jews– Had connections to Jews throughout

Europe– Served as middlemen between Christians

and Muslims– Could read and write– Often invited by Christian leaders to join

their communities

Jewish Scholars• Rabbi Gershom-10th and 11th century– Jewish scholar and teacher, collected students from

all over Europe– Focused on women’s rights• Monogamy• Divorce only with wife’s consent

• Rashi-11th century– Famous Jewish scholar and teacher– Wrote commentary on the Torah and Talmud– He explained difficult passages in easy to

understand terms– He also wrote many midrashim

Power of the Church

• The church was a powerful force in Medieval Europe

• Popes led armies into battle

• Political as well as religious leaders– Popes ruled a large part of Italy– Could influence other rulers with threats of

excommunication

The Crusades

• In 1095 Pope Urban II called for a crusade to free the Holy Land from Muslims

• Many Christians answered his call

• Decided to kill Jews along the way

• Turned public opinion against the Jews

• There would be a number of crusades over the following 200 years.

Anti-Jewish Laws

• The church and other leaders passed a variety of anti-Jewish laws– Jews must wear a badge– Jews must wear certain clothing– Jews barred from many jobs– Jews and Christians could not live

together

Jew as Moneylender

• Jews forced to become moneylenders; one of the few jobs open to them

• UsuryUsury– Lending money at a high rate of interest

– Christians were not allowed to charge interest for lending money to Christians

– Jews could and did

– Became known as greedy, untrustworthy• The stereotype of the greedy Jew was born

Jewish Persecution•Blood libel

– Jews were accused of using the blood of Christian children to bake matzos.

•Black Plague– Jews were accused of spreading the plague,

poisoning wells

•Desecrating the host (communion wafer)– Jews were accused of kidnapping and torturing the

host

Still More Persecution

• Jews had to defend their religion in public debates or disputations with leading Christians– If Jews won the debates, they were punished,

possibly expelled or killed– If they lost the debates, they were often forced

to convert• Jews had to live in ghettos, separated from

Christian society• Jewish religious books were burned

Expulsions

• Jews were expelled from countries throughout Europe, including France, Germany, England, Portugal, and Spain

• Where they remained they were isolated into ghettos and shtetls where they had their own communities apart from the Christians but were still at their mercy