Toward a definition of antisemitism / Gavin I. Langmuir.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Langmuir, Gavin I.

Contributor:

American Council of Learned Societies.

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Antisemitism.

Christianity and antisemitism.

Jews--Legal status, laws, etc--France.

Jews.

Blood accusation.

Antisemitism--Legal status, laws, etc--France.

France--Ethnic relations.

France.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 417 p. )

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 1996, c1990.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Toward a Definition of Antisemitism offers new contributions by Gavin I. Langmuir to the history of antisemitism, together with some that have been published separately. The collection makes Langmuir's innovative work on the subject available to scholars in medieval and Jewish history and religious studies. The underlying question that unites the book is: what is antisemitism, where and when did it emerge, and why? After two chapters that highlight the failure of historians until recently to depict Jews and attitudes toward them fairly, the majority of the chapters are historical studies of crucial developments in the legal status of Jews and in beliefs about them during the Middle Ages. Two concluding chapters provide an overview. In the first, the author summarizes the historical developments, indicating concretely when and where antisemitism as he defines it emerged. In the second, Langmuir criticizes recent theories about prejudice and racism and develops his own general theory about the nature and dynamics of antisemitism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Part 1. Historiography

1. Majority History and Postbiblical Jews

2. Tradition, History, and Prejudice

Part 2. Anti-Judaism

3. Anti-Judaism as the Necessary Preparation for Antisemitism

4. The Transformation of Anti-Judaism

5. Doubt in Christendom

Part 3. Jewish Legal Status

6. "Judei Nostri" and the Beginning of Capetian Legislation

7. "Tanquam Servi": The Change in Jewish Status in French Law about 1200

Part 4. Irrational Fantasies

8. Peter the Venerable: Defense Against Doubts

9. Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder

10. The Knight's Tale of Young Hugh of Lincoln

11. Ritual Cannibalism

12. Historiographie Crucifixion

Part 5. Antisemitism

13. Medieval Antisemitism

14. Toward a Definition of Antisemitism

Abbreviations

Notes

Acknowledgments

General Index

Index of Secondary Authors

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-400) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780520908512

9780585181509

0585181500

OCLC:

1419788512

Publisher Number:

2027/heb06460 hdl