Reassessing Jewish life in Medieval Europe / Robert Chazan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chazan, Robert, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Europe, Western--History--To 1500.

Jews.

Christianity and other religions--Judaism--History.

Christianity and other religions.

Judaism--Relations--Christianity--History.

Judaism.

Europe, Western--Ethnic relations.

Europe, Western.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 270 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Prologue: group narratives: their tenacity and their accuracy

Introduction: the emergence of medieval European Jewry

The Jewish middle age: the Jewish view

The Jewish middle age: the Christian view

The European middle ages

The European Jewish middle ages

Demographic movement and change

Economic activity

Status

Relocations within the Christian populace

Identity

Epilogue: the medieval roots of modern Jewish life: destructive aftermath and constructive legacies.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-511-86157-5

1-107-21698-2

1-282-94200-X

9786612942006

0-511-77890-2

0-511-85983-X

0-511-85896-5

0-511-86070-6

0-511-85809-4

0-511-85722-5

OCLC:

694342141