Anti-Semitism and Isamophobia Flashcards
At a high level, what could be argued about the nature of the difference between hatred and threat when it comes to Jews and Muslims?
Delineate hatred from threat – anti-semitism was fuelled by hatred of the Jew through Biblical teaching, Muslims posed a more apparent threat.
Matteoni: Why is blood so important to Jews and Christians?
Blood is powerful as it comes from God.
Whereas blood unites the Christian individual to the eternity of the soul, it detached Jews from God.
Matteoni: What is it that the Talmud condemns?
The consumption of blood - “At the head of all diseases stand I, the blood, at the head of all remedies stand I, the wine”
Matteoni: What papal dispensations illustrate the absurdity of the accusation of blood libel?
Constitutio pro Judeis, issued by Calixtus II in 1120, and then reinforced by Innocent IV and Gregory X.
Matteoni
Who explained the importance of the mysterious and horrific construct of Jewish murders as a means to justify the persecution of Jews?
Menhasseh ben Israel
Matteoni
What relation did the Jews have to transubstantiation?
Matteoni
Although the Jews had nothing to do with transubstantiation, as pressed by Trachtenberg,
Matteoni
What economic dimension was added to the body and blood aspect of the imagination of the Jewish construct?
Matteoni
As Hsia has noted, economic welfare was equally an important matter during the period. Money to some extent played the same role as blood in society - Jewish usury and moneylending was seen to taint the money supply
Matteoni
What are the dimenions that must be considered in the analysis of blood libel in later medieval society?
Matteoni
The blood libel legend was constructed from ethnical, religious and economical motifs, the ultimate reality of which was based on the emotional world of the people involved.
Matteoni
Why was the blood of a Christian child seen as especially important to Christians (and apparently Jews?)
Matteoni
The blood of a Christian child had been cleansed of original sin, and had not yet been contaminated by the many other sins the imperfect human being commits in the course of life.
Matteoni
What contributed to the ferocious blood-thirst of the Jew?
Matteoni
The dehumanised physical image of the Jew was thought to have led to his ferocious blood-thirst
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
Where did Jews appear in the early middle ages?
Abulafia
Jewish communities sprang up around the new centres of commerce that emerged in southern Italy in the early Middle Ages: at Salerno, Amal, and so on, and a Jew of Salerno was, according to legend, involved in founding the famous medical school of Salerno
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
What did the Sicilian Jew specialise in?
Abulafia
Luxury trade - among notable imports were dyes, brazilwood, lapis lazuli, silk
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
What was an important feature of the Sicilian Jewish community?
Abulafia
The important feature of the trade of the Sicilian Jews in the Islamic and early Norman period is the fluidity of the community itself; Spanish and Egyptian Jews would come to settle in Palermo, buying houses, marrying, and making business deals.
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
How did the coming of the Normans undermine the Jewish merchant?
Abulafia
Christian hegemony over the Mediterranean and victories against Islam in Sicily and the Holy Land brought Genoa, Pisa, and Venice saw mastery over the spice trade and over the trade routes past Sicily.
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
Despite undermining their trade, what could be said of the relationship of Jews and Normans?
Abulafia
Normans had no difficulty in accepting that the Jews were part of the fabric of local society. Normans and Jews even converged: one of the more colourful figures was the son of a Norman knight, Obadiah the Proselyte, who brought with him, and adapted to Hebrew use, the church music with which he was familiar.
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
Nevertheless, as time passed, how did Jews change in the popular imagination, by the 1220s (under Frederick II?)
Abulafia
Jews were classed alongside prostitutes as a group of outcasts who threatened to contaminate those Christians with whom they had contact: each group must be made visible in its costume (male Jews must sport beards); and where appropriate they must be physically segregated from the mass of Christians.
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
What was Frederick II’s position on Jews?
Abulafia
Frederick protected Jews - emphasising that Jews and Muslims posessed the same right to intiate legal proceedings as anyone else.
By 1237, Jews were defined as servi camere - servants of the royal chamber - which indicated they were the possession of the ruler, but that the ruler would protect them and expected them to be treated fairly.
This terminology was also applied to the Muslms of Sicily and Lucera
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
Where was the oldest and most consistent Jewish population settled?
Abulafia
Rome.
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
On what two levels did the relationship between the Pope and the Jews of Rome exist?
Abulafia
- As lord of the city - the pope might claim vexatious special taxes from Jews - as Boniface VIII did in 1295
- As Head of the Catholic Church - The pope presided over the fourth lateran council 1215, which legislated generally concerning Jews - demanded them to wear Jewish badges, preventing the marriage of Jewish and non-Jewish individuals.
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
What did Frederick III accelerate vis-a-vis Jews?
Abulafia
- Jews were not to eat with Christians
- Jews were not to possess Christian slaves or servants
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
Despite the harsher ruling of Frederick III, how might we check the assumptions of hostility towards Jews
Abulafia
- The thinking of royal courts in Naples and Sicily indicate softer treatment. At Erice in Western Sicily, Jews and Christians lived side-by-side on good terms; with Jews even making internsive use of a Christian notary.
- Anti-Jewish sentiment in the earlier part of the period came from above - it was only the late fourteenth and fifteenth century that it came from below as well
- The decline of relations may be linked to the late spread of moneylending activities among the Jews of the Italian south in the 15th century.
Abulafia, D., Italy in the Central Middle Ages
What must be remembered when considering Italy in our analysis?
Abulafia
- There was not one but many Italies, and in the historiography, it is clear that many did not look very Italian.
Abulafia, D., Mediterranean Encounters
What was Frederick II branded during the crusades?
Abulafia
- A friend of Islam - also critiqued for supporting the Jews of Germany.
- This is ironic - Frederick imposed discriminatory legislation on the Sicilian Jews and who helped launch the Teutonic Knights on their war of conquest and conversion in the pagan lands of Eastern Europe.
Abulafia, D., Mediterranean Encounters
Why was Frederick II moderate?
Abulafia
- part of an established western tradition of toleration (rather than tolerance), which had its roots in the theology of Saint Augustine and in the verdicts of the canon lawyers.