Christian Attitudes Toward the Jews in the Middle Ages: A Casebook

Drawing from an equally wide range of sources-sermons, polemical texts, theological treatises, hagiographical and devotional works, and histories-the volume demonstrates the emergence of a profoundly negative image of the Jews that established many of the stereotypes of classic Christian anti-Semitism. The volume, in particular, argues that the essential turning point in relations between Christians and Jews occurred in the eleventh century, especially the early eleventh century when the first wave of persecutions of the Jews took place. Note on non teleological nature of development although the prominent theme explored in this volume is the emergence of the medieval anti-Jewish tradition, several chapters will show that open hostility toward the Jews and the development of negative stereotypes of the Jew were not the only components of Jewish and Christian relations during the High Middle Ages. Indeed, in its investigation into a broad range of secular and theological sources, this volume reveals not onlythe emergence of a Christian anti-Jewish tradition in the Middle Ages but also reveals a more open and positive understanding that some medieval writers had of the Jews and their place in history and society. Like other volumes in the Routledge Medieval Casebooks series, this book will be produced in hardback only, and will be aimed primarily at academic libraries with Medieval Studies, Religion, and Jewish Studies collection