Jews and the Crusades
The Crusades were never called against Jews; they were called against Muslims. There was a group of Crusaders for whom the unstable combination implodes. Prof. Robert Chazan, New York University
Medieval Christendom
Seal-stamp for unleavened bread, 14th century Catalonia
Gilded metal, 14th century, Catalonia (copy of the original in the Museum of l’Espluga de Francolí). Bears an inscription in Hebrew meaning “For seven days eat matzot in peace.” To be considered suitable for consumption on Passover by the Jewish community, matzot had to be marked with special seals like this one.
King James I of Aragon
James I, byname James The Conqueror, Spanish Jaime El Conquistador (born Feb. 2, 1208, Montpellier, County of Toulouse—died July 27, 1276, Valencia, Valencia), the most renowned of the medieval kings of Aragon (1213–76), who added the Balearic Islands and Valencia to his realm and thus initiated the Catalan-Aragonese expansion in the Mediterranean that was to […]
Pope Alexander II
From The Lives and Times of the Popes by Chevalier Artaud de Montor, New York: The Catholic Publication Society of America, 1911 (originally published in 1842).
Pope Gregory IX
1511, Fresco, Stanza della Segnatura, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican The four Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms) form a suite of reception rooms in the public part of the papal apartments in the Palace of the Vatican. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop.
Overview: The Church and the Jews
The period between 1000 and 1500 was characterized, above all else, by the creation of a significant Jewish presence in medieval western Christendom, forcing both the Christian majority and the Jewish minority to new awareness of and interaction with one another. Rapidly developing western Christendom consisted of sprawling and diverse territories, housing a wide variety of ethnic, linguistic, and […]
R. Moses ben Nahman (Nahmanides- Ramban), EJ 12:774-782.
NAHMANIDES (Moses b. Nahman, also known as Nahamani and RaMBaN– an acronym of Rabbi Moses Ben Nahman; 1194–1270), Spanish rabbi and scholar and one of the leading authors of talmudic literature in the Middle Ages; philosopher, kabbalist, biblical exegete, poet, and physician. Nahmanides was born in Gerona, Catalonia, and it was after his native town […]
Introduction: Philosophic Speculation
Jewish philosophic speculation represented yet another effort to reach a deeper understanding of Jewish texts and traditions. Unlike mystical speculation, philosophic speculation began with a distinct external challenge. As the fruits of Greek and Roman scientific and philosophic thought began to surface, first in the Muslim world and eventually in western Christendom, some Muslim, Christian, […]
Rabbinic Creativity
Medieval W. Christendom Introduction Introduction- Rabbinic Creativity Images Illuminated Page from Thirteenth-Century German Mishneh Torah Manuscript Illuminated Page from Fifteenth-Century Portuguese Mishneh Torah Manuscript Rabbi Zedekiah ben Abrahamha-Rofe, Shibbolei Ha-Leket Illuminated Page from Fifteenth-Century Italian Arba`ah Turim, Yorah De`ah Manuscript Illuminated Page from Fifteenth-Century Italian Arba`ah Turim Even ha-`Ezer Manuscript Illuminated Page from Fifteenth-Century Italian […]
Overview: Jewish Responses to Spiritual Challenges
Meeting material challenges in a rapidly changing environment constituted the first priority for the Jews of medieval western Christendom, one they accomplished by and large effectively. At the same time, these Jews encountered major challenges in the cultural and spiritual spheres, again in a rapidly changing and creative majority ambiance. For the Jews of medieval western Christendom, the intellectual […]