Antisemitism In The Middle Ages

For as long as there have been Jews, there has been anti-Jewish rhetoric and action, but the Jews have continued to forge on through decades upon decades of antisemitism in every form imaginable. When one hears the word “antisemitism,” one may picture a mustached German dictator and concentration camps. Antisemitism did not start in Germany. Its twentieth-century roots started far earlier, in a way that is likely far different than imagined. Regardless of the century, antisemitism takes shape as a clear chain of events that start apparently harmless but can turn deadly quickly. Antisemitism in the Middle Ages is an example of how discrimination progresses, starting with rumors and lies that manifest themselves in public sentiments, sentiments
The most commonplace forms of antisemitism in the Middle Ages were lies spread about the Jews and acts of public humiliation, all centered on the idea of Jews as Christ-killers. The concept of Jews as Christ-killers originated in the fourth century, but the dim roar of this accusation became a steady outcry in the Middle Ages (Flinn). In 1205, Pope Innocent III gave a rousing testimony, decreeing that Jews were slaves rejected by God and were to blame for the troubles in Christ’s life, as well as his painful death (Flinn). The Gospel of Matthew is often cited as one of the main justifications of Jewish oppression because of its tendency to “present all the different Jewish groups as one homogenized, united force against Jesus and to insidiously exaggerate the conflict between Jesus and Jewish leaders” (Marendry 292). The fear of suffering a similar fate to their savior fueled Jewish persecution by Christians. Jewish doctors were often accused of murdering their Christian patients (Roth, “Dangers” 192), a lie perpetuated during the outbreak of the bubonic plague, referred to as the Black Death. Because Jews tended to have better personal hygiene than their Christian counterparts, when the Black Death spread
King Edward I expelled Jews from England in 1290 (Flinn 5). The majority of those affected resettled in France and Germany (Roth, “Defining” 4). French Jews had their own set of problems, however. Just over a century earlier, around 1180, French King Philip II demanded large sums of money from Jews, and despite many paying their fines, they were briefly expelled from the royal domain surrounding Paris (Roth, “Dangers” 182). Later, France’s King Louis IX ordered the burning of the Talmud, the holy Jewish text containing the Torah and the oral rabbinical law, in 1240. (Roth, “Dangers” 182). Louis IX also stated that “one should never dispute with a Jew but rather run him through with a sword,” demonstrating his intolerance towards Jews (Roth, “Dangers” 182). To the French public, it appeared their kind had sanctioned hateful words and actions. Despite all of these attacks and expulsions, the Jews repeatedly returned to France–a testimony to the Jewish people’s perseverance. Meanwhile, during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Sephardic Jews, Jews from Spain, (Roth, “Defining” 4) were forcibly converted or expelled, but those expelled were able to find refuge in Amsterdam, Prague, Poland, and Brazil (Flinn 5). There were many smaller expulsions throughout Spain in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but in 1492, the