Books > Christianity > Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church
|
Buy Now
Marks of Distinction - Christian Perceptions of Jews in the High Middle Ages (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R2,165
Discovery Miles 21 650
You Save: R197
(8%)
|
|
Marks of Distinction - Christian Perceptions of Jews in the High Middle Ages (Hardcover)
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
|
For medieval Latin Christendom, authoritative texts such as the
Bible and the writings of the Fathers of the Church provided a
skeleton that gave form to Christian perceptions of Jews and
Judaism. Eye-witness testimony, hearsay, reports of converts from
Judaism, and the testimony of dreams, visions, and miraculous
events helped fill in the body with concrete detail. In this newest
work, renowned author and scholar Irven Resnick explores the
additional support drawn from medieval science. Resnick presents a
captivating study of long-held medieval scientific theories that
predisposed Jews to certain types of offensive behaviour or even to
communicate certain illnesses and disease. By arguing for a Jewish
"nature" dictated by specific physical characteristics, medieval
scientific authorities contributed to growing fears of a Jewish
threat. Through the use of several illustrations from illuminated
manuscripts and other media, Resnick engages readers in a
discussion of the later medieval notion of Jewish difference.
Externally, these differences were evidenced by marks that
physically distinguished Jews from their Christian neighbours, for
example the mark of circumcision. Internally, their melancholy
humoral complexion, further weakened by the Jews' dietary
restrictions, was thought to dictate their temperament and sexual
mores, and to incline them toward leprosy, bleeding haemorrhoids,
and other infirmities. These differences were viewed by some as
ineradicable, even following religious conversion; or, at best,
erasable with only the greatest difficulty over several
generations. This work clarifies that the one doctrine of modern
anti-Semitism typically thought to distinguish it so clearly from
medieval anti-Judaism- the impossibility of escaping one's identity
as a Jew even through religious conversion-had begun to appear by
the end of the Middle Ages.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.