Books > History > European history
|
Buy Now
Medieval Jewry in Northern France - A Political and Social History (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,025
Discovery Miles 10 250
|
|
Medieval Jewry in Northern France - A Political and Social History (Paperback)
Series: The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science
Expected to ship within 7 - 13 working days
|
Originally published in 1974. Focusing on a set of Jewish
communities, Robert Chazan tells how, by the eleventh century,
French Jews had created for themselves a role as local merchants
and moneylenders in adapting to the political, economic, and social
limits imposed on them. French society, striving to become more
powerful and civilized, was willing to extend aid and protection to
the Jews in return for general stimulation of trade and urban life
and for the immediate profit realized from taxation. While the
authorities were relatively successful in protecting the Jews from
others, there was no power to impose itself between the Jews and
their protectors. The political and social well-being of the Jews
was, therefore, dependent on the will of the governing authorities
who taxed their holdings and regulated their activities. During the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the position of the Jews was
constantly under attack by reform elements in the church concerned
with Jewish moneylending and blasphemous materials in Jewish books;
these reformers were eventually devoted to a serious missionizing
effort within the Jewish community. The Jews' situation was further
complicated by deep popular animosity, expressing itself in a
damaging set of slanders and occasionally in physical violence.
Despite the impressive achievements of the Jews in medieval
northern France, by the thirteenth century their community was
increasingly constricted; and in 1306, they were expelled from
royal France by Philip IV. Overcoming the handicap of a lack of
copious source material, Chazan analyzes the Jews' political
status, their relations with key elements of Christian society,
their demographic development, their economic outlets, their
internal organization, and their attitudes toward the Christian
environment. As it highlights aspects of French society from an
unusual perspective, Medieval Jewry in Northern France should be of
special interest to the historian of medieval France as well as to
the student of Jewish history. This story is also significant for
all who are fascinated by the capacity of human groups to respond
and adapt creatively to a hostile and limiting environment.
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.