Medieval Jewry in Northern France: A Political and Social History Contributor(s): Chazan, Robert (Author) |
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ISBN: 1421430665 ISBN-13: 9781421430669 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press OUR PRICE: $44.65 Product Type: Paperback Published: December 2019 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - France - History | Jewish - General - Political Science | History & Theory - General |
Series: Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political |
Physical Information: 0.59" H x 6" W x 9" (0.85 lbs) 258 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: 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. |