Christian Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: 500’s – 1600’s CE
c.519
Christian theology
“Christianizing” the pagan custom of Lent
A period of fasting, connected to the spring equinox celebration of the sex and fertility goddess Astarte or
Easter, originated in ancient Babylon and had continued in virtually every culture since the Dispersion at the
Tower of Babel. In Ezekiel 8:14 the Bible refers to this fast in the nomenclature of its time as, “weeping for
Tammuz.” The Church “Christianized” this ritual in its attempt to absorb pagan practices into the religion and
codify them to bolster unity.
The Council of Aurelia, “decreed that Lent should be solemnly kept before Easter” 1 as a time of consecration
preceding the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection at Easter.
Early 5th century
Christian theology
Doctrine of Jews as the “Witness People”
St. Augustine: Developed the concept of the Jews as the “Witness People.” They are, “witnesses of evil and
Christian truth…They witness by their Scriptures and serve as ‘slave-librarian’ of the Church.” 2
For centuries to come, this concept would be used by the Church and various European states to justify
mistreatment and killing of Jewish people as a “witness” to the world for their woes as Christ-killers and
denying the Christian faith.
Mid 5th century
Babylon
Religious and state hostilities pressure the Jewish people
into isolation from the world
“In the eyes of the Church, the Jew was a guilt-laden unbeliever resistant to grace and a destroyer of souls. To
the Empire, he was still a citizen (somewhat) protected by law but now merely tolerated as a second-class
citizen…”
While Jewish communities continued to exist throughout the Roman Empire, the national and cultural center
of Jewry was now in Babylon. Jewry was faced with a choice: “further struggle with its concomitant risk of
extinction or withdrawal into itself whereby its spirit could be preserved and the world outside more or less
ignored. The Talmud, the Babylonian part of which was now being set in writing, became the very heart and
soul of Judaism.” 3
Mid 6th century
Byzantine Empire
State sanctions against Jewish civil and religious rights
The Justinian code, issued by Emperor Justinian I, eliminated many Jewish civil rights and restricted religious
practices. This code was compounded by the Novella 146 of 553 CE, and the emperor decreed, “… that the
Bible used in synagogue services could be read in Greek, Latin or the vernacular, but not necessarily in
Hebrew, as the rabbis wanted; that the Septuagint or Aquila translations be preferred; that the Mishnah (oral
teaching) be eliminated; that those who disbelieved in the resurrection and last judgment or the existence of
angels, be excommunicated and put to death.” 4
These codes set a legal precedent in the eyes of the Church and the general populace to justify the burning of
Talmuds and Torahs, forced baptisms/conversions and the destruction of synagogues for centuries to come.
This era produced an intensified Christian hatred towards the Jewish people. Europe was ruled by a combined, ChurchState government and the Jewish people were outcasts. They were continually subjected to social and professional
discrimination as decreed by the Church-State governments. As time progressed, the hatred turned into frequent
outbreaks of violent riots and massacres. They were expelled from virtually every country where they sought refuge.
Page 1
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Christian Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: 500’s – 1600’s CE
7th century
Spain, France
Forced conversions and anti-Jewish legislation
King Sisebut of Spain, gave Spanish Jewry an option: forced conversion or exile. While many left Spain, up to
90,000 Jewish people submitted to forced conversion. Subsequent Spanish rulers and the church councils of
Toledo enacted severe anti-Jewish laws which included abandoning commerce, surrendering acquired
property from Christians, banned Jewish rites and ordered Jewish children above the age of seven to be taken
and reared as Christians.
King Dagobert of France ordered that all Jews of his kingdom convert or be forced to depart. 5
1096 – 1291
Europe, Asia Minor,
The Crusades
Syria-Palestine
Although the purpose of the Crusades was to conquer the Muslims and liberate the Holy Land, this period was
one of the most devastating eras for Jewish people in history. The first documented massacres and pogroms
(state endorsed massacre) come from this time.
th
( into 15 century)
“Great, ill-organized hordes of nobles, knights, monks, and peasants, ‘God wills it’ on their lips, as they set off
to free the Holy Land from the Muslim infidel - suddenly turned on the Jews. One chronicler, Guibert of
Nogent, (1053-1124) reported the crusaders of Rouen as saying: ‘We desire to combat the enemies of God in
the East; but we have under our eyes the Jews, a race more inimical to God than all the others. We are doing
this whole thing backwards.’" 6
The crusaders forced Jewish baptisms and massacred a third of the Jewish population in Germany and
northern France in the First Crusade. In the wake of the massacres, popular hostility toward Jews increased
and their social position suffered further deterioration. 7
During the Crusades, many Jews migrated to Spain and England, while the remainder became indentured
servants to European rulers in exchange for their “protection.”
11th century and
Europe
Jews portrayed as Satan in art and literature
beyond
European medieval art and literature portrayed the Jewish people as Satan, showing Jews in paintings and
caricatures with horns and goat-tees resembling the satanic billy goat. As Trachtenberg writes, the
demonization of the Jew and his association with Satan and evil, “permeated every layer of Christian
society.” 8
1144
England
Ritual Murder – The Myth of Blood Libel
Blood Libel is the myth that Jewish people murder Christian children and use their blood for ritual purposes
such as making Passover matzah (unleavened bread).
It originated in England after a boy was found dead. The Jews were accused and a pogrom ensued. More
accusations and pogroms occurred in the following century, the Jewish condition in society declined and the
Jewish people were expelled from England in the late 13th century.
Accusations of Blood Libel would follow the Jewish people throughout Europe even until the 20th century. 9
This era produced an intensified Christian hatred towards the Jewish people. Europe was ruled by a combined, ChurchState government and the Jewish people were outcasts. They were continually subjected to social and professional
discrimination as decreed by the Church-State governments. As time progressed, the hatred turned into frequent
outbreaks of violent riots and massacres. They were expelled from virtually every country where they sought refuge.
Page 2
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Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com
Christian Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: 500’s – 1600’s CE
12th century and
Europe
Jews become indentured servants and consigned to be
beyond
money-lenders
The fanaticism of the Crusaders caused Jews to purchase protection from the state kings and ruling classes.
This occasion escalated the degradation of the Jewish people in two ways:
Jews became “indentured servants” – In return for protecting the Jewish people, “The crown laid claim to
them as serfs of ‘the imperial chamber’… before long it became a device for royal enrichment…Jewish rights
were conceded in ‘charters’ that were temporary and could be withdrawn at any moment. The attachment to
the imperial chamber reduced Jews to the status of pieces of property that could be—and were—bought,
loaned, and sold as any other merchandise. Kings paid off barons and barons paid off creditors with Jews.
Kings would, for a consideration, transfer to nobles or townships the right to possess ‘his’ Jews” 10 This
practice became widespread throughout Europe as it meshed with the Christian theories that the Jews were
“subject” to Christians and were a “witness people” because of their misfortunes.
Jews became the money-lenders – Since the Church prohibited Christian usury, the Jewish people became the
prime candidates for money lending since they were already banned from most professions. This profession
appealed to the Jewish people, not because they were greedy, but because they needed it. The Jews were: “A
prey to frequent and heavy exactions of kings and lords, who treated him as a sponge to be squeezed, refilled,
and squeezed again, he was ever in need of liquid assets. At every turn, he was faced with special taxes,
confiscations, cancellations of credit, expulsions, and threats of death. He had literally to buy not only his
rights but his very existence.” 11
As the Jews became the prevalent money lenders in Europe, they were trapped in a no-win situation. The Jew
was, “ the ‘royal usurer’ from whom kings squeezed their much needed funds,” and he was the hated local
lender who, “collected from the peasants the money he needed to sustain his uncertain existence. It was a
fatal situation. The prince protected him as long as he was useful and the anger of the mobs and creditors did
not explode. When it did, the king usually abandoned "his Jews" and hypocritically joined in the clamor.” 12
Anti-semitism reached new heights in Europe as Jews were persecuted, not only for being non-believers, but
now for economic reasons. Massacres and expulsions forced a large Jewish migration into eastern Germany
and Poland in the 13th and 14th centuries. Here, the situation only repeated itself.
1181
France
Jews expelled from France
In order to finance the cost of the First Crusade, and to take revenge on the Jewish money lenders who
allegedly profited from the ordeal, King Philippe, at the pressure of Church clergy, issued an edict to expel the
Jews from France: “…all Jews who persisted in their disbelief were ordered to quit the kingdom... their houses
and landed possessions were declared to be forfeited to the crown.” 13
1215
Rome (Europe)
Jews forced to wear ‘identifying dress’
14
The Fourth Council of the Lateran: Canons 78,79: Jews…shall wear a special dress to enable them to be
distinguished from Christians.The ‘identifying dress’, which varied from country to country, marked the Jews
as social outcasts as they incurred mockery and abuse from the populace.
This decree would be repeated many times throughout Europe as time progressed.
This era produced an intensified Christian hatred towards the Jewish people. Europe was ruled by a combined, ChurchState government and the Jewish people were outcasts. They were continually subjected to social and professional
discrimination as decreed by the Church-State governments. As time progressed, the hatred turned into frequent
outbreaks of violent riots and massacres. They were expelled from virtually every country where they sought refuge.
Page 3
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Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com
Christian Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: 500’s – 1600’s CE
1231 - 1834
Europe, Spain, Americas The Inquisitions
Perhaps as a result of Crusader fervor, the Inquisitions became an official institution of the Roman Catholic
Church in 1231 and sought to eliminate various groups labeled as heretics. 15 As the Inquisition spread
throughout Europe and the Church established itself in Spain after defeating the Muslims, the focus turned to
prosecuting Spanish marranos – ‘apostate’ Jews who had converted (under coercion) but secretly practiced
Judaism.
Spanish Inquisition: Jews had prospered in governmental and economic positions for centuries in Spain before
Catholicism took hold during the Crusades. As the Church grew in Spain, the Jews became hated by the
general populace and the clergy for their prosperity. Especially the marranos because they were considered
insincere and heretical. Eventually, Anti-Marranoism and Anti-Judaism erupted, the European Inquisition
infiltrated Spain and special tribunals were established to administer the Inquisition. Jews were arrested and
tortured for confession of their heresy.
Public prosecutions were conducted (called auto-da-fe’s) as marranos were convicted of heresy and nonconverted Jews were convicted of ‘judaizing’ the marranos. Both were burned alive at the stake. In January,
1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued the decree that all Jews must leave Spain under the penalty of
death, “since, in the words of the decree, ‘Jews seduce the new Christians,’ and expulsion is ‘the only
efficacious means of putting an end to these evils.’ 16 An estimated 300,000 17 Sephardic Jews fled to Portugal
and Latin America, Asia Minor, Italy, eastern Europe and Israel; while an equal number remained and
converted to Christianity. The Inquisitions followed the Jews into these countries, and continued in Spain, until
the 19th century. The Inquisition was finally abolished in Spain July 15, 1834. 18
14th century
Europe
Jews blamed for the Black Plague
When no apparent cause could be found for the Black Plague that ravaged Europe and killed millions of
people, the Jews were accused of poisoning water wells in their ‘conspiracy’ against Church and society.
Massacres and forced confessions ensued and over 200 Jewish communities were destroyed in Europe. 19
1434
Switzerland (Europe)
Decrees against Jewish people
The Council of Basel renewed previous Catholic canons of prohibiting Jews from public office, from being a
doctor, from attending universities and from leasing property. Jews are (again) compelled to wear clothing to
distinguish them from Christians. New canons prohibited Jews from working on Sundays and ordered them to
live in secluded areas as far away from Christian communities and churches as possible. 20
16th century
Europe (France)
John Calvin and the Protestant Reformation: More
(1500’s)
Replacement Theology
The great Reformist John Calvin, in keeping with Church tradition, taught and wrote from the concept that the
Church had replaced Israel. He believed that the “Church” had existed within Israel prior to the advent of
Christ, and therefore the present Church was a continuation of believers which had ultimately replaced Israel.
In his commentaries on the Biblical prophets, Calvin consistently interprets verses which speak specifically
about Israel to mean the Church - especially promises about future restoration and glory. 21
This era produced an intensified Christian hatred towards the Jewish people. Europe was ruled by a combined, ChurchState government and the Jewish people were outcasts. They were continually subjected to social and professional
discrimination as decreed by the Church-State governments. As time progressed, the hatred turned into frequent
outbreaks of violent riots and massacres. They were expelled from virtually every country where they sought refuge.
Page 4
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Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com
Christian Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: 500’s – 1600’s CE
1517
Germany (Europe)
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation: Bitter AntiSemitism and more Replacement Theology
In protest of papal and Catholic Church corruption, Martin Luther posted his Ninety Five Theses on the door of
Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Initially, Luther had an amicable spirit towards the Jewish people
since they also opposed the Church. He thought the Jews would surely agree with his Biblical exposition,
collaborate with him in the Protestant movement and come to Christian faith. His attempts to convert the
Jews failed and Luther became a bitter enemy of the Jewish people. Luther’s anti-Semitic writings would
greatly influence Adolf Hitler 400 years later. Luther’s writings served as the philosophical foundation for
Hitler’s “solution to the Jewish problem” and were frequently quoted in Nazi propaganda.
Luther wrote in his famous anti-Semitic book, Concerning the Jews and their Lies (1543):
•
“What shall we do with this damned, rejected race of Jews? Since they live among us and we know about
their lying and blasphemy and cursing, we cannot tolerate them if we do not wish to share in their lies,
curses and blasphemy...We must prayerfully and reverentially practice a merciful severity.
•
First, their synagogues should be set on fire...for the honor of God and Christianity...
•
Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed...they ought to be put under one roof
or in a stable...
•
Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds...
•
Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more...
•
Fifthly, traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews...
•
Sixthly, they ought to be stopped from usury. All their cash and valuables of silver and gold ought to be
taken from them and put aside...everything that they possess they stole and robbed from us through their
usury...
•
Let us apply the same cleverness (expulsion) as the other nations...and settle with them for that which they
have extorted usuriously from us, and after having divided it up fairly let us drive them out of the country
for all time.” 22
13th – 18th century Europe
Jewish Expulsions
Beginning with the Jewish expulsion from France in 1181 and concluding with the Jewish establishment in
eastern Germany, Poland and Russia by the early 1700’s, authors Grosser and Halperin list 62 separate
accounts of Jewish expulsions from different cities and countries. 23
This era produced an intensified Christian hatred towards the Jewish people. Europe was ruled by a combined, ChurchState government and the Jewish people were outcasts. They were continually subjected to social and professional
discrimination as decreed by the Church-State governments. As time progressed, the hatred turned into frequent
outbreaks of violent riots and massacres. They were expelled from virtually every country where they sought refuge.
Page 5
Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com
Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com
Christian Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: 500’s – 1600’s CE
16th – 18th century Europe
Jewish people forced to live in ghettos
The Renaissance, the growth of Protestantism and political changes in Europe fostered enormous change
during this period. But sadly, the Jewish people were seemingly excluded from its benefits. Centuries of antiSemitism and its pressure on the Jews towards self- isolation, combined with previous decrees of segregation,
led to, as Flannery terms it: The Age of the Ghetto. 24
The term ‘ghetto’ originated in Italy as civil and Church authorities segregated Jews emigrating from Spain.
Sequestered in a poor section of town with walls around the perimeter, the ghetto was overcrowded and its
management left to its inhabitants. Life in the ghetto fostered animosity and suspicion of gentile outsiders.
As Flannery summarizes: “Within its narrow confines, Jewish introversion reached a high point. Cut off from
participating in the larger world about, life was concentrated on the past. A ghettoized mentality was the
inevitable result…The status of the Jews in this era was greatly reduced. No longer hated and feared as a grave
peril to Christian society, they were made into objects of aversion and derision.” 25
17th century
Eastern Europe (Poland, Cossack massacres on the Jewish people
(1648 – 1658)
Ukraine, So. Russia)
Polish expansion into the Ukraine had caused a hatred by the indigenous people – those of Eastern Orthodox
faith and Cossack (eastern Slavic and Turkish descent) communities – towards the Catholic Church and Polish
nobility who sought to control them. Hatred for the Jew grew within the Cossack and peasant population
because the Jew was the tax collector for the Polish landlords and was an age-old enemy of the Eastern
Orthodox faith. Cossack uprisings escalated until 1648 when Cossack leader, Bogdan Chmielnicki, led a
gruesome rampage against Poland and the Jews. War continued for a decade as it climaxed with the Swedish
revolt and invasion of Poland (1655-1658).
During the time of 1648 - 1658, over half a million Jewish people were massacred and killed and over three
hundred Jewish communities destroyed. 26
1
Dr. Meredith Hanmer’s Chronographia subjoined to his translation of Eusebius (London:1636) p.592, as cited by
rd
Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (London: S.W.Partridge & Co., 1858) 3 ed., pp.103-107
2
Edward H. Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism (New York: Macmillan Co., 1965)
p.53
3
Ibid., pp.61-62
4
Ibid., p.68
5
Ibid., pp.75-77, 80
6
Guibert of Nogent, De Vita Sua, III, 5 (PL, 156:903) as cited by Flannery, Ibid., pp.91-92
7
Flannery, Ibid., p.92
8
Joshua Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and its Relation to Modern
Antisemitism (Skokie, IL, Varda Books: 2001), p.217, Accessed on Google Books 24 Feb 2012
9
Ibid., p.100
This era produced an intensified Christian hatred towards the Jewish people. Europe was ruled by a combined, ChurchState government and the Jewish people were outcasts. They were continually subjected to social and professional
discrimination as decreed by the Church-State governments. As time progressed, the hatred turned into frequent
outbreaks of violent riots and massacres. They were expelled from virtually every country where they sought refuge.
Page 6
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Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com
Christian Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages: 500’s – 1600’s CE
10
Flannery, Ibid., p.95
11
Ibid., p.97
12
Ibid., p.98
13
Thomas Wright, The History of France, from the earliest period to the present time, (London: London Print & Publishing
Co., 1856), p.225, Accessed on Google Books 24 Feb 2012 (p.235 of 950)
14
Leclercq, Henri. "Fourth Lateran Council (1215)." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1910. 21 Feb. 2012 (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09018a.htm)
15
Blötzer, Joseph. "Inquisition." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 22 Feb.
2012 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm
16
Flannery, Ibid., p.139
17
Ibid.
18
1906 Jewish Encyclopedia (Auto da fe) (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2155-auto-da-fe)
19
Flannery, Ibid., p.111
20
“ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF FLORENCE (1438-1445)” A translation from Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils by Norman
P. Tanner on EWTN Global Catholic Network website, accessed 23 Feb 2012
http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/florence.htm
21
To this I refer the reader to browse through Calvin’s writings and commentaries. One source, which I used and
recommend, is that found on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library website, www.ccel.org. An outline of Calvin’s writings,
lectures and commentaries is found here (http://www.ccel.org/search/books/calvin)
22
Jacob R. Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book 315-1791 with an Introduction and Updated
Bibliographies by Marc Saperstein (Hebrew Union College Press, 2000), pp.187-189 Accessed on Google Books 23 Feb
2012
23
P.E. Grosser and E.G. Halperin, Anti-Semitism, Causes and effects: an analysis of 1900 years of anti-Semitic attitudes and
practices (New York: Philosophical Library, 1983)
24
Flannery, Ibid., p.145
25
Ibid., p.146-149
26
1906 Jewish Encyclopedia (Cossacks’ Uprising). http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4685-cossacks-uprising
Accessed 26 Feb 2012
This era produced an intensified Christian hatred towards the Jewish people. Europe was ruled by a combined, ChurchState government and the Jewish people were outcasts. They were continually subjected to social and professional
discrimination as decreed by the Church-State governments. As time progressed, the hatred turned into frequent
outbreaks of violent riots and massacres. They were expelled from virtually every country where they sought refuge.
Page 7
Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com
Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com