10275 Jews and Christians in Western Europe: Encounter between Cultures in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 1

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Medieval History or in Medieval History of the Jewish People

Prerequisites: none

Authors: Ora Limor, Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Joseph Ziegler, Israel J. Yuval, Yosef Kaplan, Amos Hofman, Avital Wohlman, W. Zeev Harvey.

The course deals with the encounter in social and cultural life between the Christian majority and the Jewish minority in Europe, from the birth of Christianity to the beginning of the modern age. It surveys the impact of this encounter on both groups, and its significance for the development of western culture and for the course of Jewish history.

Topics: Jacob and Esau; Majority and minority; Similarity and difference (language, housing, dress); Jews before the Christian courts of justice – the Jewish oath; The Jewish-Christian debate; Hebraica Veritas; Faith and reason; Images of the past; The blood libel; The Conversos; Jews and Christians during the Reformation.

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1This course is also offered in Russian (42143). Its description is available on the Russian-language website of the Open University (https://www-r.openu.ac.il/).

There is some overlap in the content of this and other courses. For details, see Overlapping Courses.