070055 PS BA-Proseminar - Jews in medieval Europe (2023W)

The course aims to show the diverse aspects of Jewish existence in medieval Europe, whereby both the independent Jewish culture (including its geographical differences) and the contacts with its non-Jewish environment are to be discussed.
Jewish presence is tracaable for most areas of medieval Europe; they share a their legal position that is strongly tied to the respective ruler and living conditions under a latent anti-Judaism that is always present. While a constant effort to maintain cultural independence is evident from the internal Jewish side, rabbinical testimonies show an immense practical relevance in their balance between maintaining one's own (religious-ritual) identity on the one hand and the direct connection with local conditions on the other. Despite these cross-regional aspects of Jewish life, major differences between the Jewish settlement areas developed in the course of the Middle Ages, which are not oly evident in the cultural areas of Sefarat (Iberian Peninsula) and Ashkenaz (Western and particularly Central European area), with the "special areas" Zarfat ([Northern] France) and England, but are also expressed in a strong regional and local identity that made the Jewish residents an integral part of the respective city or country.
Jewish culture is documented in many ways: in architectural monuments and illuminated manuscripts, which are in no way inferior to the Christian examples in terms of quality and representativeness, but also in everyday sources from Jewish-Christian interaction, which document the numerous contacts that went far beyond business relationships and also prove extensive Jewish activity apart from the clicheed money lending and pawn broking.
Cultural transfer between Jewish and Christian (and Muslim) neighbors took place on all social levels and is just as much a part of medieval Jewish history as the ever-present anti-Judaism, which repeatedly put the Jews of Europe in danger, regardless of their place of residence, and - albeit in different forms and at different times - brought Jewish life in most regions of medieval Europe to its violent end.
Objectives:
Based on classroom reading and the interpretation of medieval sources, the participants will get to know the various political, social, cultural and religious aspects of the topic, which will enable them to connect them in the context of the current scholarly discussion.
To reach this goal, a variety of different types of sources (historiography, charters, economic sources, visual souces) will be drawn upon; a particular emphasis will be on the contextualisation of Jewish history as an integral part of "general" history.
Thus, students will be introduced to a critical assessment of the widespread prejudices around until today, which will enable them to recognise the usage and instrumentalisation of medieval stereotypes in the context of modern anti-Semitism.

Teaching Method:
By reviewing and working with secondary literature as well as reading and interpreting selected medieval source material, the students will gain experience in working with literature and original sources in class as well as individually (as a part of their presentation of a specific topic they have to do both orally and in written form). In addition to that, the students will acquire and practise the necessary skills to work with the most important resources on medieval source material.