Antisemitism In The Middle Ages

For as long as there have been Jews, there has been anti-Jewish rhetoric and action, but the Jews have continued to forge on through decades upon decades of antisemitism in every form imaginable. When one hears the word “antisemitism,” one may picture a mustached German dictator and concentration camps. Antisemitism did not start in Germany. Its twentieth-century roots started far earlier, in a way that is likely far different than imagined. Regardless of the century, antisemitism takes shape as a clear chain of events that start apparently harmless but can turn deadly quickly. Antisemitism in the Middle Ages is an example of how discrimination progresses, starting with rumors and lies that manifest themselves in public sentiments, sentiments
turning to action, actions becoming violent, and violence turning to an all-out bloodlust.
The most commonplace forms of antisemitism in the Middle Ages were lies spread about the Jews and acts of public humiliation, all centered on the idea of Jews as Christ-killers. The concept of Jews as Christ-killers originated in the fourth century, but the dim roar of this accusation became a steady outcry in the Middle Ages (Flinn). In 1205, Pope Innocent III gave a rousing testimony, decreeing that Jews were slaves rejected by God and were to blame for the troubles in Christ’s life, as well as his painful death (Flinn). The Gospel of Matthew is often cited as one of the main justifications of Jewish oppression because of its tendency to “present all the different Jewish groups as one homogenized, united force against Jesus and to insidiously exaggerate the conflict between Jesus and Jewish leaders” (Marendry 292). The fear of suffering a similar fate to their savior fueled Jewish persecution by Christians. Jewish doctors were often accused of murdering their Christian patients (Roth, “Dangers” 192), a lie perpetuated during the outbreak of the bubonic plague, referred to as the Black Death. Because Jews tended to have better personal hygiene than their Christian counterparts, when the Black Death spread
through Europe from 1348 to 1350, fewer Jews were infected by the disease than Christians. This disparity led to accusations that the Jews had caused the plague – perhaps by poisoning wells, as they had been previously accused of (Roth, “Dangers” 192). Fear of Jews lead to legislation that humiliated and persecuted them. In some countries, Jews had to wear identifying garments so that they stood out from the general population (Roth, “Defining” 14). In England, France, Germany, and other European countries, Jews had to wear a special cone-shaped, brimmed hat (Roth, “Defining” 14). Meanwhile, Spain enacted –but did not enforce –a law requiring Jews to wear an identifying badge (Roth, “Defining” 14). Born from fear, European Christians singled Jews out en masse based on myths centuries old and used lies and legislation to persecute them.
The lies spread about Jews culminated in accusations of ritual murder and blood libel. Ritual murder accusations began in 1144 when citizens of Norwich, England accused a group of Jews of murdering a Christian child named William (Marendry 299). Afterwards, the townspeople believed that any body discovered had been ritualistically murdered by Jews. Many of these victims, including the aforementioned William, were given the status of “saint” (Roth, “Dangers” 191). Even a missing Christian child beget rumors of Jewish murder. The practice of accusing Jews of murders spread beyond England, fueled by the belief that at an annual meeting of Jews from across the world, they would discuss where the next murder would occur (Marendry 300). The most haunting accusation occurred in Speyer, Germany in 1196 (Roth, “Dangers” 191). After discovering the body of a Christian girl, Christians exhumed the body of a local rabbi’s daughter and hung it up in a public location in revenge (Roth, “Dangers” 191). After attempting to reclaim his daughter’s body, some locals attacked and killed the rabbi (Roth, “Dangers” 191). In total, there were more than 150 accusations of ritual murder reported throughout the Middle Ages (Roth, “Dangers” 191). Beyond murder accusations, some believed that Jews used the blood of Christian children to their own advantage. This accusation first arose in Fulda, Germany in 1236 (Roth, “Dangers” 191). The revelation of five dead Christian boys resulted in accusations that Jews had murdered them to use their blood for remedies (Roth, “Dangers” 191). Christians killed thirty-two Jews in revenge (Roth, “Dangers” 191). Another accusation claimed that Jews suffered from hemorrhoids as punishment for the murder of Christ and collected blood from Christian boys as a cure (Marendry 300). In a different, but equally startling claim, Christians accused Jews of using Christian blood to make matzot (unleavened bread) for Passover in 1422 (Roth, “Dangers” 192). These lies and accusations made Europe ripe for even greater retaliation against Jews.
The Crusades in European countries represented the climactic shift from harmful sentiments to action against Jews in the Middle Ages. The first Crusade took place in the early eleventh century, as Christians, on their way to the Holy Land to slaughter Muslims for perceived wrongdoings, decided to slaughter Jews first (Roth, “Dangers” 177). A leader of the First Crusade, Godfrey Bouillion instructed his followers to “leave no single member of the Jewish race alive” (qtd. in Marendry 298). The Crusades continued for many years. In 1098, Germans killed eleven Jews (Roth, “Dangers” 177). Another massacre took place in 1236 when French Crusaders murdered as many as two-thousand Jews (Roth, “Dangers” 179). Almost ninety years later, in 1320, another Crusade struck France. Called the Shepard’s Crusade and motivated by famine, social unrest, and poverty, young workers and shepherds making their way from to the Holy Land killed Jews along their path throughout France and Spain (Roth, “Dangers” 183). Later, another attack occurred in Spain. In the summer of 1391, a Spanish mob attacked and burned synagogues, inspiring similar acts around the country (Roth, “Dangers” 184). Although the Spanish government quickly put an end to the violence, the Jewish community lost its sense of security (Roth, “Dangers” 184). While in this case, a government took swift action to stop the violence, in other instances, governmental acts advanced Jewish persecution.
Many European countries decreed that Jews could no longer live within their borders, and took actions including forced conversions and baptisms.
King Edward I expelled Jews from England in 1290 (Flinn 5). The majority of those affected resettled in France and Germany (Roth, “Defining” 4). French Jews had their own set of problems, however. Just over a century earlier, around 1180, French King Philip II demanded large sums of money from Jews, and despite many paying their fines, they were briefly expelled from the royal domain surrounding Paris (Roth, “Dangers” 182). Later, France’s King Louis IX ordered the burning of the Talmud, the holy Jewish text containing the Torah and the oral rabbinical law, in 1240. (Roth, “Dangers” 182). Louis IX also stated that “one should never dispute with a Jew but rather run him through with a sword,” demonstrating his intolerance towards Jews (Roth, “Dangers” 182). To the French public, it appeared their kind had sanctioned hateful words and actions. Despite all of these attacks and expulsions, the Jews repeatedly returned to France–a testimony to the Jewish people’s perseverance. Meanwhile, during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Sephardic Jews, Jews from Spain, (Roth, “Defining” 4) were forcibly converted or expelled, but those expelled were able to find refuge in Amsterdam, Prague, Poland, and Brazil (Flinn 5). There were many smaller expulsions throughout Spain in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but in 1492, the
largest expulsion took place, removing all Jews from “the world’s most important Jewish community” (Roth, “Dangers” 185). In addition to expulsion, Spain had a second odious answer to its perceived Jewish problem. Many Jews were converted to Christianity by force, but even that did not protect them from persecution. The Inquisition in Spain, which lasted centuries (Roth, “Dangers” 174), targeted Jewish converts to Christianity, in fear that the converts ruined the purity of the Christian race (Roth, “Dangers” 173). Despite the persecution of converts, many Jews continued to convert in fear torture or murder because of their religion (Roth, “Dangers” 187). Another effort to convert Jews involved the practice of kidnapping and forcefully baptizing Jewish children and raising them as Christians. Once baptized, Christian law required that one remained a Christian, so these children had no choice but to practice Christianity (Roth, “Dangers” 190). Undeterred by not having a homeland and facing constant attacks, the Jewish people remained hopeful throughout the Middle Ages.
Hateful rhetoric and action are not bred overnight. They take years to cultivate, and for the cycle of hatred to complete itself. Unfortunately, many Europeans forgot their hateful heritage in the 1930’s as vile rhetoric returned to the forefront of European minds thanks to demigods such as Adolf Hitler. Even Hitler, the most infamous anti-Semite to ever live, did not begin his reign with violent actions against Jews. Just like in the Middle Ages, Hitler’s campaign began with lies before escalating to mass murder – the ultimate effort to rid Europe of Jews. Following the horrific events of the Holocaust, many people declared “never again” would this happen, but is this the truth? It would stand to reason that cries of “never again” followed the antisemitism of the Middle Ages. Never again must be more than just words. Lies begin just as words, and they grow into something far more dangerous. We have seen this happen in the Middle Ages and in 1930’s Germany. It is up to us to prevent hate from running rampant, because once we set off down that path, we all know where it leads. We have been there before.