The Story of Moses at the Mongol Court
The extant paintings prominently feature the life of Moses in a synthesis of stylistic sources, reflecting a unique cosmopolitan union of history and religion.
Hostility Against the Jews in Medieval France
In France, as in other European regions, the medieval era saw changing and contradictory attitudes towards the Jews, who were alternately tolerated and persecuted.
The Rhineland Massacres of the First Crusade
Around the mid-twelfth century, a Jewish chronicler named Solomon bar Simson penned an account of events that had happened 50 years earlier – events that were devastating for his fellow Jewish community in parts of Europe.
Women’s Work in Catalonia with Sarah Ifft Decker
We know that women in the Middle Ages worked and contributed in vital ways to their families and communities, but where do we find the evidence? And what can it tell us? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Sarah Ifft Decker about women’s work in medieval Catalonia, how we can trace it, and how it differed from city to city and faith to faith.
The Kidnapping of Baby Bonafilla: Jewish guardianship, conversion, and mixed families in the aftermath of 1391 in Girona
In early 1417, the Jewish guardians of Bonafilla, the daughter of Nacim Roven, kidnapped the young toddler to prevent her conversa mother and stepfather from converting the child
What we learned from a medieval Jewish cemetery in Erfurt
Last month we released a study examining the remains of the medieval Ashkenazi Jewish community in Erfurt, Germany. Our research has given us a better understanding of how this community lived in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Well Poisoning Accusations with Tzafrir Barzilay
Medieval antisemitism flared up most famously and tragically during the Black Death when Jews were accused of deliberately poisoning wells, and thousands were executed for this wholly imagined crime. This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Tzafrir Barzliay about what made well poisoning conspiracy theories so powerful, and how they started.
Insiders, Outsiders and In Between: The Jews of Medieval Europe
The talk will examine instances of business partnerships, neighborly interactions and religious ritual and attempt to provide a complex understanding of the dynamics of daily life.
Scriptural Reasoning, Medieval Style: Interfaith Dialogue in Twelfth-Century Paris
Andrew of Saint Victor’s commentary on Isaiah caused a scandal almost as soon as it was written, around 1150. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Andrew often spurned the Christian meaning of the text, in favor of interpretation he found in contemporary Jewish commentators.
‘It’s Set Your Eyes Aflame’: Two Poems from the 14th century
Two beautiful poems from the 14th century, one called ‘Love’s Cure’ and the other ‘My Religion—My Wine’
The Cairo Geniza: What it tells us about Jewish Medieval Life in the Middle East
Benjamin Outhwaite discusses what the Cairo Genizah is, what can be found in it, and what it can tell us about the medieval past.
Medieval manuscript to be auctioned off for as much as $6 million, but not without controversy
The Luzzatto High Holiday Mahzor, created around the year 1300, is set to sell for between $4 million to $6 million (US) at an auction next week, despite calls to keep the medieval manuscript in France.
Christians and Jews in 13th-century England, with Adrienne Williams Boyarin
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Adrienne Williams Boyarin about the ways in which Christians and Jews dealt with similarity and difference in thirteenth-century England.
The Greatest Bible Ever Written: Kennicott no. 1, La Coruña, Spain, 1476
The Kennicott Bible is the crown jewel of all medieval Hebrew manuscripts, expertly written by a skillful scribe and beautifully illuminated by an ingenious artist.
800-year-old medieval pottery fragments reveal Jewish dietary practices
A team of scientists have found the first evidence of a religious diet locked inside pottery fragments excavated from the early medieval Jewish community of Oxford.
Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder: A Medieval Mystery, Unravelled
Paola Tartakoff of Rutgers University discusses her new book, Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe, which explores the “Norwich Circumcision Case” from multiple perspectives.
Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe
Drawing on a variety of legal, liturgical, literary, and archival sources, Ephraim Shoham-Steiner examines the reasons for the involvement in crime, the social profile of Jews who performed crimes, and the ways and mechanisms employed by the legal and communal body to deal with Jewish criminals and with crimes committed by Jews.
A Thirteenth-Century Polymath Considers the Jews
William Chester Jordan speaking about the 13th-century polymath John of Garland and his views about the Jews.
British Library reopens with new exhibition on Hebrew Manuscripts
The British Library has reopened its galleries and other areas to the public, and has a launched a new exhibition for those interested in medieval manuscripts.
Medieval Jewish cemetery in Germany vandalized
A Jewish cemetery in the German city of Worms, which dates back to the 11th century, has been closed for several days after many of its medieval tombstones were vandalized.
Mamluks of Jewish Origin in the Mamluk Sultanate
This article surveys mamluks of Jewish origin that can be identified in Mamluk sources.
Lost Archives, Sacrosanct Wastebins and the Jewish Communities of the Medieval Islamicate World
This illustrated lecture will take account of a flood of new information these caches offer about the Jewish communities of the Middle Ages, their surprisingly broad geographic remit and the impact of mobility and distance on communal life.
Passover in the Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages the two holidays of Passover and Easter had become the focal point for displays of hatred and the occasion for libels against Jews.
“Making Many Books”: Books as Artefacts in the Medieval Islamicate World
This lecture discusses the material aspect of the production and consumption of books as manifested mainly in book lists from the Geniza.