Judaism
Jews in the Middle Ages: Gold and thorns
· 8 min read
The Middle Ages was an era of contrasts for the Jews: the Golden Age in Spain under Islam, the Crusades, expulsions, the Inquisition, and intellectual flourishing in northern Europe.
Jews in the Middle Ages
Sefarad — The Golden Age
Under the Caliphate of Cordoba (10th-12th centuries), Jews reached their highest cultural expression: philosophers (Rambam, Ibn Gabirol), poets (Yehuda Halevi, Shmuel HaNagid), grammarians, and scientists. Andalusian Hebrew became the language of poetry.
Ashkenaz — Tosafists and Rashi
In France and Germany, Rashi (1040-1105) wrote the preeminent commentary on the Talmud and Torah. The Tosafists expanded Talmudic analysis.
Persecutions
The Crusades (1096) massacred entire communities. The Black Death (1348-1350) brought accusations of well poisoning. The expulsion from Spain (1492) scattered Sephardic Jews across the Mediterranean.
Poland-Lithuania
Jews found refuge in Poland, which became the center of Ashkenazic Judaism until the Holocaust.
Reading: Rambam (Guide for the Perplexed). Yehuda Halevi (Kuzari). Crusade chronicles. History of the Jews in Spain (Baer).
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