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The Jews in Western Europe [Enter]
1400-1600
Translated and edited by John Edwards

As European politics, society, economy and religion underwent epoch-making changes between 1400 and 1600, the treatment of Europe's Jews by the non- Jewish majority then was, as in later periods, a symptom of social problems and tensions in the Continent as a whole.

Through a broad-ranging collection of documents, John Edwards sets out to present a vivid picture of the Jewish presence in European life during this vital and turbulent period. Subjects covered include the Jews' own economic presence and culture, social relations between Jews and Christians and the policies and actions of Christian authorities in Church and State. He also draws upon original source material to convey ordinary people's prejudices about Jews, including myths about Jewish 'devilishness', 'money-grabbing', and 'ritual murder' of Christian children.

Full introductory and explanatory material makes accessible the historical context of the subject and highlights the insights offered by the documents as well as the pitfalls to be avoided in this area of historical enquiry.

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CONTENTS:
General introduction:
Jews as Europeans in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
I: The Church and the Jews
 1. The New Testament and the Jews
 2. Pope Gregory IX's attack on the Talmud
 3. Inquisitors and the Jews
 4. The 'Jew' defined
 5. The Inquisition and Jewish converts in Spain
 6. A Venetian Jew on trial
 7. Pope Julius III's attack on the Talmud

II: Expulsion of the Jews:
Spanish persecutions and expulsions
 8. Pogroms in Spain, 1391
 9. Local expulsion from Toro, 1404
 10. Expulsion edict, 1492
 11. Jews convert
 12. The Jews depart from Spain, 1492
 13. An offer of return, 1492
 14. Messianism among the Jewish Christians
 15. Trial of the 'Messianic' Jew:
       Portuguese persecutions and expulsions
 16. Expulsion
 17. Returnees and the converts' malaise: the case of Ganzalo de Vargas
 18. Massacre of New Christians in Lisbon
 19. The voice of the converso
 20. The Rabbis on conversion:
       Other European expulsions
 21. Bohemia, 1427
 22. Italy, 1504

III: Jews in the European economy
 23. The Jewish stereotype: Spain, 1492
 24. Economic laws: Spain, 1412, 1432
 25. The Jew as royal tax-farmer: Spain, 1488
 26. The Jew as moneylender: Italy, 1479; Spain, 1480
 27. The Jew as lawyer: Spain, 1488
 28. The Jew as royal treasurer: Spain, 1488
 29. The Jew as physician: Italy, 1462, 1474
 30. Papal taxation of Jews: Italy, 1472

IV: Jews in European society
 31. Social laws in Spain: 1412, 1432
 32. Jewish dress and badges: Spain, 1491
 33. Sunday travel by Jews: Spain, 1482
 34. A Jewish kidnapping: Italy, 1434
 35. Separation of Jews from Christians: Spain, 1477, 1492; Italy, 1434
 36. Attempted starvation of Jews: Spain, 1484
 37. Racial laws against Jewish Christians: Spain, 1449; Portugal [undated]
 38. Ritual murder accusations: the story of Simon of Trent, Italy, 1475
 39. Ritual murder accusations: the story of the 'Holy Child' of La Guardia, Spain, 1491

V: Jews in the Reformation
 40. A Christian Hebraist: Johann Reuchlin
 41. Martin Luther on the Jews
 42. Jean Calvin on the Jews

VI: Jews in European culture
 43. Jewish preaching: Spain and Italy
 44. Rabbinical scholarship protected by the Pope: Italy, 1519, 1530
 45. The Jews as alchemist: Germany, 1472
 46. The Jews, religion and art: Italy, 1491
 47. Jews and the Roman carnival, 1472
 48. Life in the Roman Jewry, c.1520
 49. The Jew and the Renaissance: Italy, 1571-1600
Glossary
Bibliography

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