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Chapter 3 - Jews: Familiar Strangers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Miri Rubin
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London
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Summary

Chapter 3 approaches the question of urban diversity and belonging by considering the experience of a small, but distinctive group, the Jews. Through the settlement of Jews, several strands delineated in Chapter 2 are exemplified and considered: after 1000 there is notable migration from southern to northern Europe, where Jews were invited by rulers to settle and fulfil particular fiscal and commercial roles, under their protection. The concept of Jewish ‘servitude’ was useful here, as it helped define the relationship between rulers and Jewish communities under their protection. In the Iberian Peninsula, Jews were treated in this manner by Christian rulers alongside Muslims; and in central Europe they settled alongside hegemonic groups of German-speaking merchants into whose hands the kings of Poland and Hungary often entrusted urban governance. Jews were embedded in the city – protected and settled – but also retained marks of difference, in their religion, ritual language, and Jewish law courts. Sometimes they were even considered as citizens of sorts, although they could not wield judicial authority. Yet later centuries see political and commercial interests, and revivalist preachers, develop anti-Jewish narratives, negotiate expulsions, and occasionally encourage violence, like the horrific killings following the Black Death in German towns. Identity and belonging are tested in the case of Europe’s Jews.

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Chapter
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Cities of Strangers
Making Lives in Medieval Europe
, pp. 50 - 70
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Jews: Familiar Strangers
  • Miri Rubin, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: Cities of Strangers
  • Online publication: 09 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108666510.004
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  • Jews: Familiar Strangers
  • Miri Rubin, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: Cities of Strangers
  • Online publication: 09 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108666510.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Jews: Familiar Strangers
  • Miri Rubin, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: Cities of Strangers
  • Online publication: 09 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108666510.004
Available formats
×