When most people think of the Black Plague, the persecution of the Jews is not the first thing that enters into their mind. John Aberth, the author of The Black Death describes this unusual, unknown fact when he says “scapegoating of minority groups seems to be a common calling in times of crisis, and medieval Christian society during the Black Death was no exception” (Aberth 117). By saying this, Aberth is comparing the persecutions of the Jewish population during the Black Death to other judgments that have been laid upon minority groups throughout history. This pattern is very common during tragedies such as the plague because it is human nature, especially during this time period, to place blame on someone or something. But, why exactly did the blame of the Black Death fall on the European Jewish people’s shoulders? By focusing on the horrific treatment of Jewish people during the Plague, I will show that the Christians used the Plague to diminish their debt to the Jews, specifically by the murder of Jews throughout Europe. The Black Death, also known as the Great Mortality and Bubonic Plague, occurred during the years of 1347-1350. Although it didn’t last very long, it is said that the Plague killed over 1.5 million people in its short amount of time in activity throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death was a very gruesome and horrible disease that caused fever, headache, chills weakness, and inflammation of the lymph nodes causing the disturbing site of buboes on the neck, groin and armpits. Petrarch, an Italian Scholar, described his feelings towards the Plague as he wrote, “O happy posterity, who will not experience such abysmal woe and will look upon our testimony as a fable” (qtd. in Nohl 17). Here, P... ... middle of paper ... .... In the Wake of the Plague; The Black Death and the World it Made. New York: The Free Press, 2001. Print. Cohn Jr, Samuel K. The Black Death and the Burning of the Jews. Past and Present. August, 2007. Volume 196, Issue 1. Print. Horrox, Rosemary. The Black Death. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994. Print. Nohl, Johannes. The Black Death: A Chronicle of the Plague. Yardley: Westholme, 2006. Print. Pedro IV, King of Aragon. “Response to Jewish Progrom of Tarrega. December 23, 1349”. The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350: A Brief History with Documents. Ed John Aberth. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 142-143. Print. Stow, Kenneth. Papal and Royal Attitudes Toward Jewish Lending in the Thirteenth Century. AJS Review, Vol. 6. 1981. pp.161-184 “Moneylending”. Def. 1. Merriam-Webster Online. Merriam Webster, 2014. Web. 13 April, 2014.
In her article, “‘This Is the End of the World’:The Black Death,” which was on the New York Times best-seller list in 1978, writer and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Tuchman reports about the devastating impact of the Black Death in Europe from 1347 to 1350. [Summary] Tuchman starts her article describing the arrival of the deadly plague in October 1347 brought by Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina and its effects it has on Europe’s population (257-263). [Paraphrase] Tuchman describes about the terrible epidemic that is speculated to have emerged from China and how it is continuously spreading throughout Europe killing countless number of people (258). Tuchman names out a long list of European cities and how
"The Black Death." World Eras. Ed. Norman J. Wilson. Vol. 1: European Renaissance and Reformation, 1350-1600. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 435-438. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Some things are not as they seem. “Ring Around the Rosie” seems like a pleasant children’s nursery rhyme, but many believe it is actually a grisly song about the Black Death in Europe. The Black Death was a serial outbreak of the plague during the 1300s. During the Black Death, more than 20 million Europeans died. One-third of the population of the British Isles died from the plague. Moreover, one-third of the population of France died in the first year alone, and 50% of the people in France’s major cities died. Catastrophic death rates like these were common across all of Europe. However, just like the poem “Ring Around the Rosie”, the true effects of the Black Death differed from what many people believed. Though tragic, the Black Death caused several positive societal changes. Specifically, the Black Death helped society by contributing to the economic empowerment of peasants and disempowerment of nobility that led to the decline of manorialism, as well as by encouraging the development of new medical and scientific techniques by proving old methods and beliefs false.
Beginning with the economic level of analysis, Smith points out how accusations regarding the Jews concerning the murder of Ernst Winter generally had a common trait in that several of the accusers had either “worked for the Jews they accused or had been in close business relationships with them” (Smith 2002, 139). Smith goes on to note that these accusers often came from low-class or low-middle class citizens and consisted of “unskilled workers, day laborers, masons and a civil servant, a prison guard and a night watchman, a poor farmer and his family, a handful of apprentices, and a large number of servant girls” (Smith 2002, 139). Unsurprisingly, Smith explains that the result of such noticeable differences in the possession of wealth between Konitz citizens led to poorer Christians seeking to place blame on Jews of middle-class status; thereby creating a “rudimentary form of economic or class protest” (Smith 2002, 140). However, Helmut Walser Smith is quick to indicate that this form of analysis cannot solely provide an answer to the rise of anti-Semitic sentiment in Imperial Germany. This explanation, Smith says, is rather simple; although it is true that Christians were perhaps motivated to falsely accuse their Jewish neighbors due to their social and economic trials, not all Konitz-residing Christians were disadvantaged and not all Konitz Jews
Topic/Thesis: The main idea of this essay is to recall the events and horrors of the Black Death. This is the plague that ravaged the world from 1347 to 1352 (History.com Staff). Tuchman describes the journey of the pestilence and how it affects each country and their individual cities. Tuchman also specifically gives the death tolls of major cities and different groups that were affected. She demonstrates how the plague that struck Europe and other parts of the world resulted in filth, fear and chaos. This essay discusses and reports various personal accounts to the disaster of the Black Death. Tuchman clearly defines what forms the plague came in and how it affected different areas. She also describes the emotional and social consequences. She lays out the facts about the plague and the effects it had on the world as well as individual families and people. Tuchman also points out victims that belonged to the upper class during that time such as Queen Jeanne and historian Giovanni Villanni (296-297). In this she shows how the plague killed people of all kinds to distress the brutality of the plague.
Ibeji, Mike. “Black Death: Political and Social Changes.” BBC News. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. SIRS
Through previously analysing examples of early Christian anti-Judaism, this chapter provides an insight into the connection between early Christian anti-Judaic attitudes and the Nazi understanding of the Jews. As Ruether contends that Christian anti-Semitism originates from the ‘left hand of Christology’, it will become apparent through analysing Nazi ideology and propaganda how early Christian anti-Judaism is repeated in the Nazi depiction of the Jews. Conversely, it is counter argued by Langmuir that Nazi anti-Semitism differed from early Christian anti-Judaism and therefore was not a continuation of anti-Judaism. He contends that despite the medieval church referring to the Jews as blind to the truth and the symbol of disbelief, medieval authorities did not condone the slaughter of the Jews. Therefore, it can be argued that there is not a direct connection between anti-Judaism and the racial anti-Semitism adopted by the Nazis. In response to Langmuir’s argument, the racial hatred for the Jews expressed by the Nazis, as with any hatred, has to have an origin and a trigger point which generates the feelings of contempt. For example, Christian contempt for Jews originates from the idea that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ. Taking this into account, Langmuir’s argument is problematic and this chapter will reveal the repetition of early Christian anti-Judaism in Nazi propaganda. Although the Nazis interpreted the Jews from a racial discriminative standpoint, which was distinct to the early Church Fathers portrayal of the Jews, they used Christian anti-Judaic accusations and stereotypes of Jews to contribute to their portrayal of the Jewish race. This leads to the conclusion that the Nazis were influenced by the...
Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death; Natural and Human Disaster In Medieval Europe. New York: The Free Press/ A Division of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.
The Reconquista is commonly recognized as the time when the Christians rulers “retook” the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims. However, the significant impact the Reconquista had on the Jews living in Iberia is often disregarded. How did the standard of living for Jewish communities residing in the Iberian Peninsula shift during Muslim rule in comparison to the Reconquista and Inquisition wherein the Jews were living under Christian rule? According to several sources, Jews were tolerated under Muslim rule as their culture thrived and various cities such as Cordoba, Granada, and Toledo had large as well as prosperous Jewish communities. This changed overtime as by the 1300s, when Christians began to rule most of Spain, prejudice against Jews became prevalent. As the years passed, bigotry began to increase, the outbreak of the Black Death contributed to this discrimination because many individuals blamed the Jews for the plague. Subsequently, this hatred gained momentum in the 1400s whereby the Spanish Inquisition resulted in an abundant number of Jewish victims.
This caused a lot of controversy between the Jews and the Christians (Anti-Semitism). Laws were passed that made it hard for the Jews to partake in elements of public life (Medieval anti-Semitism). “They were forbidden from holding public office; from employing Christian servants; from doing business; from eating or having sex with Christians” (Medieval anti-Semitism). It was also even illegal for Jews to be seen in public during Christian Holy week. Violence against the Jews had begun to decrease by the 1500s, unfortunately though Jews still continued to endure persecution (Medieval anti-Semitism). “Jews still occasionally served as scapegoats, footing the blame for any problem or adversity” (Medieval anti-Semitism). The Jews were accused of many things. They were held accountable of being the ones responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, killing Christian children, causing natural catastrophes and were even accused to being the cause of the Plague that broke out in Europe in 1348 (“The Roots of the
Lapaire, Pierre J. "The Plague: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature. Ed. Lesley Henderson. 2nd ed. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.
Nohl, Johannes. 2006. The Black Death : a chronicle of the plague / compiled by Johannes Nohl from contemporary sources ; translated by C.H. Clarke. n.p.: Yardley, Penn. : Westholme ; Garsington : Windsor [distributor], 2006., 2006.
Wilensky, Gabriel. "Blaming the Jews for the Black Death Plague." Six Million Crucifixions. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. New York:
The Christian alienation of Judaism can be traced back to 1150 with the first documented accusation of a Jewish ritual murder (Smith 91). These tales of Jews killing Christians in ritual like manners quickly began to make there way into Christian folklore far before they sprouted in Germany and Prussia. According to Helmut Walser Smith in his book The Butchers Tale, he believes that, “these tales, and tales like them about other groups, provided a firm foundation for a newly constructed persecuting society” (Smith 93). Smith believes this alienation and persecution started during t...