Anti Semitism in Medieval Europe For centuries Jews had

been a vulnerable minority in Europe. Their vulnerability became particularly evident in the eleventh century when Pope Urban II called for a crusade to liberate Jerusalem from the control of Islam. The crusade got underway in the summer of 1096, but before the crusaders left for the Holy Land, they set out to remove enemies from their homeland.

Murder at home The accumulated hatreds and fears resulting from charges of deicide and usury

exploded in the Crusades. In the eleventh century, Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem were persecuted by the ruling Muslims, who also defiled the most sacred of Christian churches, then Church of the Holy Sepulcher, site of the Resurrection and tomb of Jesus.

Crop failure, famine, and plague created a surge of religious passion; in a prescientific age natural disasters were seen as the wrath of the Lord. To appease God, the holy places must be redeemed. The pope promised salvation to those who would slay the offending Muslims.

Local priests reminded the faithful that the most terrible enemies of Christ were permitted to live and prosper in the very midst of Christian civilization. “First avenge the crucified,” a monk wrote, “then go off to fight the Turks.” As a contemporary noted, the Crusaders “exterminated by many massacres the Jews of almost all Gaul, with the exception of those who accepted conversion,” deeming it “unjust to permit the enemies of Christ to remain alive in their own country, when they had taken up arms to drive out the infidels abroad.”

The abbot of Cluny asked why Christians should travel to "the ends of the world to fight the Sarcens, when we permit among us other infidels a thousand times more guilty toward Christ than the Mohammedans?”

Religious passion, greed, and the vulnerability of Jews led to the rise of violent mobs who murdered thousands to the cry of conversion or death. It seemed just that the wealth of blasphemers should fall to those who did the work of the Lord.

Anti-Jewish Myths Evolve in the Middle Ages

During the centuries of the Crusades, myths about Jews circulated, helping to heighten popular hatred and fear of Jews. It became commonplace among Christian groups to think of Jews as agents of Satan. Images of the satanic Jew adorned cathedral courtyards and town squares of Europe where “miracle” plays presented the life, death and Resurrection of Christ.

Take, for example, the dramas of Oberammergau (also known as the Oberammergau Passion Play): Jews were depicted as demons who knew full well that Christ was the son of God. While Christ carries the cross, he is tortured by bloodthirsty, cursing devils with hooked noses, horns and tails. The Jews were made to seem as evil as Christ was divine.

Anti-Semitic pamphlet with illustration of ritual murder of a Christian boy by a Jew.

The Myth of the Blood Libel

A popular anti-Jewish myth that gained widespread acceptance was the notion that Jews murdered Christians because they needed blood to perform satanic rites—the charge of ritual murder or blood libel.

It was believed that Jews, usually led by rabbis, kidnapped Christian children on Jewish holidays in order to bleed them to death for occult rituals.

The Myth of Jews Poisoning Wells The Black Plague in the

middle of the fourteenth century killed approximately one-third of the population of Europe. At the time, it was not known how the illness spread, but stories and rumors circulated that Jews had poisoned the wells. The accusation was totally unfounded. Nonetheless, many Christians believed the myth.

The Myth of Jews Poisoning Wells This accusation led to severe consequences for Jews. More than

sixty Jewish communities were burned to the ground with all their occupants killed. In cities in Switzerland and Germany—Basel, Cologne, Strasbourg, and Mainz—Jews were tortured and, in some cases, burned to death in bonfires. Christian writers rationalized the attacks on Jews, claiming that Jews deserved death for killing Jesus and for taking unfair economic advantage of Christians.

Economic Factors Contributing to Hatred of Jews in the Middle Ages

In the late Middle Ages, many of the guilds which regulated trades and crafts excluded Jews. One of the few professions open to Jews was lending money for interest, a practice considered a sin for Christians. Jews also served as middle men for landowners, collecting taxes from their serfs and carrying out administrative tasks. The association of Jews with these activities increased Christian antipathy for, and suspicion of, Jews. These negative notions about Jews have persisted to the present even though Christians now engage in these activities, and Jews have gained access to many trades formerly restricted to the Jewish community.

The Fourth Lateran Council Pope Innocent III convened

the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. The Council set forth a number of regulations that would make Jews identifiable in Christian society.

In France, Jews were to wear yellow badges, often round in shape. In Germany, Jews were required to wear pointed hats. In addition, Jews were banned from holding public office and were forbidden to appear in public during Holy Week. Jews were also required to pay a tax to their local Christian clergy.

Stained Glass Windows: Church and Synagogue Stained glass windows in the Elisabeth Church in Marburg, Germany. Depicts the Church as triumphant, the Synagogue as blind and fallen.

Twelfth Century dress of a commoner (left), a Jew (middle), and a knight (right). Note the obligatory pointed hat that is part of the Jew's attire. From The History of Costume, By Braun & Schneider - c.1861-1880, Plate #15d - Twelfth Century.

Effect As a result of these practices, the foundation of

Anti-Semitism or prejudice against Jews, were laid

Gradually, Christians blamed Jews for all kinds of misfortunes

In time, Jews migrated to Eastern Europe, where they set up communities that survived until modern times