History of the Jewish community

History of the Jewish community in Medieval Europe, particularly in the areas dominated by the Christian rulers and the Church, is one of outright discrimination and cruel prosecution. This paper examines the reasons behind the prosecution of the Jews in Medieval Europe, gives particular examples of their periodic prosecution and also discusses their treatment by the Muslim rulers in Spain.

The Root Cause of the Bias Against Jews

Jews had settled throughout Europe, especially in the Roman Empire long before its rulers had become Christian. Roman legal documents from the time refer to Judaism as "a well-known and lawful religion." ("History of the Jews" n.d.) Christians, unfortunately, had a much more biased view about the Jews. Although the orders for the crucifixion of Jesus was given by a non-Jew, i.e., Pontius Pilate, the governor of the Roman province of Judea, the blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of Jews. According to the account of Jesus' trial, the Jews, clamouring for the death of Jesus, cried out to Pilate: "His blood be on us, and on our children." (Ibid.) This set the stage for the prosecution of the Jews in following centuries when the Roman emperors embraced Christianity and the official pronouncements started to refer the Jewish people as the "nefarious sect."

Jews in the Early Middle Ages

By the start of the Middle Ages, most Jewish communities in Europe were concentrated in France, Germany and Spain. The West Roman Empire had already disintegrated and the Eastern Roman Empire was under assault from barbarian invasion. The East Roman emperors passed a number of laws in the early Middle Ages, such as the legislation of Justanian I (483- 565 AD) that took away civil rights from heretics and unbelievers including the Jews. The Jewish community was forbidden to practice their religion publically and were severely prosecuted. As a result, many Jews fled to the neighboring Slav and Tatar states and the Khazar khaganate in the northern Caucasus. ("Jews in the Middle Ages" 2005)

Jewish Community in the Iberian Peninsula

The Jewish community had lived relatively peacefully in the Iberian peninsula since the ancient times until the Visigothic kings who ruled Spain embraced Catholicism. It signalled the start of a wave of viciuos persecution and forced conversion of the Jews in the early 7th century that only ended with the occupation of Spain by the Arab Muslim armies in 711 AD. The Jews welcomed the Muslims and were, in turn, rewarded by the victors by briefly placing the conquered cities of Cordoba, Granada, Seville, and Toledo in charge of the Jewish inhabitants. The Muslim rulers also removed the oppressive restrictions on the Jews so heavily and granted them full religious liberty. As a result, Jewish religious, cultural, and economic life blossomed in Spain and the period until the mid-1100s is considered to be the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. The age of Tolerance ended with the invasion of Spain by Almohades in 1148 -- a puritannical sect of Muslims -- who forced Jews to accept the Islam, confiscated their property and sold many of them as slaves. ("Golden Age of Jewish Culture" 2005) The Jewish community faced a second and harsher wave of prosecution at the end of the Muslim rule in Spain when, as a result of the Inquisition, sevaral hundred thousand Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal; most of them fled to the Balkan peninsula under Ottoman Empire.

Money Lending Jews and Isolated Existence

The Jewish communities that settled in various parts of Europe usually kept to themselves (or were forced to do so by others). Most Jews became merchants and money lenders since Usury was declared illegal by the Church for Christians. Although many Jews prospered in this way, their isolated existence and money-lending role made them easy targets as scapegoats for misfortune of others.

Prosecution During Crusades

Although the Christian crusades in the Middle Ages were primarily directed against their arch enemies -- the Muslims, they frequently degenerated into massacres of an easier target -- the Jewish communities in Europe. For example, during the First Crusade in 1096 AD, the German crusaders on their way to the East, turned on the flourishing Jewish communities on the Rhine and the Danube and utterly destroyed them. Similarly, in the Second Crusade (1147) large numbers of Jews in France were subjected to massacres. ("Jews in the Middle Ages" 2005)