Language:
English
Year of publication:
2014
Titel der Quelle:
Conflict and Religious Conversation in Latin Christendom
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2014) 191-220
Keywords:
Jews History 15th century
;
Prohibited books History
;
Antisemitism
;
Christianity and other religions Judaism 15th century
;
History
;
Christianity and antisemitism History 15th century
;
Polemics
Abstract:
Describes an increase of interest in Christian humanist circles in Sicily in regard to the Jewish presence there. To an extent, the interest in Jewish writings and the Hebrew language echoed the Italian Renaissance Hebraist movement, but it also led to attempts to deal with the reality of a local Jewish population. While there was a desire to incorporate the Jewish existence into the island’s history; there were many efforts to convert the Jews and thus eliminate their presence. Examines both trends, focusing on intellectual encounters between Christians and Jews or converts, in order to illuminate Christian-Jewish relations. In 1474, Sicilian Jews were accused of circulating "abominable" Hebrew books containing defamatory sayings against the Christian faith. The Inquisition began an investigation that ended in a compromise. The Jews were forbidden to preach, read, relate or quote from the offending books, and had to pay a large fine. The authorities agreed to proceed only against "those Jews of the realm who maintained the false opinions contained in those books in the synagogues, or preached them in public". Zeldes attempts to uncover which books were involved, and who told the Inquisition about them - positing it must have been a Jewish apostate. Suggests various possibilities.
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