Language:
French
Year of publication:
2012
Titel der Quelle:
Annales - Histoire, Sciences Sociales
Angaben zur Quelle:
67,1 (2012) 7-40
Keywords:
Nirenberg, David,
;
Conversion History
;
Jews History Middle Ages, 500-1500
;
Christian converts from Judaism
;
Christianity and antisemitism History To 1500
Abstract:
On the basis of recent studies on forced conversion, seeks a middle way between emphasis on Jewish suffering as a continuum and irenic Jewish-Christian coexistence in the historiography of the persecution of the Jews. Examines two famous cases: Jewish martyrdom in the Rheinland in 1096 and the conversion of "Baruch the Jew" in 1320, during the Shepherds' Crusade, in order to critically review recent attempts to rationalize the historiography of Jewish persecution. Argues that these attempts reveal a wish to dismiss affectations from historical analysis. Contrary to what could be expected, this tendency is not determined by a wish, after the Shoah, to write a history of the Jews which goes beyond persecutions, as attested by the precedence of Salo Baron's programmatic rejection of the the "lacrymonious view of Jewish history". Historians David Nirenberg and Israel Yuval, whose work is analyzed here, among others, do not base themselves on Baron and hold different views; they can, however, be gathered under a single framework since they deal with the history of forced conversions. Argues that both the critique of "the long perspective" and the correlative critique of the anachronism of a judiciary perspective, relate to the same problem of relationship with time, which in turn gives rise to a problem with the interpretation of causes. However, the rejection of the "lacrimonious history" has given rise to a choice between different temporalities. Baron focuses on the generally peaceful relationship between Jews and Christians rather than on sporadic eruptions of violence, whereas Nirenberg emphasizes localized, contextualized conflicts. Nirenberg's concern with contextualization differs radically from Yuval's decontextualized interpretations. Advocates a view which merges these perspectives.
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