Language:
English
Year of publication:
2010
Titel der Quelle:
Daphnis
Angaben zur Quelle:
39,3-4 (2010) 479-517
Keywords:
Reuchlin, Johann,
;
Book burning History 16th century
;
Jewish literature History and criticism
;
Antisemitism History 16th century
;
Jews History 16th century
;
Christianity and other religions Judaism 16th century
;
History
;
Jews History
;
Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Abstract:
In 1509 the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I, issued a mandate authorizing seizure and destruction of all Jewish writings except the Bible. The mandate impelled Johannes Reuchlin to write his "Recommendation whether to Confiscate, Destroy and Burn All Jewish Books", which he submitted to Maximilian a year later. Reconstructs the history of the Jewish book pogrom of 1509-10, and the motives and arguments of all sides of the book controversy. For Maximilian, the campaign against the Jewish books was a way to end the practice of Judaism in the Empire at a time when he did not have the authority to expel the Jews. The Frankfurt city council, as well as other local rulers, opposed the campaign, mainly due to fiscal considerations. Argues that Reuchlin's "Recommendation" influenced the Emperor, but was not the main factor in rescinding the mandate; the Frankfurt council's petition contributed more to this decision. Dwells on Reuchlin's strategy of defending Jewish books in his "Recommendation". He attacked the mandate as an unlawful act, argued that missionary campaigns among the Jews would be impossible without some knowledge of the Talmud, and maintained that Jewish writings would benefit Christian thought, just as the Kabbalah had done. More important, he proposed legally stabilizing the status of Jews in the Empire. His work stands at the beginning of the 75-year-long development in which the legal position of Jewish communities in the Holy Roman Empire did stabilize and the age of banishments gradually ended.
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