Language:
English
Year of publication:
1987
Titel der Quelle:
Comitatus; a Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
18 (1987) 34-44
Keywords:
Jews
;
Judaism Relations
;
Christianity
;
Christianity and other religions Judaism
;
Christian art and symbolism
Abstract:
The attitudes of French abbots in the controversy over the size and ornateness of Church buildings were influenced by their dealings with Jews. The 12th century was a period of growing intolerance aggravated by the Second Crusade, controversy over Pope Anacletus' Jewish descent, and the monastic orders' campaign against usury. Abbot Suger of St. Denis, dependent on Jewish loans and taking Solomon's Temple as an example for his building program, adopted a relatively mild attitude towards the Jews, expressing hope for their conversion. The Cistercian critic of lavish sacred art, Bernard of Clairvaux, argued that it resembled "idolatrous" Old Testament worship. Bernard accused the Jews of deicide and coined the verb "judaizare" for usury. Peter the Venerable was forced to carry out an austerity program and pawn sacred objects to Jews. His hostility to Jewish "heretics" on the eve of the Second Crusade may reflect these circumstances.
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