Christians and Jews During the Crusades - Essay Example

My 25 March 2007 Christians and Jews During The Crusades This paper compares the religious traditions of Christians and Jews during the time of the crusades. Comparisons between the two religious traditions are presented on: allegorical scriptural interpretation, ideas of holy war, manuscript illumination, role of women, attitude toward slavery, acceptance of Greek science, mysticism, asceticism, view of Jerusalem, view of the religious “other”, and religious poetry. One of the important Medieval Jewish texts is the Sepher Yetzirah, a Kabalistic text from 200 A.D., which is: “...considered to be an Allegorical Parallel between the Idealism of Numbers and Letters and the various parts of the Universe, and it sheds much light on many mystic forms and ceremonies yet extant, notably upon Freemasonry, the Tarot, and the later Kabalah, and is a great aid to the comprehension of the Astro-Theosophic schemes of the Rosicrucians.” (Carnahan) Another important text is the Talmud, composed of the Mishnah and the Gemara, both written in the early Middle Ages. The Talmud contains Jewish oral law and customs, although it has not been taken as religious authority by all Jews. The manuscript Toledoth Yeshu provides a Middle Ages Jewish version of the Christian gospels, in which Jesus is seen as a false prophet who used the Ineffable Name to perform miracles (Humm). The Medieval Christians used typological allegory to connect the Old Testament to the New Testament Bible. For instance, the Old Testament was seen as prophesizing Christ’s life. In the Old Testament, Jonah was freed from the whale after three days; likewise, Jesus rose from the tomb after three days. Many other Old Testament events are linked in this way to Jesus. Illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages were mostly of a religious nature. In the case of the Christians, illuminated manuscripts were usually either the Bible or a book of prayers. Jewish illuminated manuscripts include the Padua Ashkenazi Mahor (NYPL), which is a medieval Jewish festival prayer book that reflects the customs of the Jewish community in Germany. A traditional Jewish allegory in the Padua manuscript refers to Israel as a rose. An image of a Gothic gateway is used for the Gates of Mercy. During the early Middle Ages, there was much legislation concerning Jewish ownership of Christian slaves, sometimes prohibiting the situation (Glick 33). Jewish ownership of slaves was atleast partly related to the fact that many Jewish merchants specialized in long-distance trade, including transport of slaves (Glick 45). The Christian clergy tried to prevent the loss of Christian slaves into Muslim territory as well as the conversion of Christian slaves to Judaism. Jewish law concerning slaves was that they must be converted to Judaism within a year or be released (Glick 52). This led to struggles between Jewish slave owners and the Christian clergy. The Frankish rulers of Outremer used Muslim slave labor. “Muslim slaves, including women in shackles, were a common sight” (Tyerman 117) in Outremer. During the time of the crusades, slavery began to die out in western Christendom, but the Franks in Outremer accepted the practice of slavery, which was prevalent in the Near East (Tyerman 118). In Medieval Europe, Latin was used more commonly than Greek. Knowledge of Greek science was rare for one thousand years of the Middle Ages, and was usually limited to what was translated into Arabic and then into Latin (Burns 2). A fad in Europe for Greek science and all things Greek didn’t begin until the late fifteenth century. Jews living in Muslim lands helped to translate Greek scientific works into Arabic. Jewish physicians and astronomers worked in royal courts across Europe and the Middle East, and were instrumental in transmitting Greek science into Muslim knowledge (Furst). Unlike Jews of Southern Europe, Jews in the Ashkenaz regions of northern France and Germany rejected Greek science as antithetical to their faith. Medieval Jewish mysticism included Heikhalot, and possibly the Kabbalah, although Kabbalists did not write about their mystical experiences (Segal). Heikhalot, or Heavenly Palaces, was documented in Medieval manuscripts of the early Middle Ages, or second to seventh centuries A.D. (“Ancient Greece” 3). Heikhalot mysticism involved direct communication with the divine, transcendent world, which rabbinic authorities of the Middle Ages regarded as a challenge to rabbinic Judaism. Hasidism is another form of Jewish mysticism, but did not originate until the eighteenth century. There are many sources of Christian Medieval mysticism. These include Beatrice of Nazareth, who wrote “On Seven Ways of Holy Love”. Meister Eckhart, a Christian German mystic of the fourteenth century, was charged with heresy for his mystical writings. Twelfth century Christian mystics include Bernard of Clairvaux, William of St. Thierry, and Guarric of Ignaic. Each of these sources stressed their own ideas on how to best commune with God. For instance, the mysticism of Bernard of Clairvaux is Christ centered, and did not bring him into conflict with the Church. Bernard was also the most influential advocate of the Second Crusade. He wrote to the Templars, “ ‘The Christian who slays the unbeliever in the Holy War is sure of his reward, the more sure if he himself is slain. The Christian glories in the death of the pagan, because Christ is thereby glorified‘ " (“Who‘s Who...Bernard“). which seems to be a common view of Holy War among the Christians of the Middle Ages. The Jewish view of Holy War during the Middle Ages is harder to assess, since Jewish communities were more or less scattered across Europe, and did not rise up to fight Holy Wars during this time of Crusades. There is some indication that during the Crusades, the Jewish communities along the Rhineland were relieved that the Christian mobs had gone to the Holy Land, so that Jews in the Rhineland were atleast temporarily free from attack. It is generally agreed that the sheer brutality that the Crusaders showed during the Middle Ages left a wider separation between the Jewish and Christian religious traditions. Medieval Jews were not in a position to retaliate against Christians in the same manner that Christians themselves did when they burned synagogues. Instead, Jews reacted with their own form of martyrdom, uttering curses against Christians as they died (Limor 107). In many cases Jews choose death over forcible conversion to Christianity. The Jews’ martyrdom was based on the Hebrew “kiddush ha-shem” or “sanctification of the name“, and was held as a model of religious conduct by Jews in later times. Asceticism, or the practice of renouncing comforts of society and leading a life of self-discipline as an act of religious devotion, was common during the Middle Ages among Christian religious authorities. The Christian religion can lead to asceticism, based on the Christian view that life contains fundamental wickedness and the corruption of sin (“Asceticism..”). Asceticism has been attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux. Sometimes this asceticism involved castigation, but could involve the renouncement of any other aspect of life. Although there is a history of asceticism in early Judaism, which included fasting and a hermitic lifestyle, modern day Judaism rejects it. Modern Judaism contains the idea that God created the world to be enjoyed in a spiritual way. In the Middle Ages, however, Jewish mystics were associated with asceticism. During the time of the Crusades, Jews mostly viewed the Christians in the same manner that Christians viewed them; as rivals and a challenge to their faith. Jewish practices of kosher wine, or the practice of ensuring that no non-Jewish people touch the wine, further alienated them from their Christian neighbors. Christians during the Crusades often viewed Jews as allies of Muslims; in 1187 when Jerusalem fell to the Egyptian sultan Saladin, there were calls for revenge against Jews. The following year, the Jewish community in Mainz was attacked by Christians (Glick 170). However, Frederick Barbarossa, king of Germany and leader of the Third Crusade, issued a decree of protection for Jews. Christians during the time of the Crusades mostly viewed non-Christians as infidels. This is evident even from the first crusade, which began with Pope Urban IIs speech at Clermont in 1095 to the common people of France. The goal was to guard Eastern Christendom form the Turks, and to liberate Jerusalem, especially the Holy Sepulcher, from Muslim control. The belief was that it was Gods will, that the war was a righteous fight against infidels, and the promise from the pope was that those who died in battle would be forgiven of sins. Christian Crusaders fought to free the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem from Muslim control (Limor 105). However, anyone that was an infidel, or non-Christian, was a potential victim of the religious violence. This included Jews, who some Christians viewed as Christ-killers. Jews were looted and mass murdered, particularly around the Rhineland in some instances as they hid in churches. The Jews were given the choice of baptism or death, and many Jews chose death over conversion. In addition, when the Crusaders took control of Jerusalem, they slaughtered everyone in the city. Some leaders who didnt make it to Constantinople were guilty of looting and attacks on Jews. These attacks served to enrich the armies, especially along the Rhineland. The role of women in Medieval Jewish communities was restricted by the fact that women were not allowed to be scholars (Glick 71). This prohibited Jewish women from becoming community leaders. On the other hand, Jewish women were allowed to be business partners of their husbands, often conducting business while the husband was away. Women did not usually travel. In Jewish culture at the time, a man was expected to divorce his wife if she was barren after ten years. Marriages were arranged for girls at a young age, and they were usually married by eleven or twelve. In addition, new couples usually settled near the groom’s parents, so that adjustment to new surroundings often fell to girls. In contrast, what was the role of Christian women during the crusades? During the first crusade, called the People’s Crusade, many entire families set out on the crusade. The crusades were preached as a pilgrimage (Riley-Smith 66), which entire families had made before. Many poor common people went eastward to fight the Turks, since the poor were ready to fight faster than the nobility and armies. Walter Sans-Avoir led followers from Cologne to Belgrade, where they were denied food, and began to pillage before moving on to Constantinople. Peters large army of 20,000 that came behind Walters sacked Semlin and Belgrade and killed several thousand. Peter arrived in Constantinople in 1096, but lost his treasury and a quarter of his men along the way at Nish. The Franks and Germans went on to attack Nicaea in Asia Minor. The Turks there killed most of the troops, crushing the Peoples crusade. The next wave of crusaders would be led by princes gathering at Constantinople. Similarly, in later crusades, knights sometimes left women behind for several years, and they were vulnerable to attack and even murder (Riley-Smith 72). There are examples of knights bringing their wives along on the crusade, and of a wife who went on crusade giving relics to a church. Women in Medieval France were often expected to go into battle. Women would work outside the home if the economy was good; otherwise, they were relegated to the home. Marriage was a family affair, so that a girl’s family was involved in the decision. The girl’s family was expected to provide a dowry, and this contributed to the family’s involvement in the marriage decision. Women were expected to marry unless they were leading a monastic life or on a spiritual mission like Joan of Arc (BBC). The loss of control of Jerusalem was not as devastating to Judaism as some think. By the time the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., Judaism had changed enough that the synagogue now had replaced the Temple in importance to the daily lives of Jews. This form of Judaism is known as Pharisaic or Rabbinic Judaism, referring to the fact that Jews began to view their local rabbi as the authority, and synagogue worship replaced Temple rituals (Glick 15). On the other hand, the hope of gaining control of Jerusalem, and with it the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was one of the main motivating factors of Christians for waging crusades. Christian songs during the crusades were used to deliver doctrine and provide models for crusaders to emulate (Routledge 111). The poetry of the crusade songs also expressed that the Holy Land was God’s territory, and it was the duty of Christians to restore it (Routledge 97). Other songs promised that crusaders’ souls would go to paradise. In contrast, Jewish poetry of the time of the Crusades focused on the suffering of the Jewish people, who were increasingly subject to hostility. This form of liturgical poetry served to interpret the Jewish suffering, as well as to commemorate the victims. The martyrdom related in this poetry served as a model to Jewish people. Works Cited “Ancient Greece and Beyond.” Sociologyesoscience.com. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://sociologyesoscience.com/hermetica/ancientgreece-3.html “Asceticism in Judaism.” Wikipedia. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism_in_Judaism BBC Guide to Life, the Universe and Everything. Joan of Arc and the Role of Medieval Women. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A860366. Burns, William E. The Scientific Revolution: Greek Science. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17556/934/2 Carnahan, Wolf. Sepher Yetzirah. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://wolf.mind.net/library/ancient/qabala/sephir.htm Furst, Rachel. Science in Medieval Jewish Scholarship. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ideas_belief/science/History/Medieval.htm Glick, Leonard B. Abrahams Heirs: Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1999. Humm, Alan. Toledoth Yeshu. 17 Feb 1997. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/JewishJesus/toledoth.html. Limor, Ora. A Rejected People. In The Illustrated History of the Jewish People. De Lange, Nicholas (ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1997. NYPL Digital Gallery. Illuminated Hebrew Manuscripts. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?col_id=172 Routledge, Michael. Songs. In The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. Ed. by Jonathan Riley-Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The State of Mind of Crusaders to the East, 1095-1300. In The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. Ed. by Jonathan Riley-Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Segal, Eliezer. General Issues in the Study of Jewish Mysticism. Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Rels463/index.html Tyerman, Christopher. The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. “Who’s Who In the Cathar War: Bernard of Clairvaux.” Retrieved 31 Mar 2007 from http://languedoc-france.info/120517_bernard.htm Read More