Jewish Life in Medieval Spain: A New History PDF
Preview Jewish Life in Medieval Spain: A New History
Jewish Life in Medieval Spain JEWISH CULTURE & CONTEXTS (JCX) A broadly interdisciplinary series published in association with the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies of the University of Pennsylvania. List the volumes available in the JCX series. Series Editors: Francesca Trivellato Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study Shaul Magid Distinguished Fellow in Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College Steven Weitzman Abraham M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures Ella Darivoff Director of the Katz Center of Advanced Judaic Studies Jewish Life in Medieval Spain A New History Jonathan Ray University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia Copyright © 2023 University of Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. Published by University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104- 4112 www .upenn .edu /pennpress Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A Cataloging-in-Publication record is available from the Library of Congress Hardcover ISBN 978- 1- 512- 82383- 7 eBook ISBN 978- 1- 512- 82384- 4 CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter 1. At the Edge of the West: Jewish Life in al- Andalus 11 Chapter 2. Spanish Jewry in Transition 55 Chapter 3. Conflict and Confluence in the Thirteenth Century 82 Chapter 4. Jewish Society in the Fourteenth Century 125 Chapter 5. Death and Taxes: Riots, Plague, and Debt in the Mid- Fourteenth Century 168 Chapter 6. 1391: Riots, Conversion, and the New Status Quo 195 Chapter 7. Jewish Society in the Fifteenth Century 225 Epilogue 267 Notes 273 Bibliography 305 Index 325 ATLANTIC OCEAN Ebro Saraqusta Duero (Saragossa) N Barcelona Guadalajara Tajo Toledo Guadiana CóMrdéoribdaa Guadalquivir VaDleennicaia MEDITERRANEAN SEA Seville Cabra Jaén Lorca Lucena Granada Málaga Almería Algiers Qayrawan Fez Tlemcen MAGHREB 0 100 200 mi 0 100 200 300 km Sijilmasa Map 1: Jewish Spain, Tenth–Twelfth Centuries ATLANTIC OCEAN N MontpelLliuenrel CE N NAVARRE E V O Valmaseda PR Perpignan OCSuaorGenmnAtRipsaSLieCobgaIisaConuStd edIadMaAlnaeavudtiiña aRogozoTda drmieg aolManP ePeTasZudoraSeieMrnLmarbdCeeailleraoaamó Tadsmsrenn aeto xadadlMreV ñnmCeadaoac adNloarnaTlmAaejoalCóedgMvpranVóoouaomainlilMidllTdaaprorádói SgrPqdiodeeaaueÁPepglleevesúBodBñiinMSllrlaualvacieavae riigsatiaddMerdonrasaEeiivBdgDcdr biauEaEaoauInbjrrleeglodNreMrSaoooasái gedscjedaGüersi eLuHTanSlPHounuaoaaacsziddcrrt roaioCaeaeeaUllMadlCalaLcibAejaooVlBAaasBlélMglifraulliasaoablnrtrEenarorabaaosDjrlayñalr táoCédruaeogsanuerFSldulcoP TeuaaAíeacaTnnnnCrnamarc eaaAauaagspzrdsoioltñroFAenniHeuánnAanneuaeMlTaSnaenSeAJeogtsaétrMegcMnoóRurrsaaPoitnoecAoSagirBlnnaáAnbloGabzastelsróáctcOFbsaCanlnrauagñaaCNssogsiaStztarBsMaeopTdoglaaleeSróLuemVrTV al Lnileà aaTnil CailatirlotnatdolrresA Tr-ieaMatrrtaSgTeaeoreaaAarsgtaClaPeLrgeueuOori vgnNecareIaArdFBàigeSMsVuBaVaMaeaVnaAlillrúicrltollerecoaabnses frCóCprtclGoaboasaiPnninllsraMeoocotanremasnaacl alaldlaólaoe d ddrla ceP’MEa eQminnupeoedúrrcèaraislets Tajo Toledo OLcaa Gñuaardia Ciudad VdeA VLaEleNnCciIaAMorvedre MALLORCA GuadalupeCASTILE Cáceres Calatrava Xàtiva Ibiza Guadiana Ciudad Real Elche MEDITERRANEAN Llerena Andújar Úbeda Murcia GuadalquiviCrórdoba Jaén Lorca SEA Écija Cabra Seville Carmona Granada Alcolea Cities/large towns Rhonda Málaga Villages/small towns Jerez de la Frontera 0 50 100 mi 0 50 100 150 km Map 2: Jewish Spain, Thirteenth–Fifteenth Centuries Introduction Perhaps no chapter in the history of the Jewish people has fired the imagi- nation as much as that of the Jews in medieval Spain. From the ninth to fif- teenth centuries, Jewish artisans, merchants, physicians, and scholars lived throughout the Iberian Peninsula, flourishing under both Muslim and Christian rule. They established a wide array of communities, both large and small, that were among the most culturally vibrant and intellectually pro- lific in the medieval world. The very name of Jewish Spain, “Sepharad,” con- jures up romantic notions of a golden age of Jewish life—a world of poets and philosophers, spice merchants and rabbis. The eventual downfall of this fabled society is also bound up with some of the most dramatic, and infa- mous, events in Jewish history, such as the rise of the Spanish Inquisition and the final expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. But the cultural tri- umphs of the Jews of Spain—and the collective tragedies that put an end to their world—can only be appreciated properly in their social-h istorical con- text and as part of the lived experience of the Jews themselves. Daily life in medieval Spain could, in fact, vary significantly for different sectors of Jewish society. This book tells the story of that society, attempting to recover some of these differences and thereby to enrich our understanding of the Jews of medieval Spain. Jewish History in the Shadow of Convivencia The prevailing outline of Jewish history in medieval Spain was established more than fifty years ago by two European-b orn Israeli historians: Eliyahu Ashtor and Yitzhak Baer. Drawing on nearly a century of pioneering schol- arship, Ashtor and Baer each wrote monumental, multivolume histories of
The list of books you might like
