Treatment of Jews in the Middle Ages
Anti-Semitism has been an issue throughout history, resulting in hate and persecution of the Jewish people all around the world. Discrimination in the Middle Ages like many times in history caused a dispersion of Jews across Europe. Even through hardships and suffering, the Jewish people refused to forget their past and insisted on remembering those who suffered and died for their people, beliefs, and traditions.
From 400 CE to 1500 CE, anti-semitism reached its peak in Europe. During the Middle Ages Europe was Christian-dominated, therefore making the Jewish people a minority and greatly belittled. For Jews it was especially difficult because they were outsiders in a strictly Christian society. Medieval …show more content…
The Christians accused the Jews of using witchcraft, because of their different religious traditions. At the time, Kabbalah was a growing belief and Mysticism among Jews and used a lot of symbols which led Christians to believe that it was closely tied to Satanism (“Christian Persecution”). The Christians also accused the Jews of starting the Black Plague, and they claimed that the Jews infected the drinking water from the wells and caused everyone to get sick (“Blaming the Jews”). The issue that caused the Black Plague to spread was instead an airborne outbreak of bacteria in crowded villages and then passed from one person to another. The illness did not only affect humans but it also killed many rodents and other animals at the time. Because of the religious diet that Jews follow, many of them were not getting sick or spreading the Plague. This also helped the Christians to believe that the Jews caused it and protected themselves from the Plague by the use of witchcraft. Another beneficial factor that saved many of the Jews from getting sick was that they were separated in society and only rarely came in contact with the
Anti-Semitism has been an issue throughout history, resulting in hate and persecution of the Jewish people all around the world. Discrimination in the Middle Ages like many times in history caused a dispersion of Jews across Europe. Even through hardships and suffering, the Jewish people refused to forget their past and insisted on remembering those who suffered and died for their people, beliefs, and traditions.
From 400 CE to 1500 CE, anti-semitism reached its peak in Europe. During the Middle Ages Europe was Christian-dominated, therefore making the Jewish people a minority and greatly belittled. For Jews it was especially difficult because they were outsiders in a strictly Christian society. Medieval …show more content…
The Christians accused the Jews of using witchcraft, because of their different religious traditions. At the time, Kabbalah was a growing belief and Mysticism among Jews and used a lot of symbols which led Christians to believe that it was closely tied to Satanism (“Christian Persecution”). The Christians also accused the Jews of starting the Black Plague, and they claimed that the Jews infected the drinking water from the wells and caused everyone to get sick (“Blaming the Jews”). The issue that caused the Black Plague to spread was instead an airborne outbreak of bacteria in crowded villages and then passed from one person to another. The illness did not only affect humans but it also killed many rodents and other animals at the time. Because of the religious diet that Jews follow, many of them were not getting sick or spreading the Plague. This also helped the Christians to believe that the Jews caused it and protected themselves from the Plague by the use of witchcraft. Another beneficial factor that saved many of the Jews from getting sick was that they were separated in society and only rarely came in contact with the