The Role Of Jews In Medieval Western Christendom

While Jews certainly did prosper in medieval western Christendom - in Spain, England, France and the Holy Roman Empire - it is arguable whether this occurred during times of true Christian persecution, for this phrase implies a coherent, general and importantly, state-backed, form of oppression, which did not exist until late in the period. Indeed, even though anti-semitism did exist, the two distinct phases of Jewish prosperity during the Middle Ages were marked rather with tolerance and protection. Firstly, Jewish prowess in commerce led to a stage of mutual benefit for them and their Christian rulers, both in Reconquista Spain and the more economically backwards but fast-growing territories further north. This morphed into a niche Jewish …show more content…
Early Jewish prosperity in the older communities of the Iberian Peninsula is intimately linked to the history of the Muslim conquests of Spain from 711, Sicily in 827, the Balearic Islands in 902 and various incursions into France, and their rule’s slow dissipation. This interlude created a society in whose economy and governance Jews were comfortably integrated, and the reconquering Christian kings were more than happy to make use of this in order to strengthen their authority over extensive new territories and to make those areas economically productive. Arabic-speaking Jews were of particular use in the complicated negotiations of Muslim surrender and the resulting administrative realignments, and courtiers were often granted large tracts of land - for example the gift of Alfonso X of the flourishing village of Paterna Harah to some of his Jewish tax collectors and officials. Indeed, town charters from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries show the extent to which Jews integrated themselves into socio-economic and political life; tax exemptions and free rights of passage were granted to facilitate their trading activities. Furthermore, successive kings stood in the way of ecclesiastical attempts at persecution - despite Pope Gregory’s warning in 1081 that “you should no longer in any way allow Jews in your land to rule over Christians”, Jewish tax collectors continued to be used by Alfonso X and James I until the end of the thirteenth-century. A similar pattern of early mutual benefit can be seen in the newer Jewries of the north; it has been argued that at no time did the Jews experience better living conditions in the area than they did during the reigns of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. Jews were encouraged to settle in towns and engage in commerce; exempted from all tolls and labour