Throughout feudal and medieval Europe, society was stricken with anti-semitic and misogynistic events. Both Jews and females suffered during this time, where scapegoating occurred regularly. Jews filled the role of scapegoats through being blamed for the killing of Christ, killing Christians and performing heretic-like acts. As a result, they have faced the brunt of European brutality, in events such as the First Crusade, Black Death, and Spanish Inquisition. As well, females were seen as inferior, gross, and in many cases witches. Many of these ideals can be witnessed in later European history. For example, anti-semitism erupted during Nazi Germany and misogynistic beliefs continued to worsen until the mid 20th Century. Hopefully with time,
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The inquisition was a period when Christians questioned others on their beliefs and loyalty to Catholicism. As a result, non-Catholics and heretics were tortured and most likely killed. During this period, Pope Innocent III ordered the elimination of the Cathars, who were a modest group of Christians. This resulted in the sack of Beziers, where all Cathars, Christians and Jews in the town were killed. One famous quote from this event is “Kill them all, God will know His own,” showing the barbarism and immorality of the crusaders. Another famous period in history is the black death, which led to the deaths of over 40 million people in Europe in just 4 years. One common belief was that the plague was caused by Jews contaminating the wells. This belief led to many pogroms occurring across Europe, such as in Strasbourg and Dresden. By the 1400’s, anti-Semitism continued to spread across Europe, and became commonplace in Spain by 1475. The newly united Spain wanted to make Christianity Spain’s only religion, and with the help of Pope Sixtus, they started the Spanish inquisition. At the start, Jews were either put into ghettos and forced to wear badges (like the holocaust), or converted to becoming Conversos (or Marranos), where they were still discriminated against. In 1492, Jews were forced to convert, be killed, or …show more content…
At the time, Europe was very patriarchal and women were not allowed to have much power. Other than being the town healers, they had no real social, economical, or political influence. Even as healers, they were not allowed to study, as men were afraid that women would become intellectuals, gain status, and undermine men. This can be witnessed in the following quote: “She who can cure, can kill”. As well, women had no place in the church outside of being nuns. Women were seen as gross, as they were born out of a ‘defected bent rib’ and menstruate. They were also seen as evil as they were associated with lying, manipulation and deceiving others. Widowed women were seen as even worse because of their reliance on men and even though could not longer procreate, had sexual desires. If women disrespected men, they were severely punished. For example, if they were behaving like a scold (one who nags), they would wear a scold’s bridle or a shrew fiddle. One major misogynistic period was the witch trials, which occurred between the 1300 and 1700’s. This event led to the death of over 300,000 people, where 85% were women. In 1485, Pope Innocent VIII officially stated that witches are real, where are even worse as redheads. These witches would fly with brooms, cast spells, use poppets (voodoo dolls), and recruit and get together on Witches’ Sabbath. The
The inquisition was a period when Christians questioned others on their beliefs and loyalty to Catholicism. As a result, non-Catholics and heretics were tortured and most likely killed. During this period, Pope Innocent III ordered the elimination of the Cathars, who were a modest group of Christians. This resulted in the sack of Beziers, where all Cathars, Christians and Jews in the town were killed. One famous quote from this event is “Kill them all, God will know His own,” showing the barbarism and immorality of the crusaders. Another famous period in history is the black death, which led to the deaths of over 40 million people in Europe in just 4 years. One common belief was that the plague was caused by Jews contaminating the wells. This belief led to many pogroms occurring across Europe, such as in Strasbourg and Dresden. By the 1400’s, anti-Semitism continued to spread across Europe, and became commonplace in Spain by 1475. The newly united Spain wanted to make Christianity Spain’s only religion, and with the help of Pope Sixtus, they started the Spanish inquisition. At the start, Jews were either put into ghettos and forced to wear badges (like the holocaust), or converted to becoming Conversos (or Marranos), where they were still discriminated against. In 1492, Jews were forced to convert, be killed, or …show more content…
At the time, Europe was very patriarchal and women were not allowed to have much power. Other than being the town healers, they had no real social, economical, or political influence. Even as healers, they were not allowed to study, as men were afraid that women would become intellectuals, gain status, and undermine men. This can be witnessed in the following quote: “She who can cure, can kill”. As well, women had no place in the church outside of being nuns. Women were seen as gross, as they were born out of a ‘defected bent rib’ and menstruate. They were also seen as evil as they were associated with lying, manipulation and deceiving others. Widowed women were seen as even worse because of their reliance on men and even though could not longer procreate, had sexual desires. If women disrespected men, they were severely punished. For example, if they were behaving like a scold (one who nags), they would wear a scold’s bridle or a shrew fiddle. One major misogynistic period was the witch trials, which occurred between the 1300 and 1700’s. This event led to the death of over 300,000 people, where 85% were women. In 1485, Pope Innocent VIII officially stated that witches are real, where are even worse as redheads. These witches would fly with brooms, cast spells, use poppets (voodoo dolls), and recruit and get together on Witches’ Sabbath. The