Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:21:38.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - Medieval Church Doctrines and Policies

from Part I - Jews in the Medieval Christian World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2018

Robert Chazan
Affiliation:
New York University
Get access

Summary

The four canons of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 regarding Jewish matters drew heavily on earlier ecclesiastical material and touched on fundamental issues concerning Christian-Jewish relations. Subsequently they were included in Gregory IX’s definitive collection of canonical material, the so-called Decretals, of 1234. As such they constitute an excellent platform from which to embark on an in-depth examination of medieval Christian policies and doctrines concerning Jews and Judaism. The topics covered by the canons included the complexities surrounding Jewish conversion to Christianity, the vexed problem of Jews having any kind of authority over Christians, Christian concerns about Jews and Judaism contaminating Christian society and mocking the Christian faith and as well as the fraught issue of Jewish usury (in the medieval sense of charging interest) and Jewish liability for tithes. The analysis of ecclesiastical rulings on these issues demonstrates how ambiguous ecclesiastical policies and doctrines on Jews were. Jews were excruciated for their lack of Christian belief; at the same time they were protected because they were deemed to play a theological role in Christian society by being Jewish. For lay rulers Jewish usefulness in providing linguistic, medical and administrative services and taxation on their economic activities often weighed more heavily than ambiguous theological considerations.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×