Description
Book SynopsisFrom Halakhic innovation to blood libels, from the establishment of new mendicant orders to the institutionalization of Islamicate bureaucracy, and from the development of the inquisitorial process to the rise of yeshivas, universities, and madrasas, the long thirteenth century saw a profusion of political, cultural, and intellectual changes in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. These were informed by, and in turn informed, the religious communities from which they arose. In city streets and government buildings, Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived, worked, and disputed with one another, sharing and shaping their respective cultures in the process. The interaction born of these relationships between minority and majority cultures, from love and friendship to hostility and violence, can be described as a complex and irreducible entanglement. The contributors to Entangled Histories: Knowledge, Authority, and Jewish Culture in the Thirteenth Century argue that this admixture of
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"This is a well-conceived and compelling volume that contributes beyond the sum of its component parts. The range of topics considered makes a strong case for the distinctive 'color' of the thirteenth-century Jewish experience." * Jeremy Cohen, Tel Aviv University *
"In very large measure, the studies that comprise Entangled Histories are innovative and impressive; often they are genuinely exceptional. The perspective, quality, and originality of these essays will render the book important and attractive even to scholars who are thoroughly conversant with the literature." * David Berger, Yeshiva University *
Table of Contents
Introduction
—Elisheva Baumgarten, Ruth Mazo Karras, and Katelyn Mesler
PART I. INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITIES AND INTERACTIONS IN THE LONG THIRTEENTH CENTURY
Chapter 1. Rabbinic Conceptions of Marriage and Matchmaking in Christian Europe
—Ephraim Kanarfogel
Chapter 2. Nahmanides' Four Senses of Scriptural Signification: Jewish and Christian Contexts
—Mordechai Z. Cohen
Chapter 3. Bible and Politics: A Correspondence Between Rabbenu Tam and the Authorities of Champagne
—Rami Reiner
Chapter 4. Rabbis, Readers, and the Paris Book Trade: Understanding French Halakhic Literature in the Thirteenth Century
—Judah Galinsky
PART II. SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES
Chapter 5. The Madrasa and the Non-Muslims of Thirteenth-Century Egypt: A Reassessment
—Luke Yarbrough
Chapter 6. Jews in and out of Latin Notarial Culture: Analyzing Hebrew Notations on Latin Contracts in Thirteenth-Century Perpignan and Barcelona
—Rebecca Winer
Chapter 7. From Christian Devotion to Jewish Sorcery: The Curious History of Wax Figurines in Medieval Europe
—Kati Ihnat and Katelyn Mesler
Chapter 8. Nicolas Donin, the Talmud Trial of 1240, and the Struggles Between Church and State in Medieval Europe
—Piero Capelli
PART III. TRANSLATIONS AND TRANSMISSIONS OF TEXTS AND KNOWLEDGE
Chapter 9. Cultural Identity in Transmission: Language, Science, and the Medical Profession in Thirteenth-Century Italy
—Yossef Schwartz
Chapter 10. Matter, Meaning, and Maimonides: The Material Text as an Early Modern Map of Thirteenth-Century Debates on Translation
—S. J. Pearce
Chapter 11. Pollution and Purity in Near Eastern Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Crusading Rhetoric
—Uri Shachar
Chapter 12. Adoption and Adaptation: Judah ha-Levi's ציון הלא תשאלי לשלום אסיריך in Its Ashkenazic Environment
—Elisabeth Hollender
Notes
List of Contributors
Index
Acknowledgments
