Disruption and Resilience in Late Medieval Ashkenaz

New Book Volume for Dowload: Dialectics of Continuity and Discontinuity

Historians have long considered the later Middle Ages as a period of cultural decline in European Jewish history. As far as Ashkenaz is concerned, i.e., the area of the medieval German kingdom and its adjacent regions, pogroms and persecutions loom large in the memories of late medieval Jews and of modern historians – and rightfully so. At the same time, the first roots of later »rural Jewry« have been identified in htis very period. If we look closer, it appears that German towns and cities contined to play a role, too, even if Jews were often banned from in the major urban centers permanently and lived in nearby suburban spaces. Not least, the Ashkenazim who emigrated to northen Italy since the late-fourteenth century and to Poland during the fifteenth, laid the foundations for thriving early modern communities in these countries.

In short, Jewish history in this period appears to lend itself to analyses in terms of both »disruption« and »resilience«, of discontinuity and continuity. While it remains necessary to analyse the causes of the recurrent breakdowns of Jewish-Christian relations, it is also important to ask the simple question why not everything broke down in late medieval Jewish history, and to look out for the traces of Jewish agency in adverse circumstances. This is why the Jewish experience has been at the focus of a project in the Trier »Resilience« research group.

The present online collection of essays is a result of the resarch group’s workshops and a session at the 18th World Congress of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem in 2022.

Contents

Christoph Cluse, »Disruption and Resilience in Late Medieval Ashkenaz: Dialectics of Continuity and Discontinuity«

Jörg R. Müller, »Jews facing the ›Armleder‹ Pogroms in Franconia, 1336–1337: A New Look at Regional Court Records«

Kajetán Holeček, »When Did the Jews Leave the Town? Credit Trade and the Expulsion of Jews from Eger (Cheb) in 1430/31«

Ruth Bruchertseifer, »Die Antwort von Stadtrat und Judengemeinde zu Frankfurt an Markgraf Albrecht Achilles 1462: Strategien zur Bewältigung einer Steuerforderung zu ungelegener Zeit«

Ivo Köth, »Der Kampf um die jüdischen Bücher: Jonathan Kostheim und der jüdische Widerstand gegen den Konvertiten Johannes Pfefferkorn«

Avi Siluk, »Josel von Rosheims Schrift gegen die Blutbeschuldigung«

Annika Funke, »How to Lobby the Lords: Jewish Agency in the Condominal Power Struggles of the Early-Sixteenth Century Wetterau«

Lucia Raspe, »Jewish ›Lands‹ in Post-Expulsion Ashkenaz: The Evidence of Liturgy«


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Andreas Lehnertz (September 2, 2024). Disruption and Resilience in Late Medieval Ashkenaz. medievalJewishStudiesNow! Retrieved July 8, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/127s6


About Andreas Lehnertz

As Juniorprofessor of medieval history with a specialization in Jewish history at the University of Trier, Andreas Lehnertz studies the social, cultural, and religious history of Europe. His academic pursuits focus on the nuanced dynamics of everyday Christian-Jewish relations, the study of marginal Hebrew and Yiddish deeds, the study of Jewish and general sealing practices, and the in-depth study of Jewish craftspeople. He wrote a book on "Jewish Seals in the Medieval German Empire: The Authentication and Self-Representation of Jewish Men and Women". His expertise has been further honed through his roles as a postdoctoral fellow in the ERC project "Beyond the Elite - Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Europe" at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and as a member of the Martin Buber Society in the Humanities and Social Sciences, also at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Currently he writes a book about "Jewish Craftspeople in Medieval Germany". Through his research and publications, he aims to make a meaningful contribution to the academic discourse surrounding medieval history and to provide valuable insights into the rich tapestry of European history during this pivotal period.