All posts by Birgit Wiedl

About Birgit Wiedl

Forschungsschwerpunkte: Jüdisch-christliche Interaktion und Alltagsgeschcihte, Kulturtransfer, Geschichte des Antijudaismus, Quellen zur Geschichte der Juden im Mittelalter, Stadtgeschichte, Historische Hilfswissenschaften Lehre an den Universitäten Wien, Klagenfurt, Salzburg und Graz Habilitation für das Fach Mittelalter 2016 (Universität Graz)

Jewish Studies at Kalamazoo

As of Thursday, the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies starts at the Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. The rich program features in-person, hybrid and virtual sessions, among which three sessions are dedicated to Jewish Studies, organised by Steven McMichael and Birgit Wiedl.

On Thursday, two virtual sessions will be on Converting Identities: Jewish Converts in the European Middle Ages, with papers by Adrienne Williams Boyarin, Eveline Brugger, Emilie Amar-Zifkin and Jessie Sherwood on Ashkenaz (session 89, 1:30 pm) and Ruben Gregori, Amina Boukail and Barbara E. Logan on Sepharad (session 138, 3:30 pm); and for those of you who actually made the journey, the session on Jewish Christian Interaction will be on Friday, 10:00 am in-person (session 182, Schneider Hall 1245), with papers from William Quinn, Emma Baer-Simon, Kristin Skottki, Michail Kitsos and Deborah Thompson.

New Book, open access: Volume 5 of the Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Österreich (German)

The authors Eveline Brugger and Birgit Wiedl are very happy to announce that volume 5 of “Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Österreich im Mittelalter”, which covers the timeframe from 1405 to 1418, is now availabe for free download in pdf format.

The printed book (StudienVerlag, Innsbruck and Vienna) will be available shortly.

Meet the Board

Hannah Teddy Schachter

Doctoral Student, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Research Fellow, “Contending with Crises: The Jews and the 14th Century” (PI Elisheva Baumgarten)
Rotenstreich Fellow, Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities

Current Project: “Blanche of Castile, Queen of France (1223-1252), and the Jews”

(English/Français)

“I am interested in how Jews engaged with monarchies and courtly culture in the European Middle Ages, with royal women as a particular focal point. Currently, my doctoral project explores the relationship between Jews and queens in 13th-century northern France, weaving together royal administrative sources, chronicles, Jewish and Christian art, responsa literature, and Hebrew narrative accounts, and providing a case study on Blanche of Castile, Queen of France from 1223-1252.

Continue reading Meet the Board

Online Talk by Amina Boukail on “Jews of Algeria in Light of Modern Studies: Major Trends and New Horizons”

Tuesday, 25 October, 1:00-2:30 pm EDT (so 6:00 pm UTC)

In her (virtual) talk at the University of Michigan, organzised by the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, Amina Boukail (University of Jijel-Algeria) is going to offer a critical examination of the contemporary research on Algerian Jews from the medieval times onwards, and will address questions such as current trends and new interdisciplinary avenues, but also desiderata and still existing taboos.

Join the talk here (registration required)

Jewish Studies sessions at the IMC Leeds

The International Medieval Congress is back at the campus at Leeds, and with it many sessions and papers on Jewish Studies.

After a cancellation in 2020 and an online version in 2021, the IMC Leeds is (partially) back to being in-person and will start tomorrow, July 4 2022. As always, there are a multitude of papers on a great variety of topics within the Jewish Studies.

Continue reading Jewish Studies sessions at the IMC Leeds

Researcher of the Week

Emilie Amar-Zifkin

PhD Candidate
Yale University, Department of Religious Studies (Judaic Studies)
Primary Advisor: Prof. Ivan Marcus

“My PhD project, ‘Observing the Observers: Procession and Public Religion in Medieval Ashkenaz,’ brings together spatial, sensory, and performance studies in its examination of Jewish-Christian interaction in public spaces. The analysis considers questions of sensory perception and identity, while remaining sensitive to how medieval Jewish-Christian conflict and coexistence have been variously exaggerated, overlooked, or misrepresented. Drawing on my background in technical theatre, I conceptualize medieval towns and their Jewish quarters as stages: constructed spaces with their own visual, gestural, and social languages. These are the stages upon which the drama of Jewish-Christian interaction unfolded – the roles of audience, actor, and hands behind the scenes ever-changing, watching the performed identities of the inevitable Others in their midst.

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Comprehending Antisemitism through the Ages: A Historical Perspective (Volume 3 of the series An End to Antisemitism) has been released.

The volume, edited by Armin Lange, Kerstin Mayerhofer, Dina Porat, and Lawrence H. Schiffman traces the history of antisemitism, documenting the religious, sociological, political and economic contexts in which antisemitism thrived and thrives.

The medieval section contains chapters by Robert Chazan, Kerstin Mayerhofer, Sara Offenberg, and Birgit Wiedl.

The chapters can be downloaded individually (or get the whole book, or the entire series)!

Researcher of the Week

Dean A. Irwin, PhD

Independent Researcher

“My PhD thesis examined the records generated by Jewish moneylending activities in England between 1194 and 1275-6. During this period, the Crown which required that every time a Jew lent money to a Christian(s) a record was to be produced detailing the particulars of the transaction. This was to be done upon the instrument of a chirograph, part of which was to be retained by the Crown in one of a series of archae which were established at strategic urban locations across the country.

Continue reading Researcher of the Week