RLST 458

Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

Examines the complex relations between Christians and Jews in Europe from the high Middle Ages through the Enlightenment. Among our topics are the religious and social roots of medieval persecutions of Jews; the history of Jewish banishments; construction of myths to foment hostilities; Renaissance humanism (especially the Christian absorption of Jewish scholarship); the impact of the Christian reform movements, both Protestant and Catholic, on the status of Jews; mercantilism and the re-admission of Jews; and the emergence of a discourse of religious tolerance in the Enlightenment.

Same as HIST 458. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.