Black Death Jewish persecutions

History of persecutions

As the plague swept across Europe in the mid-14th century, Jews were taken as scapegoats , because they were affected less than other people.  ^{[1]  [2]}  Charges spread that Jews caused the disease by deliberately poisoning wells.  ^{[3]  [4]}

The first massacres took place in April 1348 in Toulon, France , where the Jewish quarter was sacked, and forty Jews were murdered in their homes, then in Barcelona .  ^[5]  In 1349, massacres and persecution spread across Europe, including the Erfurt massacre (1349) , the Basel massacre , massacres in Aragon, and Flanders.  ^{[6]  [7]}  900 Jews were burnt alive on 14 February 1349 in the “Valentine’s Day” Strasbourg massacre , where the plague had not yet affected the city.  ^[8] Many hundreds of Jewish communities have been destroyed in this period. Within the 510 Jewish communities destroyed in this period, some members killed themselves to avoid the persecutions.  ^[9]

Reasons for relative Jewish immunity

There are many possible reasons why Jews have been tried for the cause. One reason was because of a general sense of anti-Semitism in the 14th century.  ^[1]  Jews were also isolated in the ghettos, which meant that Jews were less affected.  ^{[10]  [11]}  Additionally, there are many other laws that have been adopted by the court, it was customary for Jews to bathe an ounce before the Sabbath, a corpse must be washed before burial, and so on.  ^[2]

Government responses

In many cities the civil authorities did not want to protect the Jewish communities or actually abetted the rioters.  ^[12]  Pope Clement VI (the French born Benedictine, Pierre Roger) tried to protect the Jewish communities by two papal bulls (the first on July 6, 1348 and another 26 September 1348) saying that those who blamed the plague on the Jews had “Devil” and “urging clergy to protect the Jews”. In this Clement was aided by the researches of his personal physician Guy Chauliac who argued that his own treatment of the Jews was not blame.  ^[13]  Clement’s efforts were in part undone by the newly elected Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperorforfeit, giving local authorities a financial incentive to turn a blind eye.  ^[14]

Aftermath

As the plague waned in 1350, so did the violence against Jewish communities. In 1351 the plague and the immediate persecution was over, though the background level of persecution and discrimination remained. Ziegler (1998) comments that “there was nothing unique about the massacres.”  ^[15]  20 years after the Black Death the Brussels massacre (1370) wiped out the Belgian Jewish community.  ^[16]

Jewish tales of Black Death in Early Modern Period

Though told for nearly 350 years, there were no written accounts of the Black Death through Jewish tales until 1696, by Yiftah Yosef ben Naftali Hirts Segal Manzpach in the Mayse Nissim. Yuzpa Shammes, as he was frequently referred to, was a scribe and shammash of the Worms community for several decades. These stories have been presented to the world by those of the past few years, and have been shown to be “wishful thoughts”. ‘”  ^[17] His neo-lachrymosis view has been that the Jews were not so sure that they took action against inevitably becoming scapegoat. Yet, it can be said that the Jews fought against the massacres, there are contradicting accounts that there is no evidence of “armed resistance.”  ^[18]  These contradicting tales display the effect of oral tradition being manipulated to fit certain circumstances. Because they were not written down for many centuries, these tales might not be conveyed by Yuzpa.

“Ordinary folk hated the Jews Because They HAD served the merchants and aristocrats, and With Their loans and With Their capital Helped suit les urban economy and the city’s governing political and territorial independence. Further, the Jews HAD exploited artisans’ with loans at usurious rates . ”  ^[19]  These Reasons gave the” ordinary folk “the motive to kill the Jews Because They Were Gaining political and social standings. Breuer aussi That included “… others saw the massacre as the revenge of impoverished Debtors contre privileged elite of Jewish Creditors.”  ^[20] They used Their crediting and loaning Endeavors as a platform for revenue earning and social Gaining, as well as, political status. A result of jealousy and This Was an Increase in anger Reviews towards the Jews Because The common folk HAD an existing hatred for the Jews As It Was.

See also

• Timeline of anti-Semitism
• Persecution of Jews
• Erfurt massacre 1349
• Black Death in medieval culture

References