Chapter 12 - Demography and Migrations

Summary

This essay begins by tracing broad patterns of Jewish demography in medieval Europe from late antiquity down into the early centuries of the Middle Ages, projecting decline down through the ninth century and the onset of growth thereafter. This growth is then traced in detailed treatment of sectors of Europe during the second half of the Middle Ages, beginning in the older centers of Jewish settlement in the Mediterranean sectors of Europe and then proceeding to the newer sites of Jewish population in the north. The essay ends by noting the impact of forcible relocation on the one hand and the evidence of voluntary Jewish population movement on the other.