Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Reflecting on German-Jewish History
- Part I The Legacy of the Middle Ages: Jewish Cultural Identity and the Price of Exclusiveness
- 1 The Jewish Quarters in German Towns during the Late Middle Ages
- 2 Organizational Forms of Jewish Popular Culture since the Middle Ages
- 3 Criminality and Punishment of the Jews in the Early Modern Period
- 4 Jews and Gentiles in the Holy Roman Empire - A Comment
- Part II The Social and Economic Structure of German Jewry from the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Centuries
- Part III Jewish-Gentile Contacts and Relations in the Pre-Emancipation Period
- Part IV Representations of German Jewry Images, Prejudices, and Ideas
- Part V The Pattern of Authority and the Limits of Toleration: The Case of German Jewry
- Part VI Through the Looking Glass: Four Perspectives on German-Jewish History
- Index
3 - Criminality and Punishment of the Jews in the Early Modern Period
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2013
- Frontmatter
- Reflecting on German-Jewish History
- Part I The Legacy of the Middle Ages: Jewish Cultural Identity and the Price of Exclusiveness
- 1 The Jewish Quarters in German Towns during the Late Middle Ages
- 2 Organizational Forms of Jewish Popular Culture since the Middle Ages
- 3 Criminality and Punishment of the Jews in the Early Modern Period
- 4 Jews and Gentiles in the Holy Roman Empire - A Comment
- Part II The Social and Economic Structure of German Jewry from the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Centuries
- Part III Jewish-Gentile Contacts and Relations in the Pre-Emancipation Period
- Part IV Representations of German Jewry Images, Prejudices, and Ideas
- Part V The Pattern of Authority and the Limits of Toleration: The Case of German Jewry
- Part VI Through the Looking Glass: Four Perspectives on German-Jewish History
- Index
Summary
At first sight it might seem out of place to make the criminality and punishment of Jews in the early modern period the subject of an essay. That is to say, it may be unseemly to study the crimes of the victims of persecution and expulsions, of repression and discrimination, and, it might be added, of robberies and theft. Nevertheless, if it can be demonstrated that the topic enhances our understanding of Jewish-Gentile relations, then no doubt such a study is important and appropriate. The importance of the investigation of Jewish criminality can be shown by looking at the various stereotypes of the Jew. Before 1650, accusations of ritual murder, desecration of the host, and poisoning of wells were commonplace. Whereas this stereotyping was intimately connected with the role of the Christian religion in society, the traditional reproaches of usury and fraud, though not without religious underpinnings, originated basically in the world of business and commerce. The old reproach of usury and fraud continued to be leveled at Jews after 1650, but in the seventeenth century accusations like ritual murder began to be regarded with skepticism and were replaced by another, real crime.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- In and out of the GhettoJewish-Gentile Relations in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany, pp. 49 - 70Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995
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