Conflict and Religious Conversation in Latin Christendom CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND THE MIDDLE AGES General Editor Yitzhak Hen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Editorial Board Angelo di Berardino, Augustinianum–Instituto Patristico, Rome Nora Berend, University of Cambridge Leslie Brubaker, University of Birmingham Christoph Cluse, Universität Trier Rob Meens, Universiteit Utrecht James Montgomery, University of Cambridge Alan V. Murray, University of Leeds Thomas F. X. Noble, University of Notre Dame Miri Rubin, University of London Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of the book. Volume 17 Conflict and Religious Conversation in Latin Christendom Studies in Honour of Ora Limor Edited by Israel Jacob Yuval and Ram Ben-Shalom British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Conflict and religious conversation in Latin Christendom : studies in honour of Ora Limor. -- (Cultural encounters in late antiquity and the Middle Ages ; 17) 1. Christianity and other religions--Judaism. 2. Judaism--Relations--Christianity. 3. Church history--Middle Ages, 600-1500. 4. Intellectual life--Religious aspects--Christianity--History. 5. Intellectual life--Religious aspects--Judaism--History. I. Series II. Limor, Ora honouree. III. Yuval, Israel Jacob editor. IV. Ben-Shalom, Ram editor. 261.2'6'0902-dc23 ISBN-13: 9782503535142 © 2014, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. D/2014/0095/52 ISBN: 978-2-503-53514-2 e-ISBN: 978-2-503-54322-2 Printed on acid-free paper Contents Illustrations vii ‘There is no Hatred in Polemics — And Liberty is Granted’ RAm Ben-SHALom and ISRAeL JACoB YuvAL 1 Jewish Romans, Christian Romans, and the Post-Roman West: The Social Correlates of the contra Iudaeos Tradition PAuLA FRedRIkSen 23 Ecclesia and synagoga: The Changing meanings of a Powerful Pairing mIRI RuBIn 55 emicho of Flonheim and the Apocalyptic motif in the 1096 massacres: Between Paul Alphandéry and Alphonse dupront BenJAmIn Z. kedAR 87 ‘Ante omnia, fratres carissimi, diligatur deus, deinde proximus’: Herman/Judah’s Opusculum de conversione sua Re-examined HARveY J. HAmeS 99 Semantics of mohammed and Islam in Joachim of Fiore ALexAndeR PATSCHovSkY 115 vi Contents martyrdom and Sexuality: The Case of an eleventh-Century Piyyut for Hanukkah and its visual Interpretation in the Fifteenth Century SARIT SHALev-eYnI 133 Polemic and Pluralism: The Jewish-Christian debate in Solomon ibn verga’s Shevet Yehudah JeRemY CoHen 167 Christians, Jews, and Hebrew Books in Fifteenth-Century Sicily: Between dialogue and dispute nAdIA ZeLdeS 191 The Foundation of Christianity in the Historical Perceptions of medieval Jewry as expressed in the Anonymous Various Elements on the Topic of Christian Faith (London, BL, mS Addit. 27129, pp. 88b–92a) RAm Ben-SHALom 221 From Polemics and Apologetics to Theology and Politics: Alonso de Cartagena and the Conversos within the ‘mystical Body’ CLAude B. STuCZYnSkI 253 Between Calvinists and Jews in Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam YoSeF kAPLAn 277 Index 305 Illustrations Figure 1, p. 71. ‘Detail from Jacob van Maerlant’s vernacular rhymed bible’, Den Haag, kB, MS 76E16, fol. 71r. Thirteenth century. Figures 2 and 3, p. 76. Details of ‘Mirror of Salvation’ (Heilsspiegelaltar), altarpiece by Conrad Witz, ‘Ecclesia and synagoga’, Basel, kunstmuseum. c. 1435. Figure 4, p. 78. ‘Dedication image’, Speculum humanae salvationis (Mirror of Human Salvation), Glasgow, University Library, MS Hunter 60, fol. 1r. c. 1455. Figure 5, p. 135. ‘Liturgical poem for Hannukah’, Hamburg Miscellany, Ham- burg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fols 78v–79r. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. Figure 6, p. 137. ‘Martyrdom of two women who circumcised their sons’, Hamburg Miscellany, Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fol. 79r, detail. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. Figure 7, p. 138. Martyrdom of St Agatha, panel painting, Swiss School. 1473. Figure 8, p. 142. ‘Eleazar before the king’, Hamburg Miscellany, Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fol. 79r, detail. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. Figure 9, p. 142. ‘Martyrdom of Eleazar’, Hamburg Miscellany, Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fol. 79r, detail. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. viii ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 10, p. 143. ‘Martyrdom of the seven sons’, Hamburg Miscel lany, Ham- burg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fol. 79r, detail. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. Figure 11, p. 144. ‘The young son before the king/ the mother leaning over the bodies of her dead children’, Hamburg Miscellany, Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fol. 79v, detail. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. Figure 12a, p. 145. ‘The mother and the martyrdom of the seven sons/Mary and the Crucifixion of Christ’, devotional panel, Cologne, Richartz-Museum – Fondation Corboud, Inv.-Nr. WRM 340–42, upper register. Cologne, Sankt Gertrud, c. 1470. Figure 12b, p. 147. ‘Martyrdom of the seven sons’, devotional panel, Cologne, Richartz-Museum – Fondation Corboud, Inv.-Nr. WRM 340–42, upper register, right panel. Cologne, Sankt Gertrud, c. 1470. Figure 13, p. 150. ‘Miracle of the Ritual Bath’, Hamburg Miscellany, Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fol. 79v, detail. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. Figure 14, p. 155. ‘Wedding feast of Johanan’s daughter’, Hamburg Miscellany, Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fol. 80r, detail. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. Figure 15, p. 157. ‘Scenes of Judith’, Hamburg Miscellany, Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 37, fols 80v–81r. Meinz (?), c. 1428–34. ‘There is no Hatred in Polemics — And Liberty is Granted’ Ram Ben-Shalom and Israel Jacob Yuval הרוא התיה םירצונלו םידוהיל Those who know Professor Ora Limor personally may wonder what such a gentle and peace-loving woman sees in religious polemics that were violent in word and often in deed? Ora’s attraction to the field may be related to the nature of inter-religious dialogue. Identity is born of controversy — Christian identity was created through the negation of Judaism, and Jewish identity in a Christian environment entailed the repudiation of the Christian alternative. In the case of relations between Jews and Christians, the alterna- tive identity indeed posed a threat, resulting in the need for self-defence. Such clashes of consciousness and words also engender discourse, however, and not just war. They imply dialogue, and this may be what attracted Ora Limor to the field of religious polemics. In her research Ora Limor has pursued points of encounter between people and ideas. The first book she published was the account by the Genovese lay merchant, Inghetto Contardo, of a series of discussions in which he took part, in the year 1286, at the port city of Majorca, a meeting place for people from all over the world. In this edition and subsequent publications Limor demonstrated that the level of knowledge possessed by merchants and other lay polemicists in matters of faith was inferior to that of ecclesiastics, leading them to favour more mundane arguments. The general tone in such lay disputations was moderate Ram Ben-Shalom ([email protected]) is Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Israel Jacob Yuval ([email protected]) is Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Conflict and Religious Conversation in Latin Christendom: Studies in Honour of Ora Limor, ed. by Israel Jacob Yuval and Ram Ben-Shalom, CELAMA 17 pp. 1–22 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014) BREPOLS PUBLISHERS 10.1484/M.CELAMA-EB.1.102007 2 Ram Ben-Shalom and Israel Jacob Yuval and, at times, even amicable. In a number of cases, the disputants — aware of the polemical advantage of inspiring trust and establishing rapport — sought to downplay the differences between the two faiths. Thus, for example, Inghetto minimized the importance of Christian symbols such as the cross or crucifix in order to generate goodwill and receptiveness in his Jewish interlocutors.1 In her research Ora has sought the nexus between doubt, openness, and moderation. A striking example of this is her brilliant analysis of the second novel of the first day in Boccaccio’s Decameron.2 The religious disputation between the two merchants, Giannotto and Abraham, is set in Paris. Boccaccio describes the friendship between the ignorant Christian merchant and the learned and devout Jew. Giannotto is concerned that his friend will be denied entry to Heaven, due to his lack of belief in Christ. Despite his superficial theological arguments, based primarily on Christian success in conquering the world, Abraham is convinced, due to his friendship with Giannotto, to travel to Rome in order to observe the pope and the cardinals and determine whether he finds their behaviour commendable. He stipulates that he will con- vert to Christianity if he is persuaded of the probity of the Christian clergy and thereby of the superiority of Christian belief, but will remain faithful to Judaism if he observes the contrary. Boccaccio’s primary interest lay not in reli- gious polemic, but in the corruption of the higher echelons of the Church in Rome. Through the religious debate, however, we discover that Abraham the Jew makes no distinction between the substance of faith and the organization to which it is entrusted. As Abraham insists on first making a visit to Rome, Giannotto fears that his cause is lost. The narrative leads towards the conclu- sion that the wickedness of the pope and the cardinals demonstrates the inferi- ority of Christianity to Judaism. The reversal comes in the form of Abraham’s surprising decision to convert nonetheless, citing the success of Christianity in the world — despite the greed and debauchery of its leaders — as proof of its superiority. Boccaccio’s comical tale levels scathing criticism at the Christian Church, while praising the Christian faith, and unfolds in an atmosphere of religious tolerance and openness.3 1 See The Disputation of Majorca 1286, ed. by Limor, i, 17–82; Limor, ‘Three Anti-Jewish Disputations from Medieval Genoa’, pp. 83–84; Limor, ‘Missionary Merchants; Limor, Die Disputationen zu Ceuta (1179) und Mallorca (1286); Limor, ‘Polemical Varieties’. 2 Boccaccio, Decameron, ed. by Usher, p. 35 (I. 2); Limor, Jews and Christians in Western Europe, iii, 148–67. 3 Limor, Jews and Christians in Western Europe, iii, 148–67.