Often overshadowed by the rapid development and growth of countries in Europe after the Black Death, the underlying consequence that plagued Europe’s rebirth involved a new wave of Jewish persecution. The concurrent emergence of anti-Semitic sentiment brought about a devastating blow to the Jewish population all throughout Europe. The conclusion of the Black Death allowed for the economic flowering of European society at the expense of the Jews, where it instead served as a watershed in Christian-Jewish relations that ultimately influenced the unjust treatment of Jews for centuries to come. This culture of persecution can be understood through the analysis of preexisting attitudes of anti-Semitism in Pre-modern Europe and Europe’s gradual ease into the induction of a normative foundation for anti-Semitism in Europe in major events throughout history following the Black Death.
The period following the Black Death is often revered as a point of revival in European society due to the subsequent boom in economic activity stimulated by the survivors of the plague. The dramatic and abrupt demolition of Europe’s population left in its wake much residual wealth that ended up being used as capital in investments (Chang “Hysteria and Ethnic Scapegoating in Spain”). From this newfound access to the surplus of capital, people turned to the arts and became patrons of artists and musicians, which evoked a spirit of artistic advancements during the Renaissance. This period also oversaw the gradual appearance of a burgeoning middle class that combatted the outdated two-tier system of nobles and peasants.
Even before the Black Death, it was not uncommon for Jews to be persecuted. Since Biblical times, the Jewish people have born the brunt of persecution for centuries. Back then, Christians had held them accountable for the death of Christ, and from then on, “the Jew has appeared in its central story as the enemy of Christ” (Nicholls 1). This image of the Jews as the killers of Christ perpetuates and validates acts of discrimination against Jews, which appear to have persisted throughout the centuries (Nirenberg 246). Although they were no strangers to persecution in the events that led up to the advent of the Black Death, the scapegoating of the European Jewry created an environment where the seeds of contempt and suspicion that had always existed in certain elements of European society were validated (Chang “Hysteria and Ethnic Scapegoating in Spain”).
Upon the Plague’s arrival in southern France and Spain in 1348, organized mob attacks on Jews, pogroms, began breaking out. The rationale behind these bouts of violence were masked under accusations of well poisoning made against Jews, suggesting that they were the ones responsible for the onslaught of the Black Death (Aberth 141). Outbreaks were especially prominent in places with a greater concentration of population of Jews, in places where the Jewish population enjoyed a considerable amount of wealth in relation to their Christian counterparts (Kamen 512). Their surplus in wealth allowed them to live comfortably whilst being able to supply loans for the lesser fortunate. In fact, a considerable amount of their clients included the exact same people that were involved in the acts of terror against Jews, which is indicative that the altruism towards Jews was economically motivated.
It is very likely that the massacres may have been the revenge of impoverished debtors against the privileged elite of Jewish creditors, as it has been noted that the Jewish moneylenders would often exploit artisans “with loans at usurious rates” (Kamen 514). Whatever the case, the existence of the pogroms is symptomatic of the residual feelings of resentment towards the Jews that had previously mainly existed within the margins of society but were now starting to infiltrate the culture of mainstream Europe. The accusations prompted by normal civilians and the placidity of the authorities as all these events took place sanctioned a culture of persecution that had been “festering on the margins of European society” (Chang “Hysteria and Ethnic Scapegoating in Spain”).
Without an authoritative voice to supply an explanation for the symptoms and causes of the plague, people turned to religion for answers, and thus, religious belief greatly influenced the 14th century reasonings for the plague (Foa 213). Among the many rationalizations that people came up with, the most common was that God was punishing them for scandalous dress. To appease him, some Christians would go through desperate measures, often turning to flagellation, or self-punishment by flogging or beating oneself. The flagellants became the most outspoken proponents in blaming the Jews for the Black Death (Nirenberg 246). Figures of religious authority like Pope Clement VI further perpetuated this belief. In his Papal Bull in September of 1438, he wrote “’this pestilence with which God is affecting the Christian people’” (Foa 216).
Despite the Catholic Church disapproval for the flagellants going after Jews, the papacy was still guilty of persecuting the Jews. The papacy had enacted a law that required Jews to wear distinctive clothing in order to set them apart from Christians. (I need to extend this paragraph and find more evidence.)
Although the accusations originated from the common people, the persecutions only reached the magnitude it did because those in power essentially turned a blind eye to the terrorization of the European Jewry. The baseless allegations were fueled and backed by medical authorities that supported the belief that “enemies of Christianity could be responsible for the disease through poisoning of water or food” (Aberth 140). In many places, the civil authorities did little to protect the Jewish communities. Royal response to the situation in Spain left something to be desired, which further perpetuated the persecuting culture. Not only was their reaction long overdue, the authorities basically pardoned the wrongdoings that occurred during the anti-Semitic pogroms through “symbolic rebuke” (Chang “Hysteria and Ethnic Scapegoating in Spain”). No one was held accountable for the injustices carried out.
The basis of many historians who reject the notion that the Black Death served as a “point of no return” between Christian and Jewish relations focuses on Spain. They propagated the argument that because large Jewish communities persisted to exist after 1348, concurrently with the persecution of Jews, the dissension among Jews and Christians were isolated incidents “punctuated by long periods of harmonious relations” (Aberth 141). They also point out that major figures of authority refused to blame the Jews and that some even took it upon themselves to defend them. Pope Clement the VI, who was mentioned earlier on, did believe that the plague was a result of God’s displeasure with the Europeans; however, he was quick to contradict claims against Jews and announced in the papal bulls that the plague was not caused by the Jews. He proclaimed that the plague “afflicted and afflicts the Jews themselves and many other races who have never lived along- side them” (Nirenberg 247). He also decreed that not a person should “dare (on their own authority or out of hot-headedness) to capture, strike, wound or kill any Jews or expel them from their service on these grounds” (Nirenberg 248). He threatened to excommunicate anyone who did not follow his wishes and also tried to persuade those if there were any truth to the accusations, to use the judicial and law systems instead of vigilante justice and outrage.
(I still need to find evidence for my rebuttal against the first part of the counterargument and I still need to strengthen the second part…)
Although such figures did exist, their backing for the European Jewry was simply not enough to curb the animosity fueled by fear and hysteria among the Christian population. This along with damning confessions from tortured Jews set the situation ablaze. One of the most convincing confessions came from Agimet, a Jewish man from Geneva. After enduring on and off torturing to varying degrees, he confessed to taking part in the poisoning of the wells, at one point even deluding himself by creating characters for his confession. A similar confession was elicited out of another Jew by the name of Balavigny. After being subjected to various methods of torture, Balavigny supplied a confession that was eerily similar to Agimet’s in that it also included delusions of a Rabbi who had sent him to distribute poison to various water sources. To further the credence to his confession, Balavigny was a well known surgeon in his aljame. In some towns, these confessions called for drastic action on the part of Christians who rounded up Jews and committed mass murders (Kamen 147). These confessions heavily outweighed the opinions and advices of religious leaders.
Following the events of the Black Death, anti-Semitism continued to be a thematic root during the advent of the Spanish Inquisition of 1478. During this period, many parallels can be drawn to the situation the Jewish population was subjected to only a bit over a century ago. Yet again, we find that the Jews’ financial stability created a rift between the Spanish and them (Nicholls 15). This time, however, it was at the hands of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella that the aversion against Jews took flight. (From this point on, I will begin discussing anti-Semitic sentiment in the aftermath of the Black Death and how the treatment of Jews has gone downhill since then.)