Medieval Automata and later Medieval Judeophobia
A widely shared sense among later medieval Christians that Jews represented a growing threat led to efforts to clearly mark or distinguish Jews. These efforts often demanded special garments or distinguishing marks on Jews’ clothes, or sought natural signs visible in the Jews’ body that would identi...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn State Univ. Press
2022
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| In: |
Journal of medieval religious cultures
Year: 2022, Volume: 48, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-20 |
| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages KBG France KBH Iberian Peninsula |
| Further subjects: | B
medieval Judeophobia
B Alonso Tostado B purity of blood B medieval automata B Albertus Magnus |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | A widely shared sense among later medieval Christians that Jews represented a growing threat led to efforts to clearly mark or distinguish Jews. These efforts often demanded special garments or distinguishing marks on Jews’ clothes, or sought natural signs visible in the Jews’ body that would identify them. When these measures failed, some fifteenth-century Spanish Christians placed their hopes on mechanical devices or automata that could clearly identify Jews, conversos, or crypto-Jews in order to effect a separation between Christian and Jewish communities. This article examines Alonso Tostado’s description of a “talking head” or automaton, inspired by one previously fashioned by Albertus Magnus, which identified any Jew who attempted to enter the town of Tábara. It traces this tradition through early modern Spanish and French literature to demonstrate the special concern to safeguard Christian “purity of blood” in Spain but absent in French sources. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-9650 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of medieval religious cultures
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