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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 721: A Window into Medieval Society: The Actual and Symbolic Roles of Windows in Medieval Urban Construction

Tuesday 2 July 2019, 14.15-15.45

Organisers:Rachel Furst, Jüdische Geschichte und Kultur, Historisches Seminar, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Sophia Schmitt, Historisches Seminar, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Moderator/Chair:Ephraim Shoham-Steiner, Department of History, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva
Paper 721-aThe View from Within: Tracing the Development of Jewish Residential Restrictions
(Language: English)
Rachel Furst, Jüdische Geschichte und Kultur, Historisches Seminar, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Law
Paper 721-bChanging Views: Regulations and Adaptions in Jewish-Christian Neighborhoods
(Language: English)
Sophia Schmitt, Historisches Seminar, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Law
Paper 721-cA Window to Another World: Engaging Christian Life in Medieval Jewish Literature
(Language: English)
Ahuva Liberles Noiman, Department of the History of the Jewish People / CSOC / Franz Rosenzweig Minerva Research Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Language and Literature - Semitic
Paper 721-dDramatic Light Effects in Jewish Ritual Architecture: Windows in Medieval Mikvaot
(Language: English)
Neta B. Bodner, Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University of Oxford
Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Abstract

Legal, literary, and material sources demonstrate that windows were a critical social, cultural, and political - as well as architectural - element of medieval buildings. In the frequently crowded, cramped, and dank environs of medieval towns, windows provided buildings with vital light and air; but they also functioned as sites of connection or division between neighbors, between the home and the street, between the private and the public, and even between religious groups. Focusing on sources that pertain to the experiences of the largely urban Jewish population of the medieval German empire, this panel will examine the universal, yet often contentious, significance of windows to Jewish and Christian medieval societies.