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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1727: Negotiating Boundaries between Jews and Christians in the Urban Space of Medieval Germany

Thursday 9 July 2020, 14.15-15.45

Organisers:Tzafrir Barzilay, Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheva
Sophia Schmitt, Historisches Seminar, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Moderator/Chair:Eveline Brugger, Institut für jüdische Geschichte Österreichs, St. Pölten
Paper 1727-aCut through the Middle: Bodies, Borders, and Gender-Based Violence in Medieval Ashkenaz
(Language: English)
Avital Davidovich Eshed, Women & Gender Studies Department Tel Aviv University
Index terms: Gender Studies, Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Paper 1727-bWater Use and Social Boundaries between Jews and Christians in 15th-Century Nürnberg
(Language: English)
Tzafrir Barzilay, Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheva
Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Social History
Paper 1727-cTruth, Justice, and the Jewish Way: Restricting Violence in Late Medieval Ashkenaz
(Language: English)
Sophia Schmitt, Historisches Seminar, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Law
Abstract

The experiences of medieval German Jews were shaped by negotiations of both common and distinct spheres within their Christian environs. In this session, three different case studies show the establishment of social, communal, and legal boundaries from a Jewish perspective that were meant to preserve distinctiveness, to provide protection, and to strengthen self-conception. These boundaries constituted reactions to changes in the surrounding society and thereby reflected Christian attitudes and perceptions. As a consequence, the discussion of these restrictions likewise highlights shared spaces, everyday encounters, and Jews' scope of action within medieval urban settings.