The Jew in Medieval Iberia: 1100-1500 - Paperback

by Jonathan Ray (Editor)

The Jew in Medieval Iberia is an exploration of the richness and diversity of Jewish society in Christian Iberia from 1100-1500, providing a fresh look at the ways in which medieval Jews conceived of themselves and their communities, as well as their relationship to the surrounding society. The essays collected in this volume transcend older stereotypes of Christian persecution and Jewish piety to reveal a complex and vibrant community of merchants and scholars, townsmen and women, cultural intermediaries and guardians of religious tradition. Taken together, they present a portrait that adds greater nuances to our understanding of both medieval Jewish and medieval Spanish history.

Author Biography

Jonathan Ray (Ph.D. Jewish Theological Seminary) is the Samuel Eig Associate Professor of Jewish Studies in the Theology Department at Georgetown University. He specializes in medieval and early modern Jewish history, focusing on the Sephardic world. Dr. Ray is the author of The Sephardic Frontier: The Reconquista and the Jewish Community in Medieval Iberia (Cornell University Press, 2006), and a frequent lecturer on Jewish history and inter-religious relations at the Smithsonian Institution and the State Department's Foreign Service Institute.