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  • Lessons in Contempt: Poul Ræff’s Translation and Publication in 1516 of Johannes Pfefferkorn’s The Confession of the Jews by Jonathan Adams
  • Joseph M. Gonzalez
Jonathan Adams. Lessons in Contempt: Poul Ræff’s Translation and Publication in 1516 of Johannes Pfefferkorn’s The Confession of the Jews. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2013. Pp. 353

Jonathan Adams’s background as a scholar of medieval Scandinavian languages and early modern Hebraism make him uniquely qualified to undertake this translation of one of Denmark’s earliest printed books, Poul Ræff’s translation of Pfefferkorn’s The Confession of the Jews. Adams is a linguist, and his skill as a translator of multiple languages and his deep sensitivity to the meanings of words enrich the resulting text. His [End Page 370] choice of text in this case is guided by his interest in understanding the development of medieval and early modern Scandinavian views of Jews. To this end, he begins with a chapter that examines depictions of Jews in late medieval art and literature in Denmark, and the writings of St. Birgitta to demonstrate the role of the Christian church in elaborating and promoting a negative portrayal of Jews as the persecutors of Christ.

Chapter 2 is focused on the German author of The Confession of the Jews, Johannes Pfefferkorn, and the publisher of the Danish translation, Poul Ræff. Pfefferkorn was a Jew of obscure origins who converted to Christianity and became associated with the Dominicans in Cologne. They collaborated with him in the production of The Confession of the Jews, which was first published in German in 1508, and in Latin, under the title Iudeorum Secreta, a little later that same year. Adams has managed to exhume what little is known of Pfefferkorn’s life and, in particular, to illuminate the role he played in the controversy that raged in the church in the second decade of the sixteenth century between the defenders of the old order—scholasticism—and the humanists and their champion, Johannes Reuchlin. The chapter also places Pfefferkorn’s text in its German context and suggests that it may represent a new development in anti-Judaism. Adams’s point is that Pfefferkorn’s concentration on the Jews’ customs, rituals, and way of life shifts the focus away from the religion to the people themselves and, while insisting on the fundamental danger they present to Christian society, nevertheless suggests that they have the potential to be good—assuming, of course, that they could be converted to Christianity. This chapter concludes with a sketch of the life of the first Danish book printer to work in Denmark, Poul Ræff, who began his career as a printer in 1508, and continued sporadic production until 1533. Only twelve works survive from his presses, most of which are dedicated to anti-Reformation polemic. Adams’s analysis of the reasons why Ræff chose to publish a translation of Pfefferkorn’s work in a kingdom that had no permanent Jewish population is fascinating and suggestive. In the context of the rapidly changing society of the early sixteenth century and the burgeoning religious controversy, Adams suggests that Ræff sought an “Other” upon which to place the blame for the threats he perceived to society. In identifying the Other as the Jews, Ræff was able to present the Church as the only possible guarantor of order and stability.

Chapter 4 deals with the languages relevant to The Confession of the Jews, and issues like orthography, style, translation, lexicon, and the Hebrew words found in the text. Adams also includes information on Ræff’s mistranslations from the Latin, and on some of the more unusual Danish words found in the text. Chapter 5 consists of the translation of Ræff’s The Confession of the Jews together with the Danish original of the [End Page 371] text and the Latin version that served as the basis for Ræff’s translation. Chapter 6 is essential commentary and notes on the Iudeorum Secreta. This chapter is crucial to understanding Pfefferkorn’s text, and it is unfortunate that the information it contains is presented separately from the text...

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