The Jews and the Reformation by Kenneth Austin (review)

This book is characterized by a remarkable achievement: it synthesizes solid research on the history of European Jewry from the late Middle Ages (fourteenth century) to the early modern period (late seventeenth century) into a concise, striking and easy-to-read overall presentation. In this respect, it is less a genuine research achievement than a compact and, in terms of the information available, impressive overview of the situation of Jews in the pre-modern era.

The term "Reformation," chosen by the author, is problematic however because it is used to describe all of the conceivable religious changes and movements between the late Middle Ages and the advanced early modern period, as is common in Anglo-American research. With this approach, however, the term "Reformation" loses its traditional historiographical concision. The title of this important book is also problematic in that it suggests that it is about the Jewish people as such, when in fact, Kenneth Austin, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Bristol, describes how different European societies dealt with the Jews, rather than tracing a history of interactions or the Jews' view of their surrounding societies. None of this changes the fact that this is a comprehensive and convincing book in its own right, particularly with regard to the question of how individual Christian denominations have acted with reference to the toleration of Jews. The book clearly moves beyond previous stereotypes.

A detailed presentation of the book's content is appropriate. The very helpful timeline begins with the pogroms against the Jews in connection with the First Crusade in 1095 and ends with the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In his introduction, Austin emphasizes the National Socialist embrace of Martin Luther to justify the anti-Jewish policy of the Third Reich and points out that this horizon must be kept in mind. Luther's position is to be understood in the context of his time. In contrast to a very one-sided focus on the "Jewish Question" in Luther's writings, the author establishes a broader perspective. The typical narrative of the Reformation as a factor in modernization and the development of tolerance, which was particularly popular in the nineteenth century, does not apply to attitudes toward Jews. The book presents a diversity of opinions in each Christian denomination. Austin goes back to the beginnings of the process of detachment and alienation between Christians and Jews in the first century CE. Paul, John Chrysostom, Augustine, and the IV Lateran Council prove to be particularly prominent individuals and factors in the increasing conflict between the two groups. The differentiated picture of a partial Jewish inculturation was set in motion in the late Middle Ages by various "popular attitudes": the accusation of ritual murder, first encountered in England in 1144; the charge of host desecration, first encountered in Paris in 1290; the supposition since the second half of the thirteenth century that Jews, especially Jewish doctors, inflicted physical suffering on Christians or poisoned them, which led to the charge of their responsibility for the plague epidemic of 1348.

The crucial developments for the predicament of the Jews in the late Middle Ages were as follows. A process of economic demonization of the Jews had already begun in the twelfth century. Images like the confrontation between (blind) Synagogue and (triumphant) Church, the Judensau, and even the first Passion Plays, date from this period. Nevertheless, conflicts with deadly results for Jews were the exception during the late Middle Ages. The intensified efforts to promote the Hebrew language under the sign of humanism, which partly included Kabbalah, increased interest in Judaism, but did not per se promote greater tolerance toward Jews. Respect for Hebrew was much less pronounced than for Greek and Latin, as Austin demonstrates through a number of authors, especially Erasmus. In the second half of the fifteenth century, the expulsion of Jews from various European countries increased. Austin estimates that the total number of Jews in Europe around 1500 was 500...