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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture This is an extremely well made point and worth exploring. Louis' anti-semitic activities typically get washed over from what I've seen/read, but then, I've never read that much since I'm not passionate about French kings - or the French in general, but I digress. Something that I wonder: could Louis' aggressive approach to the Jews have been the consequence in some way of his experience/fear of Islam during his failed Crusades? Or is it more likely that his crusading proclivities were motivated by his fear/anxiety of any non-christian religion? or is it just the way things were? George the Less --Original Message Text--- From: Dr. Jeffrey R. Woolf Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:06:00 +0300 medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Over the years, I've received my list of the day's saints with interest and it's been very enlightening. Occasionally, I've thought about adding a comment, but resisted. In the case of Louis IX, I feel I must. Louis IX is a good example of how one person's saint, is another's anti-saint. Thus, I have no quarrels with his portrayal as a good, Christian king of extraordinary piety. However, I strongly object to the sentence: Was intolerant in many respects also in-tune with his age (Jews, heretics, with particular ire against blasphemers). In particular, I'm not sure what the phrase 'in many respects' means. Louis IX, as extensively discussed by Robert Chazan and William Chester Jordan, pursued a virulent policy of anti-Judaism, which broke the back of the venerable Jewish Community of France, both religiously and economically. He, through his mother, sponsored the first public Inquisitorial Trial of the Talmud in 1240, which resulted in the burning of 24 cartloads of irreplaceable Talmudic manuscripts, two years later. (This action was, as Jeremy Cohen noted, a blatant violation of the Augustinian doctrine of Jewish toleration.) The ongoing ban against Talmud study, effectively destroyed a most vibrant center of Jewish culture and scholarship. (Consider where Nicholas de Lyra would have been had there been no Rashi.) In addition, strove mightily to economically break the Jewish community of his realm by his attack on usury (at a time when credit was greatly needed by his own subjects). He drove them into penury, and set in motion the policies that led to the total expulsion of the Jews from France in 1306, by his grandson, Phillip IV 'the Fair.' In Jewish History, Louis IX is an out and out villain (though on a lesser scale than, say Vincent Ferrer). With all due respect to his admirers, as someone who has studied this period since he was an undergrad, I think a more balanced description would have been in order. Dr. Jeffrey R. Woolf Senior Lecturer Talmud Department Bar-Ilan University Ramat Gan 52-900 Israel O. 972-3-531-8593 F. 972-3-535-1233 C. 972-52-274-7375 Website: http://myobiterdicta.blogspot.com ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html