Gene Berryhill, Ph.D. Biola University

1. The Middle Ages and Christian Depictions of Jews in Art The Crusades and Christian Depiction of Jews in Art Gene Berryhill, Ph.D. Biola University Visual Culture of Prejudice Series Gene Berryhill, Ph.D. Biola University

2. Background

3. The Middle Ages or Medieval period occurred between the fall of Rome in the 5th century and the 15th century. Our discussion today will focus on Christian art created between the 11th through the 17th centuries. Many of these works extolling the Christian faith are beautiful and inspiring. However, certain maligned prejudices against the Jews surfaced in many of these pieces, abetting and giving credence to horrific crimes that occurred during the Crusades.

4. The Crusaders of the Middle Ages It is recorded by historians that the crusading knights marched to obtain forgiveness of sins avoiding torture in Purgatory. They also fought the Muslims to free Jerusalem and Christian holy places.

5. Crusades: 1096 to 1270 First Crusade: 1096-1099 > Second Crusade: 1147-1149 Third Crusade: 1189-1192 > Fourth Crusade: 1202-1204 Albigensian Crusade: 1208 > Children’s Crusade: 1212 Fifth Crusade: 1218-1221 > Sixth Crusade: 1228-1229 Seventh Crusade: 1248-1254 > Eighth Crusade: 1270

6. Expulsions of Jews - Middle Ages: Jews expelled from England (1290) Jews expelled from France (1306, 1394) Jews expelled from Hungary (1349, 1360) Jews expelled from Germany (1348, 1498) Jews expelled from Austria (1421) Jews expelled from Lithuania (1445, 1495) Jews expelled from Spain (1492) Jews expelled from Portugal (1497)

7. As the 1st Crusade (1096) was gaining momentum, a certain Count Emicho and his Crusaders traveled down the Rhine, robbing and murdering every Jew they could find along their way. It was the first great slaughter of Jews living in Europe. Of note, local bishops such as St. Bernard and others tried to stop the carnage, but without lasting success.

8. Documentation tells us that the original intent of the Crusades was not to exterminate the Jews. However, centuries of negative attitudes toward Jews fanned sparks of ancient prejudice into a raging inferno. It is believed by many that the Crusades helped lay an Anti-Semitic foundation spurring on European Modernists such as Hitler. He and the Storm Troopers used the formats of Crusader knighthood to found his unholy alliance which resulted in the Holocaust.

9. In over 300 cities, Jews were burned, drowned, and beaten to death. Jewish Museum - Berlin, Germany During this era, two-thirds of the Jews living in Europe were destroyed and half of the Jewish population worldwide.

10. Questions: What created Anti-Judaism leading to Anti-Semitism? What instigated centuries of hatred toward the Jews? • Initially, it was recorded as intolerance of religious differences between pagan peoples and the Jews. • Separate religious lives developed into suspicions leading to fear and hatred of the “Unlike” or the “Other.” • Usury-money lending. Christians were not allowed to lend money with interest so this fell to the Jews; and resentments ensued. At times, debts owed to the Jews by the nobility/church were forcibly cancelled.

11. • Christianity versus Judaism: Latin Christendom often viewed Jews as evil and responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. St. Augustine expressed less than favorable views of Jews in City of God. (Books 17, 18) Protestant Martin Luther initially sympathetic to the Jews preached salvation thinking they were unfairly discriminated against. When conversions did not occur, he preached from On the Jews and Their Lies quoting Mt. 12:34, calling them “a brood of vipers and children of the devil.”

12. Use of Scripture to Demonize Jews

13. 2 Chronicles 36: 12. He [Zedekiah] did evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD. 13. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. 14. Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the LORD which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

14. 2 Chronicles 36 cont. 17. Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. 18. All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. 19. Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

15. Acts 7: 51. You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. John 2: 14. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16. And to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business.”

16. Matthew 23 5. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 27 22. Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!”

17. Due to scripture usage plus other aforementioned factors, the Jews were labeled Christ Killers, amongst many other negative titles. These became stereotypes which led to major consequences on future generations. (see Anti-Semitic Legends) http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/antisemitic.html

18. The Artworks

19. Why was the artwork of the Middle Ages important concerning the terrible persecutions of the Jews? In the Medieval period, most Europeans were illiterate. Biblical knowledge such as the law, moral values and history was gained through the Church via illustrated (illuminated) books, drawings, paintings and sculptures.

20. A Jew trading with a Christian. In 1215, Jews were ordered to wear yellow patches and horned caps so Christians would not become involved with them on a personal level. Dresden Sachsenspiegel - 1220

21. Jewish money lender Jewish Museum - Berlin, Germany

22. The Papacy/Nobility appealing to the Jews for their financial expertise/funding. Jewish Museum - Berlin, Germany

23. Judas counting money gained for betraying Jesus. Mt.27:3 Naumberg Cathedral, Germany - 13th C.

24. The Hanging of Judas: Mt. 27:5 Judas was often used as the example representing the Jews collectively. Painted glass panel - 1520 - 18x22 in. Chicago Art Institute (origin: Alsace or South Germany)

25. Pontius Pilate was a Roman governor but pictured here dressed as a Jew. The Liege Psalm book, Belgium - 13th century

26. Note that Christ wears no hat identifying Him as a Jew. Naumberg Cathedral, Germany - 13th C.

27. Naumberg Cathedral, Germany - 13th C.

28. Ecclesia - Synagoga Strasbourg Cathedral, France South Transept, 6 ft. 5 in. high Double portal - 1230

29. Ecclesia (church) Synagoga (synagogue) Crowned, looking forward, head held high. Cross upheld, chalice in hand. (Sarah) No crown, looking down- blind-folded. Staff broken, Torah (the law) dropped down. (Hagar) http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/strasbourg/strasbourg.html

30. Master of the St.Ursula Legend: The Church and the Synagogue 2 of 10 oil on oak panel paintings - 1475-82, Flemish (Bruges) http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/m/master/ursula/

31. Window of St. John's Church in Werben/ Elbe River, Germany (around 1414-1467)

32. The Living Cross - Ecclesia and Synagoga (Note the accusing finger at the bottom of the tree.) Italian fresco, San Petronio Cathedral of Bologna - 1400

33. Wood carving at the choir benches of the Erfurt Cathedral, Thuringia, Germany (about 1400-1410) (close up) Ecclesia rides a horse and attacks with her lance, as Synagoga rides a pig with her eyes closed, and pulling on a branch.

34. Jews as pig or swine lovers. Jewish Museum - Berlin, Germany

35. The Blood Libel These Illustrate mock crucifixions of Christians by Jews. German Woodcut - 15th c.

36. The Black Death - Bubonic Plague 1347-1350 Images of skeletons became common after the outbreak of the Black Death. The Jews were blamed for this plague.

37. As a result, they were burned.

38. Positive Imagery

39. King's Portal at Bamberg Cathedral, Germany - 1230 The 12 Apostles of the New Testament stand on the shoulders of the Prophets of the Old Testament.

40. Brügge, Belgium, Theological Seminary - 13th century Moses, left, and Peter depicted in a peaceful disputation. Though both are Jews, only Moses wears the Jewish hat.

41. The Dutch Artist Rembrandt and many others In the Netherlands were compassionate toward the Jews. Here is some of his work from the Baroque period: < Portuguese/Polish Jews in the Synagogue 1648 - etching/dry point. Judas Returning the 30 Pieces of Silver > Matthew 27:3-5. Painting - 1629

42. In Genesis 12 God spoke to Abram: 2. And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3. And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

43. Augustine, 414-25, City of God (Decivitate Dei), books 17-18 (Early Church Fathers): Building upon Paul, other Biblical writers, and early patristic writers, Augustine formulated the medieval view of Jews. Cohen identifies six Augustinian points—1. God has punished the Jews for rejecting Jesus by sending them into exile and slavery, while Christians have flourished. 2. Jewish disbelief fulfills biblical prophecy. 3. Jews are important for Christians because God gave the law to the Jews. 4. Jews are to be admired for not abandoning their law. 5. Psalms 59:12 says “slay them not,” so Christians are to allow the Jews to continue practicing their religion without harm. 6. Jews will eventually convert, in accordance with Paul’s prophecy (35-7). In brief, Augustine portrays the Jews as antiquated relics who adhere to the now obsolete Old Law in a physical sense, while blind to the spiritual truth of the New Law—the Jews, ironically, cannot read their own law correctly since they cannot move beyond its literal level to see its symbolical meaning.

44. Current Project Current work in progress includes a photo shoot and documentary begun in 2007 covering a region called Lusatia near Cottbus on the Polish border of Germany.

45. Transforming Landscapes in Lusatia, Germany Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Fürst-Pückler-Land 2000-2010 Presenter: Gene Berryhill, Ph.D. Fulbright Senior Scholar/Senior Specialist - 2003 and 2005 - Germany Archaeology, Art History, Criticism and Conservation, Photography of Historical Art

46. Region: Cottbus Recently, I had the opportunity to visit this ecologically devastated region in Lusatia near Cottbus, on the eastern border of Germany.

47. My job: Shoot 200 photographs giving perspectives and personal visions • of what I saw and experienced concerning this damaged environment. • Work in progress: An interpretive documentary for a book.

48. Due to excessive strip mining by the GDR, 200,000 acres of forest and numerous villages and local peoples were wiped out . . .

49. and the land looks like the moon’s surface.

50. In 2000, efforts began to restore the land with residences and public recreational facilities.