Judíos e identidades locales en el mundo visigodo

Abstract

ABSTRACT Visigothic councils repeatedly raised the concern of the religious and political elites about the alleged continuity of Jewish populations (or those with a Jewish past) within the kingdom of Toledo. The ‘plague', the ‘error', and the ‘sect' seemed to threaten with their blasphemy and infidelity every corner, every community, of 7th century Christian Hispania. However, neither the conciliar acts nor the theological literature of the period recognized a specific geographical location for this group. The Jew was – and had to be – everywhere, but was nowhere. What role did geography and space play in defining a Jewish identity from a Christian perspective? What part did Jewishness have in local identity? Why, beyond traditional topics and labels, do most sources of the period not speak of a situated Jew? Based on these questions, this paper aims to review the written and archaeological documentation of the 7th century, to analyze the presence, absence – or deprivation? – of geography for the Jews and to observe in which specific contexts and circumstances this issue becomes relevant. We, therefore, aim to understand Jewishness as a constituent part of local identities and not as an anomaly.