Walter of Châtillon: A twelfth-century poet's engagement with Jews

Abstract

This article concerns one of the most eminent poets of the twelfth century, Walter of Châtillon, the author of the well-known Alexandreis. Walter of Châtillon is presented as a case study to show that twelfth-century poets as well as scholars were interested in the Christian-Jewish debate. Walter wrote a treatise against the Jews and referred to Jews and Judaism in many of his poems, especially in his hymns for Christmas. Whereas he concentrated on literal exegesis of biblical texts in his treatise, he favoured figurative biblical imagery in his hymns. A number of things are striking. The first is the central role that the Christian-Jewish debate played in his views on the origins and fate of mankind. The second is the need Walter evidently felt for anti-Jewish language in order to express his religious convictions. The third is the startling absence in Walter's work of the newest ideas about Jews and Judaism that were becoming more and more prevalent in scholarly circles in his lifetime. This latter point raises a fundamental question about the dissemination of Christian views about Jews in the twelfth century. Recent work on the Christian-Jewish debate has focussed on the development of novel ideas about Jews in the twelfth century and much work is being done to understand better how those views were spread beyond the narrow confines of scholarly circles. Walter's hymns in particular with all their hackneyed phrases signal the importance of not ignoring the continuing existence of traditional views about Jews. They also point to the need to include hymns in the study of the dissemination of anti-Jewish ideas.