Whose Golden Age? Some Thoughts on Jewish-Christian Relations in Medieval Iberia

Jonathan Ray

doi:10.6017/scjr.v6i1.1585

Abstract

The medieval period in Spanish history has alternately been cast as a Golden Age of interfaith harmony and an example of the ultimate incompatibility of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities. In this essay, I suggest that a better way to understand interfaith relations in medieval Iberia is to think about these religious communities in less monolithic terms. With regard to Jewish-Christian relations in particular, factors such as wealth, social standing, and intellectual interests were as important as religious identity in shaping the complex bonds between Christians and Jews.

Highlights

Nor are the Spaniards alone in their continued engagement with these questions
They argued that Jewish life in Muslim al-Andalus might represent a Golden Age of intellectual productivity and acculturation, but the subsequent period under Hispano-Christian rule was one of deteriorating status for the Jews
It retains much of its influence today despite repeated criticism and modification.[3]. This brief historiographic overview suggests that any effort to recover the true nature of JewishChristians relations in medieval Iberia must address at least two essential problems

Summary

CONFERENCE PROCEEDING

Whose Golden Age? Some Thoughts on Jewish-Christian Relations in Medieval Iberia. Presented at the ―Was there aGolden Age‘ of Christian-Jewish Relations?‖ Conference at Boston College, April 2010. In Spain, where the medieval period is still regarded as the crucible of modern Spanish society, a longstanding debate continues to rage over the contributions of Jews and Muslims during this formative period.[1] Some have argued that their language and culture is essentially foreign and inimical to the inherently Roman-Catholic spirit of Spanish society Those who follow this argument have generally seen the religious and political unification of Catholic Spain that took place at the close of the Middle Ages as marking the realization of the nation‘s destiny. Against this view, others have countered that it was precisely in the medieval period, in which Christians, Muslims, and Jews came together to form a dynamic society fueled by cross-cultural interaction, that the true Spanish character was forged. Is it profitable, or even accurate, to speak of religious interaction between Jews and Christians in such sweeping terms?

Evidence of a Golden Age

An Ambiguous Relationship

Whose Golden Age?