The History Of Antisemitism In Europe

The history of antisemitism in Europe Student Name Institutional Affiliation The history of antisemitism in Europe Introduction Antisemitism refers to a specific hatred directed towards the Jewish people. Antisemitism has existed since ancient Greece, but it intensified during the Middle Ages in Europe. This paper will focus on the history of antisemitism in Europe. In particular, the paper will demonstrate how antisemitism developed in Europe with religious characteristics and then later transformed and took an ethnic angle. Further, the paper will review the various manifestations of antisemitism in Europe include prejudices, anti-Semitic laws, and pogroms. The role of the Catholic Church in propagating anti-Semitic ideas by purporting that Jews are rejects will be examined. Lastly, the paper will demonstrate the character of antisemitism in the 19th Century and early 20th Century. Evolution of anti-Semitism in Europe During the Middle Ages, commerce in Europe grew at a high rate. In the process, some Jews gained prominence in trade, banking, and moneylending since early Christianity did not allow moneylending for interest (Botticini & Eckstein, 2011). Furthermore, Jews were not allowed to own land which caused them to engage in other economic activities especially trade and banking. In these areas that Jews were permitted to participate in the larger society, they thrived. This caused economic resentment towards the Jewish people from the rest of the population. As a result of the resentment, Jews were expelled from several European countries like France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain during the 14th and 15th centuries. In Spain persecution culminated in 1492 with the forced expulsion of the country’s large and long-established Jewish population (Restaino, 2018). On the Jews who had converted to Christianity were allowed to stay in the country. Those who were suspected to be practicing Judaism faced persecution. In much of Medieval Europe, Jews were denied citizenship and civil liberties, including the freedom to practice Judaism. It was until the late 1700s and 1800s that Jews started receiving citizenship and gaining rights in much of Western Europe. The idea that Jews were evil gained prominence in the 16th Century during the Protestant Reformation. In his earlier life, Martin Luther expressed positive feelings towards the Jews. He even went ahead to advocate for the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into German. However, he later became disappointed in how the Jews rejected Jesus. Martin Luther was furious about how the church could allow the Jews to live freely, yet they engaged in defamation, murder, and blaspheming. The end of the Middle Ages did make things better for the Jews. The Catholic Reformation brought about the segregation of Jews in the countries that subscribed to the Roman Catholic (Moltmann & Lösel, 2017). Through the system of ghettoized segregation, Jews were forced to live in deplorable conditions. In the 18th Century, the situation did not improve much with the Enlightenment. While Enlightenment champions worked to debunk what they saw as superstitions of the Christian faith, this did not do much in facilitating the acceptance of the Jewish people (Domínguez, 2017). Instead, these thinkers blamed Jews for the advancement of Christianity in Europe. Before the French Revolution in 1789, the Jews were treated as outsiders. Instead of taxing the Jews as individuals, governments would tax them as a community. Due to such exclusion from the rest of society, the Jewish people continued to practice their religious identity. In the French Revolution, rights were extended to the Jews but on the condition that that renounce Judaism and community identity. Anti-Semitism in Europe and its manifestations The spread of antisemitism across Europe was demonstrated through various popular prejudice, the enactment of anti-Semitic laws and pogroms. One of the prejudices against the Jewish people was that they engaged in dishonest business (Brook, 2017). Participating in banking and in particular money lending angered those who did not approve the practice. The truth is that the Jews did not engage in dishonest gain as the rest of the population thought. When Jews faced discriminatory laws such that they could not own land, they engaged in more commerce. The Jewish people took advantage of the growing business to engage in trade and find a career in new fields. This allowed them to become wealthy and hence becoming increasingly visible members of society. Another prejudice was that the Jews were rejected by God because of denying Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah (Pak, 2017). Given that most of the Jews refused to convert from Judaism to Christianity, they were seen as rejects at an era where the Roman Catholic Church was influential. The rejection of Jesus as the Messiah and hence Christianity prompted the idea that God had rejected the Jewish people. An attempt to frustrate the progress of the Jews was done through the enactment and enforcement of various anti-Semitic laws. The Jewish people could not own land and hence engage in agricultural activities like the rest of the Europeans (Botticini & Eckstein, 2003). They were also excluded from many trades (except money-lending and peddling). The participation in some occupations was allowed to the extent that it did not compete with non-Jewish interests. Other laws prevented Jews from settling anywhere in Europe. A majority of the Jews were confined to ghettos since they were not allowed to own land (Jütte, 2016). Once Jews went to other towns apart from their own, they were required to pay taxes. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 mandated all the Jews to put on attire that distinguished them from the rest of the population as Jews. The 1800s and early 1900s were marked with anti-Jewish riots referred to as pogroms. These pogroms were done by non-Jewish neighbors against their Jewish neighbors (Aleksiun, 2017). Sometimes, pogroms were facilitated by the government institutions and especially police forces. The main motivation for these attacks was the idea that Jews were responsible for the weakened economic conditions and the growing political instability. In addition to the claim that Jews killed Jesus, non-Jews held to the myth of blood libel. The myth indicated that Jews killed Christian children and baked their blood into matzah. Through these riots, more and more Jews were left homeless while thousands were murdered. The role of the Cath...