- What was the dominant religion in England and Venice in the 15th and 16th century?
The dominant religion in England and Venice in the 15th and 16th century was Roman Catholicism.
- Why was there such animosity between Jews and Christians?
Anti-Semitism started in the early years of Christianity probably due to a difference in beliefs and for Christians to protect Christianity from Judaism. Judaism and Jews were seen as threats to Christianity and were often prejudiced against and discriminated for many centuries. Jews were also discriminated for political and financial issues. The New Testament rejected Judaism and criticized the Jews which led to further hatred and hostility between the two religions. In addition, rulers often prosecuted and exiled Jews as they were seen as threats to the political stability of the nation. They were expelled from England in 1290 and from Spain in 1492. Due to the lack of understanding between the believers of the two religions, Christians see Jews as inferior and should be ostracised due to their religion.
- In what ways did Christians discriminate against Jews in 15th and 16th century Europe?
In the 15th and 16th century, Jews were expelled and restricted in many countries across Europe, including England, Spain, Austria and Portugal. In countries which allowed Jews, they were forced to live in a certain part of the city (ghettos) and could only engage in certain occupations that were deemed as socially inferior, like tax and rent collecting, peddling and money lending. Jews were forbidden to own land and had restrictions on dress.
References:
Author unknown. A Calender of Jewish Persecution. http://www.hearnow.org/caljp.html (26/6/2011)
Pawlikowski, J. T. Introduction to Gerald S. Sloyan’s article on Christian Persecution of Jews Over the Centuries. Christian Persecution of Jews over the Centuries. http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/church/persecution/ (26/6/2011)
Dear Ivan,
ReplyDeleteI wish to point out some things that I think also contributed to the animosity between the Jews and the Christians. The Jews have been persecuted throughout history by the Christians because of their beliefs. If I am not wrong (please correct me if I am), the Jews believed that they were God's chosen ones, while the Christians believed that that was a lie, and they have had historical animosity as a result. I supposed it was viewed as a kind of personal insult, that the inclusion of the Jews as such excluded the Christians, and so on so forth. Also, I believe that there was some misunderstanding during the time of Christ himself, that led to the Jews which were in power then to allow him to be crucified, I think, and the Christians have been seeing them as the murderers of their Lord ever since. The other reason is that even before the Christian persecution, the Jews have been persecuted by the Romans, who viewed them as a kind of economic threat. You see, the Romans being the kind of people who like money, and the Jews being kind of people who have it, it is unsurprising that their historical persecution has lasted so long. Years of being persecuted like so would have long buried the original cause of the feud, and brewed them into people who expected to be persecuted wherever they went, and inadvertently causing them to be persecuted wherever they went. Of course, with modern cosmopolitan development allowing them to accumulate even greater amounts of money than they ever did, it is no longer surprising that they cannot be persecuted anymore, and the sensitivity, carefulness and habits ingrained into them over many centuries have happily been lost in the advent of these few new generations, and I am sure the current state of affairs in both economics and government is much more stable for this.
Regards,
Yap Jian Shern