THE JEWS IN "PIERS PLOWMAN" (ENGLAND).
Item
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Title
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THE JEWS IN "PIERS PLOWMAN" (ENGLAND).
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Identifier
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AAI8423093
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identifier
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8423093
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Creator
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MILLNER, DOROTHY WESTERMAN.
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Contributor
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Robert O. Payne
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Date
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1984
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Medieval
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Abstract
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What were Langland's attitudes toward the Jews? Langland's treatment of the Jews in his poem is considered both in terms of the text itself and against a larger cultural backdrop which includes the position of Jews in England, aspects of the Christian-Jewish encounter, and the complexities of theology during the late medieval period.;The cultural background includes the well-known violence of Christians against Jews. But it reveals, also, that there was a quiet history of friendly intercourse between Christians and Jews.;Langland's attitudes toward Jews appear to be positive. The practice of charity was an important value to the poet, and he points to the Jews as an example of a charitable and caring community. When a Christian prelate reflects a lack of concern for the poor, he is judged a "Judas felawe." As the practice of lending money at interest was viewed as sinful by the Church and Langland, he uses the pejorative term "usurer" to describe Christian or Jew engaged in such practice. The emphasis is on conduct, rather than whether the person is a Christian or Jew.;Could Langland have known Jews? Records of the Domus Conversorum in England show a continuing movement of Jewish converts in and out of the Domus during the fourteenth century. Many of these converts were instructed in the Christian faith and sent out as clergy to various parishes. Thus, the poet may very well have met converts in the course of his work as a clerk in minor orders.;The poet was not a lone voice in pointing to the Jew as an example of charitable behavior. Nor was Langland alone in his concern for the salvation of the Jew. Other men of that period tried to find ways around the rule of baptism. This seems particularly significant in terms of the Jew since he bore the burden of blame for the Crucifixion.;The quiet history of friendly relations depicted between Christian and Jew dispels the narrow, one-sided notion that the medieval Christian attitude toward the Jew was one of hostility only; there were many light as well as dark elements in the Christian-Jewish encounter.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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English
