The Myth of the Medieval Jewish Moneylender: Volume II

Description

This book challenges a common historical narrative, which portrays medieval Jews as moneylenders who filled an essential economic role in Europe. Where Volume I traced the development of the narrative in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and refuted it with an in-depth study of English Jewry, Volume II explores the significance of dissolving the Jewish narrative for European history. It extends the study from England to northern France, the Mediterranean, and central Europe and deploys the methodologies of legal, cultural, and religious history alongside economic history. Each chapter offers a novel interpretation of key topics, such as the Christian usury campaign, the commercial revolution, and gift economy / profit economy, to demonstrate how the revision of Jewish history leads to new insights in European history. Front Matter ....Pages i-xx Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 The Discourse of Usury and the Emergence of the Stereotype of the Jewish Usurer in Medieval France (Julie L. Mell)....Pages 3-112 Commercialization among the Jewish Merchants of Marseille (Julie L. Mell)....Pages 113-146 From Gift Exchange to Profit Economy Reconsidered: Toward a Cultural History of Money (Julie L. Mell)....Pages 147-173 Which Is the Merchant Here? And Which the Jew? (Julie L. Mell)....Pages 175-198 Back Matter ....Pages 199-264