Activity 1

During the Middle Ages, relations between Christians and Jews were not always good. Jews suffered under a variety of restrictions forced on them by civil and church authorities, and Christians all too often rioted and killed Jews in revenge for imagined atrocities. However, relations between these groups were not always bad. Read a Disputation of a Jew with a Christian reported by Gilbert Crispin to Anselm of Canterbury; then read Anselm's own discussion of How to Treat a Convert (both from the late eleventh century). When you finish, take a look at two twelfth century views of contact between Christians and Jews, and a brief anecdote about a so-called Israelite Bishop (i.e. a rabbi). How do the attitudes expressed in these texts resemble and differ from those about which you have already read? How could Christians and Jews sometimes relate to each other over their religious differences? What peculiar myths about Jews did medieval Christians believe?

Activity 2

One of the developments that enabled the renewal of the High Middle Ages was the revival of trade that began in the late eleventh century. By the thirteenth century, a thriving commerce linked the regions of Europe to each other and the continent as a whole to the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic world, and beyond. Let's consider an example of this commerce in action. Barcelona in northeastern Spain was an important Mediterranean port. Between 1225 and 1260 King James I of Aragon issued a number of decrees designed to encourage the economy of Barcelona and, thus, his entire kingdom. Take a look at James' Navigation Act of 1227; then read his 1232 grant of trade privileges to Barcelona merchants, and his Maritime Code of 1258. What activities did these decrees regulate? What was the point of these regulations? Who stood to benefit most from them? Who do you think stood to benefit least? Why?