West Latins in the Levant during the Crusades

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West Latins in the Levant during the Crusades

Introduction

Anti-Semitism and persecution of the Jewish people originated from ancient civilizations. There was antipathy towards them and their religion especially with repeated cultural bias. Conflicts were realized through the struggle between Christians and Jews despite the evidential presence of interaction between the two groups. Beyond the second century, the Jews were marked as rejected people and were termed as doomed in their life. They were despised, marginalized, and associated with misery. In the subsequent years, political and civil discrimination was rife and increased physical attacks culminated in death. Their minority status in the region they occupied did no help much to their cause as was evidenced in the later Nazism effect. The practice of anti- Semitism was widespread in the medieval era and had a negative impact to the Jewish representation and position.

Discussion

The Jewish were placed under similar disabilities just as the Christian heretics. Some of the prejudices leveled against them were exclusion from imperial services during the Roman law (Moore 38). The legal profession was not welcome to their identity; they could not make wills like any other individuals in the society as well as reception of inheritances. The Jews were not able to testify in courts while it was unheard off them suing in the public domains. Such prohibitions can be traced back to commencement of on the counterpart privileges that they were accorded after the first century bloody wars. Throughout Europe, they had their own jurisdiction in seclusion from others in regards to enabling their protected religious and identity of their culture.   

            After the reception of Christianity between the fourth and fifth century, the problems associated to the Jews grew in an unprecedented manner. The Jews were restricted and prevented from marrying any Christians while they could not acquire slaves from the same divide. They could not even convert slaves from their previous religion into their own. Moore (40) states that cynical bigotry was experienced when they were banned from construction of new synagogues, with repairs on old ones permitted. A famous protest in Milan on the imposed fines especially to the bishop and church members towards decapitation of synagogues was not the ideal response to the woes experienced by the Jews who at this point did not have sovereignty in their quest fro equality like others.

            Various prohibitions were designed with a view of preventing exercising of domestic and political power by the Jews, especially over their Christian counterparts. The fifth and sixth century kingdoms of the Germanic successors contained the provisions of the codes of Theodosia and repeated laws that enabled proselytizing of their religious enhancements. The attributed enforcements carried a distinct significance towards their position in the society. Mooted efforts towards removal of Christian children from homes of the Jews and legal means of separation of Jewish children from their biological parents were fronted. Accounts of being attacked by knights can be traced back to 1063 when the infidel was being targeted in Spain (Moore 41). In the first crusade, they were brutally murdered.

            In the first crusade, accounts of the brutal treatment pointed out to the Jews being rounded up into worship places and being put to the sword without distinction through their sex or age. Other members were killed in a bid to avoid them from converting while others were put to death due to their acceptance top baptism. The Jewish populations were targeted and eliminated in large numbers (Sloyan 1). There were savage and ruthless measures put on them in the French Jewry. They were put under the surrounding shock on insults, exploitation, and cruelty. Mass suicides and fire were some of the perpetrated mechanisms against the Jews in places such as East Anglia. Hostility was brewed from the crusades and stimulated without caution or hindrance from authorities.  

            Savage punishments on defamed wrongs were leveled against the Jews in accompaniment to hostilities and continuous expulsions. With the spread of Jewish community towards larger arts of Europe in the twelfth century, a sense of renaissance engulfed the people (Macklin 7). Sufficient commands dished against the Jews included deprivation of the right to own lands, goods, or money. In the latter case, this was followed by judgment and assaults with stones and sticks. It was followed by apprehension during their celebrations of the religious festivals while the cemeteries were invaded as well as violated. Stereotyping of the Jews followed up especially with their specialization to money lending. It was common as it held the essential elements for their vulnerability and persecution.

Conclusion

The Jews were victims of discrimination and persecution by other religions, settlements, and populace during the early centuries. Their minority status in the region they occupied did no help much to their cause as was evidenced in the later Nazism effect. The practice of anti- Semitism was widespread in the medieval era and had a negative impact to the Jewish representation and position. During the crusades, they became targets of easy picking by their religious outlay as compared to the other Christians and beliefs. They were mercilessly tortured, afflicted, violated, and continuously put to death. Despite their pains, the growth and rejuvenation of their renaissance enabled their later prosperity and settlement in larger areas of Europe. The scars from the persecution did not detriment their position and strengthened their faith.

Reflection

The argument of the Jews is based on their experiences from the ancient times and at the hands of their perpetrators. Their persecution was unwarranted especially leading up to their los of lives, discrimination on their conformities against that of the predominant Christians and the involvement of the authorities in the experiences. From the presentation, I can decipher that they need to be acknowledged and heard, since the atrocities were human and need attention. After reading through the draft, their argument matches up to the articulation of a persecuting society. It was a developed mechanism as time went by and increase of numbers, while the spread of civilization was in the making.

The evidence provided in the draft does not sufficiently back up the argument. It deviates into the historical accounts. There is lack of detailed facts and related accounts of the mechanisms used in elimination, the methods of widespread persecution towards them in particular. Interpretation of the evidence presented can be mistaken for historical record keeping rather than information availability on the experiences and position. The part I like most about the paper is the detailed breakdown of the three different groups of the persecuted groups. The three distinctions enable an analyzed view of the intentions towards the marginalized groups and the lengths taken. As means of improving the paper, I would suggest that the contributors should avail detailed accounts, statistical relevance, and output measures of the oppressions and discrimination.

Works Cited:

Macklin, Peter. “The Black death and Burning of Jews.” Oxford Journals, Vol. 196. 1 (2012): 3-36. Print.

Moore, R I. The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe, 950-1250. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Print.

Sloyan, Gerard. Christian Persecution of Jews over the Centuries. USHMM. Web. March 11, 2015. < http://www.ushmm.org/research/the-center-for-advanced-holocaust-studies/programs-ethics-religion-the-holocaust/articles-and-resources/christian-persecution-of-jews-over-the-centuries/christian-persecution-of-jews-over-the-centuries >