Anti-Jewish
tales of conspiracy and evil deeds echoed throughout the Medieval period,
leading to a constant air of suspicion toward Jews in Europe. The assumption
that Jews were not to be trusted and required a constant watch of their
activities led to serious consequences between the Christian majority and the
Jewish minority. Perhaps the allegation carrying the greatest weight in the
eyes of many Christians was the frequent tale accusing Jews of the desecration
of the Eucharistic host. Miri Rubin in her book, Gentile Tales: The Narrative Assault on Late Medieval Jews examines
both the story of Jewish host desecration and the history and consequences as
the tales of host desecration spread.
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| Host desecration.In Wikipedia. |
Rubin begins her study with an inquiry
into the narrative mode. The narrative serves a purpose as a cultural container
and a vehicle for action. “Whole cultural systems are carried in myths, and
myth is carried in rituals and through narratives. People act through
narratives, and they remember through narrative.” (2-3) The author’s goal is to
place the anti-Jewish tales of host desecration within the “contexts of its
production and telling.” (4) Within the Introductory chapter, the claims of
host desecration contained “both history
and story and thus encompassed
authority and universality while allowing space for individual participation
and the working of fantasy.” (2) According to Rubin, both narrative and
textuality are needed instruments to understanding the tales within their
historical setting. While the tales are impacted by the setting and
circumstances of their telling they offer a snapshot into the attitudes and
prejudices of many medieval Christians at that time. Rubin aims to present the
development of the “dangerous representations” that empower those who spread
the tales and use the tales of host desecration to justify their actions. (5)
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| 16th-century painting showing the alleged desecration of hosts by Jews in Passau in 1477 from Wikipedia |
Rubin focuses on the large number of
stories and myths regarding host desecration by Jews and the violent aftermath
of the tales. The narrative presented by Rubin begins at the end of the
thirteenth century and continues during the following two centuries. The
stories follow a pattern with a Jew determined to secure the consecrated host
often with the aid of a female fooled or bribed. Once procured the host
undergoes attacks and experiments from the Jewish thief resulting in miraculous
demonstrations of flesh or blood. Once the deception and desecration are
exposed, the Jewish thief faces severe punishment and the miracle of the host
appears vindicated often with Jewish conversions. Above all, Gentile Tales
reveals the power of narratives to compel action and violence, as seen in the
violence perpetrated against Jewish communities.
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| Medieval Anti-Semitism from the Wiener Holocaust Library |
Rubin begins her book with an introduction
followed by chapter one exploring the earliest medieval narratives. The
earliest narratives often stressed Jewish conversions after confrontation with
the power of the host. Central to her exploration of the early tales is the
Jewish boy tale. A Jewish boy faces punishment from his father after receiving
communion. The father throws his son into the oven, but the boy receives
protection from Mary, who protects him with her cloak. The miracle results in
the conversion of the boy and his mother, while the father receives a just punishment
when he faces death within the oven. Rubin then proceeds to detail the
development of the tale as it spread from its Greek origins to different
regions of Christian Europe. The development of the tales led to a growing
stress on the evil motives and the punishment of Jews after the appearance of
eucharistic miracles. The movement toward Jewish perfidy increased in the view
of the tales offering “no place for forgiveness, ending in revenge and
destruction.” (39) The Jew became a figure of suspicion, an enemy worthy only
of banishment or death.
Chapter 3 titled “Patterns of Accusation” begins
with the 1290 case in Paris and explores how the Jews faced accusations of host
desecration. The Paris accusation was the first complete tale of host
desecration but saw parallel development of the narrative in different European
regions. The Holy Week became a popular setting for many tales as the suspicion
of Jewish treachery increased during periods considered holy and special.
Chapter 4 titled “Persons and Places”
presents the cast of characters and locations typical in many of the
eucharistic desecrations. In most of the tales, the primary villain is a
circumcised male Jew. Often a single Jew might prompt a group of Jews into
action, but in most cases, the primary instigator is a single male Talmud-Jew.
This devious Jewish man often finds assistance from a gullible Christian female
who is easily bribed or tricked into obtaining the host. Initially, the Jewish
man appears normal but underneath “lurked the unusual, the dangerous, the
menacing.” (70) Within Chapter 5, Rubin examines the contexts and the
background of a number of the accusation cases. Here she examines the aspects
that made the tales work and motivate the hearers. In chapter 6, the author
looks at the “commemorative tokens” of the violence following the host
desecration tales. The stories reinforced Christian identity while at the same
time emphasizing the disparity with Jews. (132) Memorials to the tales found in
art or text remain difficult to discern as “every act of memory is also an act
of forgetting.” (133) In her conclusion, Rubin traces the decline of the
accusations that led to violence against Jews and eventually lost much of its
“potency” as sacramental language changed near the end of the fifteenth
century.
Rubin presents a rather dense but challenging book. The sources shared make for difficult reading but offer a challenge to the damage caused by demagoguery and stereotypes. Her interjection of “What do Jews Think of the Eucharist?” discusses the limited evidence of Jewish thought but also provides a voice for the Jewish victims and reveal the diversity within Europe. But Rubin effectively reveals the power of stories to move people to action and often to acts of violence and oppression.
Medieval people became willing executioners on occasions not because this came naturally to them, but when and only when the act of violence became the most compelling way of making sense of the world and asserting identity and interest. (193)
Gentile
Tales is a valuable addition to Jewish and medieval history. The addition of a
basic bibliography and introduction providing past research and historiography
of her work would greatly improve the usefulness of the book.
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