The development of Jewish law in Christian Europe between 1000-1500 CE was driven by the confluence of a number of factors: (1) scholars’ interpretations of literary sources, (2) living Jewish practice (as that is represented in texts authored by legal scholars), (3) adjustments to the law made by both legal scholars and other Jews in response to economic, social, and political changes, and (4) changes in intellectual ambiance and legal thought. Following a brief overview of “early beginnings” in the older areas of Jewish settlement in Italy, southern France, and Spain, this chapter will proceed systematically through the Jewish communities of northern France and Germany, Italy, southern France, and then Spain, highlighting the major legalists, their principal works, and the most influential developments in Jewish legal thought and method.

As it is impossible to isolate the subject of the book production among the Jews of the medieval Christian world from the history and typology of the book production among the Jews in the Muslim world, the essay encompasses the subject in the entire dispersed Jewish communities in the Middle Ages. The singular circumstances of the production of books by the Jews in Hebrew script is manifested by the entirely individualist nature of the initiating the copying of books as well as the consumption of them. The fact that no communal or educational instigated the production of books or assembled them had an immense impact on the transmition of the texts. Books were produced and consumed as private enterprise, and were not selected and controlled by any intellectual establishment. Furthermore, at least half of them were produced by their owners, and not by hired professional scribes. The variety of types of script and their modes and their geo-cultural are presented, as well as the corresponding different codicological traditions. The affinities between the script and the materiality of the books to the scribal traditions of their host civilizations are discussed. Separate part is dedicate to the creative role of scribes and copyists in making the structure of the copied texts more transparent, lisible and usable

Opening with a discussion of the available sources, the myths of success, and the meager place for women, this essay traces the structure, goals and location of Jewish education in Christian Europe. Elementary and higher education in Spain appears to have been relatively organized and supported, even as it did not always lead to the desired results. Some communities aimed to strengthen the impact of their educational systems by organizing collectives (havurot) that would manage the funds available for education. Heads of more advanced academies in Spain often received generous stipends and mature scholars were supported as well, perhaps as a legacy from the Geonic period. Indeed, there was extensive discussion about the parameters of the support that should be made available for accomplished scholars (with Maimonides, among others, taking a somewhat dim view of certain practices). Nonetheless, all major communities boasted a significant higher academy, that often appeared to have large numbers of students and these institutions were supported by their host communities. The situation was similar in southern France in terms of formal educational structures, stipends and communal involvement. The loyalties of Provencal rabbinic scholarship to the south (Sefarad) and to the north (Ashkenaz) have been discussed quite a bit in recent scholarship, and it is difficult to establish hard and fast patterns. This issue impacted both the curriculum and the methods of the academies. Although the basic contours of elementary education in Ashkenaz were similar to the other areas, the lack of formal structures and supervision is apparent. Sefer Hasidim, among other works, sought to deal with this less than ideal situation on both the elementary and more advanced levels. And yet, despite the relative lack of organization and support, the advanced academies in Ashkenaz, which were much smaller than their counterparts to the south, produced quite a number of prominent students who ultimately became involved in the writing of Tosafot and related materials. The advanced academies in northern France and Germany (including those dedicated to producing the Tosafist oeuvre) were small, but they were academically quite powerful. Here too, mature students were not funded in the way that they were in Spain and Provence; it would seem that the lack of organization and support within the Ashkenazic orbit remained as it did precisely because at the end of the day, the results in terms of productive scholarship were outstanding. A unique document that talks about a system of elite schools from the elementary through advanced levels, Sefer Huqqei ha-Torah, perhaps reflects a utopian situation that was never actually in existence. Scholars have debated its provenance, with southern France and Germany emerging as the two most likely locales. Part of this result is due to the fact that the document does reflect a system that is marked by asceticism, which may reflect Provencal mystical conventicles or the circle of the German Pietists (if not some kind of monastic influence more broadly), but it is quite difficult to ascertain whether any of its provisions were ever in effect. Nonetheless, this text can be used to probe the nature of the Jewish educational institutions, and educational theory more broadly, within Christian Europe.

The four canons of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 regarding Jewish matters drew heavily on earlier ecclesiastical material and touched on fundamental issues concerning Christian-Jewish relations. Subsequently they were included in Gregory IX’s definitive collection of canonical material, the so-called Decretals, of 1234. As such they constitute an excellent platform from which to embark on an in-depth examination of medieval Christian policies and doctrines concerning Jews and Judaism. The topics covered by the canons included the complexities surrounding Jewish conversion to Christianity, the vexed problem of Jews having any kind of authority over Christians, Christian concerns about Jews and Judaism contaminating Christian society and mocking the Christian faith and as well as the fraught issue of Jewish usury (in the medieval sense of charging interest) and Jewish liability for tithes. The analysis of ecclesiastical rulings on these issues demonstrates how ambiguous ecclesiastical policies and doctrines on Jews were. Jews were excruciated for their lack of Christian belief; at the same time they were protected because they were deemed to play a theological role in Christian society by being Jewish. For lay rulers Jewish usefulness in providing linguistic, medical and administrative services and taxation on their economic activities often weighed more heavily than ambiguous theological considerations.