Jews in Middle Ages

Marriage, money, and religious education.

Part II: More Marriage, Divorce, Work and Education

Part I: Marriage

Medieval European Jewry repeatedly faced banishment for both economic and religious reasons.

New, more fanatical Muslim rulers caused the quality of Jewish life in North Africa and Egypt to deteriorate during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Arabic was the spoken and written tongue of the Jews in the medieval Muslim empire, a fact that encouraged cultural exchange and the development of new forms for Hebrew poetry.

Amsterdam became a haven for Jewish refugees from the Inquisition.

Medieval Jews found religious tolerance and economic opportunity in Poland

The accumulation of disasters in the Middle Ages--expulsions, crusades, and the Black Death, to name a few--inspired a steady stream of Jewish immigration to the Holy Land.

Jews got entangled in the Christian quest to recapture the Holy Land from Muslims.