Feeling Persecuted: Christians, Jews and Images of Violence in the Middle Ages

by Anthony Bale

In Feeling Persecuted, Anthony Bale explores the medieval Christian attitude toward Jews, which included a pervasive fear of persecution and an imagined fear of violence enacted against Christians. As a result, Christians retaliated with expulsions, riots, and murders that systematically denied Jews the right to religious freedom and peace. Through close readings of a wide range of sources, Bale exposes the perceived violence enacted by the Jews and how the images of this Christian suffering and persecution were central to medieval ideas of love, community, and home. The images and texts explored by Bale expose a surprising practice of recreational persecution and show that the violence perpetrated against medieval Jews was far from simple anti-Semitism and was in fact a complex part of medieval life and culture. Bale’s comprehensive look at medieval poetry, drama, visual culture, theology, and philosophy makes Feeling Persecuted an important read for anyone interested in the history of Christian-Jewish relations and the impact of this history on modern culture. 

254 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2010

About the author

Professor Anthony Bale, MA (Oxford), MA (York), DPhil (Oxford), is Professor of Medieval Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London, England.

Anthony Bale teaches on the BA English, MA Medieval Literature and Culture and supervises doctoral students working on medieval topics.

Bale has published widely on medieval literature, culture, and religion. In particular, his work has explored relations between Christians and Jews in medieval England. He has also edited and translated several medieval texts, and has recently published a new translation and edition of The Book of Margery Kempe with Oxford University Press. His current work explores travel and pilgrimage between England and the Holy Land in the later Middle Ages.

He has received fellowships from the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the Australian Research Councils, the British Academy, the Huntington Library, the Leverhulme Trust, the University of Michigan Frankel Institute, and the National Humanities Center.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started off my summer research with Bale's book. I found it very informative and accessible. While at times there were terms of concepts I was unfamiliar with, it was easy to look them up and move on. I don't fault Bale or his book with that ut merely the fact that I am still in the beginning stages of my research and have much to learn.