Christians and Jews at the Time of the First Crusade

FAIN: FA-51983-05

Eva Anita Haverkamp
Rice University (Houston, TX 77005-1827)

The Jewish communities of Northern Europe during the 12th century lived under the shadow of the persecutions at the time of the First Crusade. My book challenges both traditional and revisionist interpretations of the events of 1096. I analyse these events within the framework of the local history of the towns and regions where these persecutions took place - namely in Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Cologne, Trier, Metz, Regensburg, and Prague. My sources are the Latin and Hebrew accounts produced in these same communities and regions. Studying the local histories of these events allows us to ask the central question of my book: was there a common culture shared locally by both Christians and Jews in their distinct communities?