The Jews in 12th-Century Christian Theology: Peter Lombard, Peter Comestor, and the "Glossa Ordinaria"

FAIN: FB-52906-07

John Young Brown Hood
Unaffiliated Independent Scholar (Warrenton, VA 20186)

For nearly a century, medieval historians have debated the nexus between Christian theology and the persecution of Jews in the 12th century. Curiously, however, the teaching on Jews contained in the century's most widely read theological texts (Peter Lombard's "Sentences," Peter Comestor's "Scholastic History," and the "Glossa Ordinaria," or standard commentary on the Bible) has largely been ignored. This study will closely analyze these works in order to ascertain the content of standard 12th century theological teaching regarding the Jews. This, in turn, will help resolve the long-running controversy over whether subsequent Christian teaching on Jews was in fact innovative or rather merely reformulated traditonal doctrine.