Medieval Judaism:

What and when is "Medieval" in Jewish history?

Use in European-Christian history denotes period of barbarism betweeen two advanced civilizations.

The term "Medieval" was apparently coined by Flavio Biondo of Forl (1388-1463), in his "Historiarum ab Inclinatione Romanorum Imperii Decades," 1483. It implied a suspension of progress--cultural stagnation, "Dark Ages"--between the glory of classical antiquity and the rebirth of that glory in the beginnings of the modern world.

Webster: medieval [adj]: having to do with the Middle Ages; old antediluvian, antiquated, antique, archaic, feudal, Gothic, old, old-fashioned, primitive, unenlightened

Not appropriate to Jewish (or Muslim) contexts: Era of religious and cultural advance and consolidation.

Criteria for determining beginning of new era:

Political events:

Christianization of Roman Empire (Constantine, c. 315): Official persecutions of Jews in the Empire, including the Land of Israel. "Byzantine" era. Legal inferiority, prohibitions of prosylitization, holding political offices, types of economic activity.
Fall of Sasanian empire (Persia): 637. Arab-Muslim conquest of major Jewish centres in Palestine and Babylonia. Muslim era.

Internal religious developments:

Redaction of Talmuds, especially Babylonian. Traditional date: 499 (problems with that date).

Criteria for determining conclusion of new era:

Political events:

European Emancipation and Enlightenment (late 18th-century and onwards: French Revolution and Napoleon).

Internal religious developments:

Publication of Shulhan Arukh (1564-5).

General features that distinguish medieval from ancient Judaism:

Geographical distribution: Lack of dominant centres (Palestine, Babylonia).
Rival religions were now monotheistic "daughter" faiths, not Paganism.
Religious literature was composed by individuals, not collectively. Written, rather than oral works.
Foreign cultural influences: Use of Arabic.
Major schism: Rabbinites (those who accepted Oral Torah and Talmud) vs. Karaites (Biblical "fundamentalists").
Acceptance of Babylonian Talmud as main religious authority.

Return to Index.