Judaism

This section discusses the Jewish religion in its relationship to Catholicism, the dominant religion of western Europe during the period covered by the present book. (See page 40 For information on the background of this conflict.) The rich cultural traditions of European Judaism, not treated here, would provide fertile ground for further study. For the Catholic Church, the forced conversion of many thousands of Spanish and Portuguese Jews introduced the problem of sincerity of faith, and this issue helped catapult Spain into the Inquisition, with papal approval. Another problem for the church was the demand of Franciscan preachers that Jews be forbidden to practice usury, or lending money for interest. (The usual interest was 20 percent, which outraged Renaissance borrowers. That happens to be the approximate interest rate charged today by many credit card companies.) The pope had to proceed with caution concerning Jewish bankers because the papal treasury could not afford to support a bankrupt community. Partly for this reason, Roman Jews enjoyed somewhat better treatment than their colleagues elsewhere in the Papal States. Not until the 1580s were Jews in Rome forced to attend Catholic sermons. Finally, the decision to move Jews into ghettos was made during the Renaissance, unintentionally herding Jewish families together for future anti-Semitic attacks. The main purpose for ghettos at his time was to remove Jews from Christian society so that they would not “pollute” Catholics, and some Jewish communities preferred to be isolated: The ghettos gave them a sense of security.

Bible

Jews very much revered the sacred text. Some of the most extraordinary manuscripts of the Renais-

2.10 First leaf of the book of Joshua from an illuminated Hebrew Bible. Decorated in southern Castile or Andalusia, 15th century. (Courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, MS. B241)

Sance are illuminated Hebrew Bibles, meaning, of course, the Old Testament and its associated books, on vellum or heavy paper. Some of the ornamentation in these manuscripts was executed by Christian artists. Often the initial page of each book of the Old Testament opens with a panel featuring the first word highlighted in gold, with geometric shapes in different colors filled with patterns in gold and with a decorative border featuring peacocks and other birds, butterflies, and flowers. Unlike Catholic Bibles, most Hebrew Bibles avoided the use of human figures. The remainder of the pages usually contain only the Hebrew script, in stately rows of carefully scripted ink. Even after Hebrew Bibles were printed during the 16th century, beautiful copies in manuscript continued to be produced. The most sacred part of the

Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe

Bible was (and is) the Torah, or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, written on parchment or leather in the format of a large, impressive scroll (see the following section).