The Passion of the Jews of Prague
The Pogrom of 1389 and the Lessons of a Medieval Parody
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3840112 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Barbara Newman (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-26 |
| Publication date | 2012-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Church History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-6407 • E-ISSN: 1755-2613 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009640711001752 |
| OpenAlex | W2149711712 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
Outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence in late medieval cities were hardly rare. For that reason, among others, surviving records are often frustratingly brief and formulaic. Yet, in the case of the pogrom that devastated Prague's Jewish community on Easter 1389, we have an extraordinary source that has yet to receive a close reading. This account, supplementing numerous chronicle entries and a Hebrew poem of lament, is thePassio Iudeorum Pragensium, orPassion of the Jews of Prague-a polished literary text that parodies the gospel of Christ's Passion to celebrate the atrocity. In this article I will first reconstruct the history, background, and aftermath of the pogrom as far as possible, then interrogate thePassioas a scriptural and liturgical parody, for it has a great deal to teach us about the inner workings of medieval anti-Judaism. By "parody" I mean not a humorous work, but a virtuosic pastiche of authoritative texts, such as the Gospels and the Easter liturgy, that would have been known by heart to much of the intended audience. We may like to think of religious parodies as "daring" or "audacious," seeing in them a progressive ideological force that challenges corrupt institutions, ridicules absurd beliefs, and pokes holes in the pious and the pompous. ButThe Passion of the Jews of Pragueshows that this was by no means always the case
Archaeology · Art · Gospel · Hebrew · Judaism · Lament · Literature · Liturgy · Passion · Poetry · Classics · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe
The Devil and the Jews
Ashkenazic Jewry in Transition
Communities of Violence
The Grief of God
History, Religion, and Antisemitism.
Theory And The Premodern Text
Texts of the Passion
Sanctifying the Name of God
The Crucifixion of Haman and the Scandal of the Cross
Kaiser Karl IV
Socially Marginal, Culturally Central
The Origins of the Meditationes vitae Christi
Anne's Bohemia
Prague in Black and Gold
Die Juden in den bohmischen Landern
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |