Black Death Dbq

The calamities of the 14th century challenged European society and forced it to develop coping mechanisms to deal with such disastrous situations. In the case of the black death, an epidemic which resulted in the death of a third of the European population, European Christians coped by blaming an isolated group: the Jews, who were persecuted harshly. One of the main allegations for anti-semitic persecution involved rumors of Jews poisoning Christian wells. However, this argument proves inadequate and unconvincing. In addition, it further highlights the social strain between European Christians and Jews. The tension between Jews and Christians dated back to the beginnings of Christianity. As Jews were seen as Jesus’s murderers, they were an

Jews were a minority in Christian Europe, which alone socially isolated them. However, anti-semitism developed for deeper reasons. Firstly, the religious divide between Jews and Christians created a social rift between both groups. Jews were perceived as sinners for disbelieving in Christ. That itself was substantial in fueling the Christian Europeans’ prejudice because Jews were able to convert but chose not to. In addition, Jews were viewed as the murderers of Christ, due to the fact that it was a group of Jews who crucified Christ. Disbelieving in Christ and murdering him both inspired these attacks and aided and widening the divide. These religious reasons themselves provide a solid basis for their isolation. This is evident in Pope Clement VI’s Sicut Judeis (Mandate to Protect the Jews), where he condemned the persecution of Jews, in addition to criticizing Jews and claiming that Christians are right to detest them. This reveals how hatred towards Jews was normalized throughout European societies, and how they were scorned for being Jewish, even in a mandate made to protect them. However there were multiple economic causes alongside this, which, with the help of the black death, led to anti-semitic persecution. Jews stereotypically worked in money lending, which was perceived as a sinful job by Christians due to the charging of

This situation of persecuting the isolated group occurs multiple times throughout history. Jews, for example, were accused of multiple crimes throughout history. Another example of anti-semitic persecution involved the Edict of Expulsion in 1290. Jews were expelled from England as a result of anti-semitic riots. Reasons for the riots parallel reasons for persecution due to the black death. Jews were seen as Christ killers, and were sinful moneylenders. The church by then banned money lending with interest, however, Judaism still allowed interest between Jews and Non-Jews, thus, Jews became wealthier. This widened the divide between both groups and further propagated prejudice and hatred towards Jews. Though this example does not have an acting catalyst like the black death, Jews were still persecuted due to preexisting social strains. Similarly, another example of their persecution was in 1321, in a conspiracy known as the leper scare. This theory involved Muslim kings bribing Jews to order lepers, which are people who carried a disease called leprosy, a bacterial infection which results in large skin sores to infect wells. This conspiracy reveals animosity towards various outside groups. Again, we see how a disaster led to isolation of certain groups. In this example, Jews were, again, regarded as the evil outcast. In addition,