It sucked to be a Jew in the Middle Ages in Europe. It sucked in so many ways.
What was the deal with the Jews back then?
Some background on the years 500-1500. Serfs were peasants, owned by their lords. Serfs did their thing day in and day out. They farmed the land, milked the cows, polished armor, cleaned the dung out of the castle privy. One tier about the serfs were knights who were basically a bunch of tough guys looking for a good fight. They seem chivalrous in the movies, but I don't think you would really like to meet one in real life. For one thing, they smelled. Everyone did. There were no showers back then. The class above the knights were the lords who took all the money and produce made from the serfs who tilled and tended to the land. Lords lived in large, cold, castles and ate huge meals. Delicious foods like a peacocks head stuffed with beef and cranberries, sewn to the back half of a calf and then baked at 350 degrees faranheit. Yum. Jello for dessert. Sometimes, lords and their ladies fasted in order to cleanse their souls. This meant meals of five different courses of various fish.
The king was on top of all of these guys. He was: the king. But he is not of much interest to me, because you can read about kings everywhere.
Ok, so where do the Jews fit in? Were they farmers? Nope. Knights? Please. Lords? Don't make me laugh.
Jews were not allowed to own land. They were not allowed into guilds. They were not allowed to work in castles, own shops, carry weapons, name it, they weren't allowed to do it. Why? Because they were different. Xenophobia, anyone? But, there was one thing Jews were allowed to do. They were allowed to lend money at an interest. This was important because Christians were not allowed to charge interest to their fellow Christians. So Jews made their money by lending money and charging interest. This sounds nice, especially when the interest charged was sometimes 50%.
But lending money came at a price. The Jews were at the level of the serf, even lower, really, because they were outsiders. They were subjects of the King, which meant they were not protected by any lord. People didn't like the Jews the same way people don't like their credit card companies for charging interest. It was nice for lords and peasants to have someone who lent them money, but it sucked in the long run when they realized they had to pay the money back, plus interest. The Jews thus came to be a hated people. The Middle Ages saw many altercations, the spreading of falsehoods, ugly tortures and deaths.
The topic of Jews in the Middle Ages is one which I plan on conducting further research. I will share my findings with you so that we can become more knowledgeable on it, together.
Hear.
