Shock and Awe: Medieval Northern European Jews and the Language of Violence

Abstract

In twelfth-century northern Europe, public declarative violence was often employed to establish and demonstrate authority, lordship and power. This article argues that Jews adopted the Christian language of violence but reshaped it to communicate their own views and culture. The first section focuses on depictions of public violence during the persecution of the First Crusade, and on changes in Jewish liturgical practices supported by violent narratives. It shows that during the twelfth century, these descriptions became blunter and more evocative, and were established as a major feature of Jewish culture. The second section analyses the place of declarative public violence in contemporary Christian culture, while comparing it to Jewish perceptions on this issue. It shows that Jews saw such violence as major means to prove loyalty to their identity, to communicate their values and to claim authority.