Report of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies 2013–2014 OXFORD CENTRE FOR HEBREW AND JEWISH STUDIES A Recognised Independent Centre of the University of Oxford Contents OXFORD CENTRE FOR HEBREW AND JEWISH STUDIES President’s Message 5 Clarendon Institute Building Highlights of the 2013–2014 Academic Year 9 Walton Street Oxford Oxford Seminars in Advanced Jewish Studies OX1 2HG ‘On the Word of a Jew’: Oaths, Testimonies, Tel: 01865 377946 and the Nature of Trust 24–48 Email:
[email protected] A Jew in the Margin: Petrus Alfonsi and the Figure of Website: www.ochjs.ac.uk the Medieval Convert Professor Nina Caputo 25 The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies is a company, limited by guarantee, Could a Victorian Jew be an English Gentleman? incorporated in England, Registered No. 1109384 (Registered Charity No. 309720). The Professor Todd M. Endelman 28 Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies is a tax-deductible organization within Negotiating Trustworthiness: Jewish Businessmen in the United States under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Employer the Public Rhetoric around the ‘Trustworthy Businessman’ Identification number 13–2943469). in Post-WWI Germany Dr Stefanie Fischer 31 Constructing Credibility: Apostates in the Jewish Courts of Medieval Ashkenaz Rachel Furst 35 Trust a Jew?: The Ambiguities of an Oath Professor Mitchell Hart 38 Can the Eyes Be Trusted? Jews, Vision and Evidence in Chartres Cathedral Professor Sara Lipton 42 Trusting Daniel Mendoza: How British Boxing Fans Copyright © Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, 2014 Came to Believe in the ‘Fair Play’ of an Eighteenth-century All rights reserved Sephardi Pugilist Professor Ronald Schechter 46 ISSN 1368 9096 The Reception of Josephus in the Early Modern Period 49 Front cover illustration: Clarendon Institute Building; back cover: Portrait of Nina Salaman (detail), see pages 56–73; part titles are details of the title page of Sir Roger L’Estrange’s Other New Research translation of The Works of F.