UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE GENDER AND JEWISH CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY IN MEDIEVAL FRANCE AND GERMANY, 1096-1450 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By JACOB LACKNER Norman, Oklahoma 2018 GENDER AND JEWISH CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY IN MEDIEVAL FRANCE AND GERMANY, 1096-1450 A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY ______________________________ Dr. Shmuel Shepkaru, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Roberta Magnusson ______________________________ Dr. Jane Wickersham ______________________________ Dr. Norman Stillman ______________________________ Dr. Joyce Coleman © Copyright by JACOB LACKNER 2018 All Rights Reserved. Dedicated to the memory of my father, Andrew Lackner (1959-2017), who always believed in the importance of education and hard work. Acknowledgements There are many people who helped this dissertation come to fruition. My family has always highly valued education. My grandparents and parents have supported me and encouraged me every step of the way, and that was very important in helping me complete my education. For the last three and a half years, my fiancée Leah Pace has assisted me by listening to me talk endlessly about many of the ideas and documents that eventually made it on to these pages, by proofreading my work, and by offering me unwavering support. I have had several valuable teachers along the way that deserve my thanks. Dr. Dale Streeter of Eastern New Mexico University first ignited my interested in medieval history that set me on the path to writing this dissertation. Dr. John Howe of Texas Tech University helped me find my research focus of Jewish-Christian relations. Dr. Shmuel Shepkaru has been my mentor at the University of Oklahoma over the last five years, and I have learned a great deal from him. Drs. Roberta Magnusson, Jane Wickersham, Noam Stillman, and Joyce Coleman served on my doctoral committee and their comments, along with Dr. Shepkaru’s, helped me greatly improve this final product. The archival research for this dissertation was only completed thanks to generous grants and scholarships. I had the opportunity to spend a year in Israel learning Hebrew thanks to OU’s Schusterman Center for Judaic & Israel Studies’ Study-In-Israel scholarship. Research trips to Jerusalem and London were necessary to complete my research, and this was completed only with the assistance of the Hadassah- Brandeis Institute’s Research Grant, the University of Oklahoma History Department’s iv Anne Hodges & H. Wayne Morgan Dissertation Fellowship, and the College of Arts & Sciences’ Nancy Mergler Dissertation Completion Fellowship. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xi Abstract ........................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 The Historical Background of Medieval Jewish-Christian Relations ........................ 2 Gender and Conversion Studies ................................................................................. 9 The Structure of This Dissertation ........................................................................... 20 Chapter 2: Jewish Conversion in Papal Documents, 590-1450 ..................................... 25 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 25 The Forced Conversion of Jews, 590-1450 .............................................................. 29 Relapsed Converts, 1095-1450 ................................................................................. 34 Keeping Converts Christian: Stipends and Other Incentives for Jewish Conversion, 590-1450 ....................................................................................................... 45 Jewish Converts Who Became Affiliated with the Church ...................................... 54 Jewish Doctors Who Converted ............................................................................... 57 Marriage and the Conversion of Jews in Papal Documents, 1159-1450 .................. 58 Independent Female Converts .................................................................................. 60 Jewish Conversion and Gender in Papal Documents, 1159-1450 ............................ 63 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 67 Chapter 3: Jewish Conversion to Christianity in Medieval Sermon Exempla ............... 69 Introduction: The State of Preaching in the Thirteenth Century & The Rise of the Exemplum ..................................................................................................... 69 vi The Conversion of Jewish Men in Sermon Exempla ............................................... 75 Positive Depictions ............................................................................................. 76 As Failed Host Desecrators and Icon Profaners ................................................. 80 As Evil Moneylenders or Pawnbrokers .............................................................. 83 As Demoniacs or Sorcerers ................................................................................ 85 As Child Murderers ............................................................................................ 87 The Conversion of Jewish Women in Sermon Exempla .......................................... 88 Young Jewish Women with Innate Desires to Convert ...................................... 89 Jewish Women with an Affinity for the Virgin .................................................. 91 Jewish Men and Women Together ........................................................................... 94 Conclusions & Quantitative Analysis .................................................................... 100 Chapter 4: Canon Law & The Conversion of Jews to Christianity .............................. 104 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 104 Forced Conversion .................................................................................................. 108 The Forced Conversion of Children ................................................................. 114 Gender and Conversion in Canon Law .................................................................. 116 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 121 Chapter 5: The Conversion of Jews in The Golden Legend ....................................... 122 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 122 Positive Depictions of Male Jewish Converts in the Legend ................................. 125 Villainous Jews Who Convert in the Legend ......................................................... 135 Conclusion: Why Does the Golden Legend Have More Positive Depictions of Male Converts? .................................................................................................... 142 vii Chapter 6: Gender and Jewish Conversion to Christianity in Christian Documents 146 Varium et Mutabile Semper Femina: Medieval Gender Assumptions .................. 147 The Shift in Female Sanctity and the Marian Cult ................................................. 151 Chapter 7: Apostates and Apostasy in Rabbinic Responsa ......................................... 155 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 155 Freeing Agunot: Jewish Apostasy, Divorce, and Halitzah .................................... 158 Divorce ............................................................................................................. 161 Halitzah ............................................................................................................. 165 Mourning Apostates ............................................................................................... 170 Converts Who Return to Judaism ........................................................................... 173 The Return of Male Apostates .......................................................................... 174 The Return of Female Apostates ...................................................................... 178 Apostates and Economics ....................................................................................... 185 Money-lending ................................................................................................. 185 Inheritance ........................................................................................................ 187 Business ............................................................................................................ 190 Apostasy as a Bargaining Chip for Jewish Women ............................................... 192 Conclusion: Why are Men and Women Treated So Differently in the Responsa of the Rishonim? 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