The Re-emergence of Antisemitism During the Middle Ages

Abstract

In the middle of the 14th century, Europe experienced one of the worst pandemics in world history: the Bubonic plague. Decimating roughly sixty percent of Europe’s population (and twenty percent of the world’s population), the plague caused irrevocable damage to many cities and towns, drastically altering the lives of the people in Europe. However, the ones that were the most affected were the Jews. Christians claimed that the plague were the result of people poisoning the wells. As a result, pogroms were later enacted against the Jews throughout Europe, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Jews at the hands of vengeful Christians. The Jews’ situation only worsened as Christians enforced anti-Semitic political policies throughout Europe, restricting the rights of Jews and segregating them from the general population. Eventually, the hatred that stemmed from anti-Jewish sentiment culminated in the Jews’ expulsion from many European nations. Forced to bear the status of refugees, the Jews traveled and settled in countries that willingly accepted them and acted as safe havens for them and their descendants. While the Bubonic plague had many unforeseen consequences for the continent of Europe, the most important one was reigniting the conflict between Christians and Jews and becoming the catalyst behind the reemergence of Antisemitism in Europe throughout the Middle Ages.