Moral Imagination and the Boundaries of Belonging: Reading Ivan Marcus on Jews and Christian Europe.

The article reviews Ivan G. Marcus's book *How the West Became Antisemitic: Jews and the Formation of Europe, 800–1500*, which examines the development of antisemitism in medieval Christian Europe through the concept of "moral imagination." Marcus argues that Jews were not merely victims but active...

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Publicado en:Religious Studies Review (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 139 - 149
Autor principal: Kaye, Deborah
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Mar2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Moral Imagination and the Boundaries of Belonging: Reading Ivan Marcus on Jews and Christian Europe.
      aug:
        au: Kaye, Deborah
        affil: The University of Arizona, Tuscon AZ, 85721,
      su:
        Antisemitism
        Christian-Jewish relations
        Sectarian conflict
        Middle Ages
        Jewish identity
        Medieval European history
        Moral reasoning
        Social marginality
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          Antisemitism
          Christian-Jewish relations
          Sectarian conflict
          Middle Ages
          Jewish identity
          Medieval European history
          Moral reasoning
          Social marginality
      keyword:
        anti‐Judaism
        antisemitism
        Ashkenaz
        Christian Reform Movements
        Christian–Jewish Relations
        eucharistic piety
        First Crusade
        imagined Jew
        Jewish assertiveness
        medieval Judaism
        ritual murder accusation
      ab: The article reviews Ivan G. Marcus's book *How the West Became Antisemitic: Jews and the Formation of Europe, 800–1500*, which examines the development of antisemitism in medieval Christian Europe through the concept of "moral imagination." Marcus argues that Jews were not merely victims but active participants in shaping Christian identity, as Christian society imagined Jews as necessary figures to define moral order, hierarchy, and purity. The book traces key elements shaping Christian views of Jews: the rivalry over chosenness, the portrayal of Jews as internal enemies from the First Crusade onward, and the belief in the permanence of Jewish identity despite conversion. Marcus also explores how accusations such as ritual murder and host desecration emerged from Christian theological frameworks rather than Jewish actions, and how Jewish communities responded with linguistic and ritual assertiveness. The work concludes that medieval antisemitic structures provided a durable conceptual foundation that modern antisemitism secularized and adapted, demonstrating the persistent role of moral imagination in sustaining exclusion and hostility.
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    language: English
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