Jews and Saracens in Early Middle English
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Early Middle English Society
Organizer Name
Dorothy Kim
Organizer Affiliation
Vassar College
Presider Name
Siobhain Bly Calkin
Presider Affiliation
Carleton Univ.
Paper Title 1
"Jew" and "Jewish" as Identifying Terms in Early Middle English
Presenter 1 Name
Adrienne Williams Boyarin
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Victoria
Paper Title 2
Saint Margaret, the Jew, and the Ethiopian in Bodley 34 and Fitzwilliam 370
Presenter 2 Name
Dorothy Kim
Paper Title 3
Response: Manufacturing Race in Early Middle English Manuscripts
Presenter 3 Name
Asa Simon Mittman
Presenter 3 Affiliation
California State Univ.-Chico
Start Date
15-5-2015 3:30 PM
Session Location
Fetzer 1060
Description
The twelfth and thirteenth century saw England gain crusader territory in the Eastern Mediterranean and saw the establishment of Jews in a number of urban areas throughout Britain. The Jews were expelled from England by Edward I in 1290; England lost Acre in 1289. With this frame, this panel will consider Jews and Saracens in relation to a contemporary presence of Jews in England and a robust crusading period. While these events are of special interest to most medievalists who work on Anglo-Norman England/France--and though there has been work on Latin material in this context--there is very little on English vernacular works of the period as they pertain to thoughts about/representations of Jews, Saracens, and the Holy Land. Work on the later Middle English canon frequently contends with representations of Jews and Saracens post-expulsion and after the final loss of Jerusalem and often makes bold arguments about representation "before" and "after". But this panel asks the question is there really as much discernible change? What do we see if we look for the traces of thinking about Jews and Saracens in a corpus where this content is often overlooked and where their presence is intimately entwined in English regional, national, and international interests.
Dorothy Kim
Jews and Saracens in Early Middle English
Fetzer 1060
The twelfth and thirteenth century saw England gain crusader territory in the Eastern Mediterranean and saw the establishment of Jews in a number of urban areas throughout Britain. The Jews were expelled from England by Edward I in 1290; England lost Acre in 1289. With this frame, this panel will consider Jews and Saracens in relation to a contemporary presence of Jews in England and a robust crusading period. While these events are of special interest to most medievalists who work on Anglo-Norman England/France--and though there has been work on Latin material in this context--there is very little on English vernacular works of the period as they pertain to thoughts about/representations of Jews, Saracens, and the Holy Land. Work on the later Middle English canon frequently contends with representations of Jews and Saracens post-expulsion and after the final loss of Jerusalem and often makes bold arguments about representation "before" and "after". But this panel asks the question is there really as much discernible change? What do we see if we look for the traces of thinking about Jews and Saracens in a corpus where this content is often overlooked and where their presence is intimately entwined in English regional, national, and international interests.
Dorothy Kim