Jewish Communities in High Medieval Castile: Beyond Traditional Written Sources

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Special Session

Organizer Name

Scott de Brestian

Organizer Affiliation

Central Michigan Univ.

Presider Name

Laura J. Whatley

Presider Affiliation

Auburn Univ.-Montgomery

Paper Title 1

Ethnic Minorities in Medieval Palencia as Evidenced by Personal Names: The Jews of Dueñas and Aguilar

Presenter 1 Name

David Peterson

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. de Burgos

Paper Title 2

Jewish Dining, Kosher Cooking, or Just Broken Pots? A Case Study from Medieval Najera (La Rioja)

Presenter 2 Name

Victor Martinez

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Roanoke College

Paper Title 3

Searching for the Aljama: Urbanism and Jewish Quarters in Burgos and La Rioja

Presenter 3 Name

Scott de Brestian

Start Date

11-5-2019 10:00 AM

Session Location

Schneider 2355

Description

This multi-disciplinary session seeks to further this exploration of the evidence for the presence of Jewish and Muslim minorities in Castile even when there are few or no explicitly ethnicised references to them in the documentary record. The session aims to present a variety of approaches and forms of evidence, such as archaeological, artistic, and onomastic. Speakers will be asked to discuss the methodological potential as well as the pitfalls in using different categories of evidence in support of ethnic identification. To what extent is ethnicity implied by one’s name, by one’s artistic style, by the kind of ceramics one uses or by one’s building techniques? Scott de Brestian