Jews & the Inquisition in Italy

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

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Summary

Between 1598 and 1785, the Papal or Roman Inquisition in Modena, Northern Italy, put 393 Jews on trial. Regarded as infidels, Jews were accused of, among other things, blasphemy, employing a Christian servant, owning prohibited books, and having sex with Christians. But the trials belie a somewhat different picture - one in which, in many cases, Jews and Christians co-existed happily together in Modena.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more from Professor Katherine Aron-Beller, about the real lives of the Jews who stood before the inquisition in Italy.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Between 1598 and 1785, the paper or Roman Inquisition in Moderna, Northern Italy, tried 393 Jews
0:16.0	and 4829 Christians. But what is especially interesting is what Jewish people were tried for.
0:24.6	Jews were regarded by the Inquisition as infidels. Trial transcripts show they were accused of a wide
0:30.4	range of crimes from employing a Christian servant to possessing prohibited books from sex with a
0:37.1	Christian to blasphemy. The trials obviously provide evidence of the power of the Inquisition.
0:44.2	But what if instead we chose to listen to the voices of those Jewish people who stood before
0:49.9	the Inquisition? Today's guest has done exactly this. Focusing on the 40 years between 1598 and 1638,
0:58.6	when there were 186 proceedings against 325 professing Jews, Professor Catherine Aronbella
1:06.8	has read against the grain of the Inquisitorial records to examine the status of Jews in Moderna
1:12.4	and their relations with Christians and other Jews. What she discovers is not what you'd expect.
1:19.2	Today we'll consider whether the Inquisition was really such an all-powerful machine of the
1:23.6	papacy. You'll learn about whether Jews were relegated to secondary status to the Christians,
1:28.6	or whether Jews and Christians lived happily together. It's fascinating and intriguing stuff.
1:35.3	Professor Catherine Aronbella is lecturer of Jewish history at the Rothburg International
1:40.1	School of the Hebrew University and at Tel Aviv University. Her areas of expertise are early
1:45.3	modern Jewish Christian relations, the early modern Inquisition and the history of anti-Semitism.
1:50.0	Professor Aronbella has been co-editor of H.D.X since 2013 and she's the author of the Roman
1:55.7	Inquisition, Center vs. peripheries published in 2018, and Christian Images and Jewish Desicrators,
2:02.2	the history of an allegation, 400 to 1700, that book is forthcoming in the University of Pennsylvania
2:08.1	Press. I'm delighted to welcome her to talk to us about the material covered in her first book,
2:14.0	which was published in 2011, Jews on trial, the papal Inquisition in Moderna 1598 to 1638.
2:28.2	Professor Aronbella, thank you so much for coming on not just the tutors. I'm really excited
	...

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