'In the Likeness of a Jew': Medieval Portrayals of Evil Jews
So Jesus states while speaking with his constant opponents, the Pharisees. While Jesus surely intended to limit his insult solely to the men he was speaking to, medieval Christians saw no such distinction. Rather, they viewed this passage as a confirmation straight from the mouth of Christ himself that the Jews were the children of Satan.
The Biblical portrayals of Jewish mobs clamoring for Jesus' crucifixion while Pilate sought to argue them down quickly cast the Jews as enemies of Christ and, therefore, the mortal foes of his Church (Trachtenburg, 19-20).
It was common within Christian literature and folklore to portray Jews as, while not necessarily devils themselves, certainly possessing demonic characteristics and evil intentions towards Christians.
This sentiment against the Jews would grow into the blood libel fables and accusations that marked much of the medieval period, accounting for hundreds of Jewish lives. Especially notorious examples of blood libel would find their way into the songs and folklore of the day, many of which have come down to the modern day.
To examine the bias against the Jews in these texts, we shall be using Voyant Tools to visualize and inspect the language used when Jewish characters are on-stage.
