JEWISH-CHRISTIAN POLEMICS IN EARLY MODERN ITALY
JEWISH-CHRISTIAN POLEMICS IN EARLY MODERN ITALY
(SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES)
Jewish polemic against Christianity in the early modern period is one of the last virgin territories in the study of classical Jewish literary tradition, one of the few realms as yet uncharted by scholarly hands. A comprehensive survey of Jewish polemical/ apologetic works originating in early modernity (1500-1800) is still a desideratum.
We have a rapidly expanding knowledge of textual evidence of Jewish-Christian polemical encounters in Late Antiquity; we also have a solid overview of Jewish-Christian polemical/ apologetic texts originating in the Middle Ages. Details are becoming clearer day by day. In contrast, Jewish-Christian polemics in the early modern period seem to have been focused upon much less in terms of research.
Focusing on early modernity, two centers where Jewish anti-Christian polemical texts were produced in considerable numbers stand out: the Low Countries and the northern part of the Italian peninsula.
Between the years 2014 and 2017, a research project was established in the Institute of Jewish Studies (University of Vienna). The project, directed by Prof. Gerhard Langer and supported by the Anniversary Fund of the National Bank of Austria (Jubiläumsfonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank, project number: 16099: "Jüdisch-christiliche Polemik: Akkulturation und Modernisierung"), aimed at surveying this neglected field of Jewish literary activity in Italy.
The following webpage - a product of this research - was designed to foster further research and to provide a practical first guide for scholars and non-specialists taking an interest in the topic.
A short history of the research on Jewish polemical activity against Christianity in early modern Italy can be read and a comprehensive bibliography of anti-Christian polemical treatises of Italian provenance in the Hebrew language can be found on the following pages.
In the future, the list will be complemented to include anti-Christian treatises written in one of the vernacular languages spoken in Italy and anti-Jewish tracts written by Christians in Italian or Latin in the same historical period. Our current bibliographical list covers only the 17th and 18th centuries (the climax of Jewish anti-Christian polemical activity in Italy), but the list will be continuously expanded to include the 1500s too.
Our bibliography falls readily into two parts:
By clicking on the TREATISES button, a list of all known polemical treatises of Italian provenance in the Hebrew language can be scrolled down. The list opens into further two subsections: section A lists all known identified texts, in order of the name of the author, while section B lists anonymous works.
By clicking on a title, a bibliography will open up which includes all known manuscripts of the texts and relevant secondary literature. The following bibliography contains all known manuscripts of a text; even the manuscripts of the edited texts are listed. In contrast, a bibliographical item of secondary literature is considered only to be relevant if the polemical activity of the author or a specific polemical text is dealt with in it.
The anonymous items enumerated in section B are likely to have been of Italian origin and written in either the 17th or 18th centuries. Treatises in the last subsection are listed in alphabetical order.
By clicking on the MANUSCRIPTS button, one can scroll down a list of all known Hebrew manuscripts containing 17th or 18th century anti-Christian polemical treatises of Italian provenance. Manuscripts are in alphabetical order of the name of the city and the archive where the item is preserved, as indicated on the webpage of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts (Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, Israel).
Our bibliography is always being improved. We encourage all interested readers to add further items to the bibliography or to make corrections in it. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact the editor of the webpage (his e-mail address can be found in the contact data). Names of future contributors will be listed on the page entitled CONTRIBUTORS.
© Karoly Daniel Dobos: Jewish-Christian Polemics in Early Modern Italy
Research that enabled the preparation of this bibliography was sponsored by the Anniversary Fund of the National Bank of Austria (Jubiläumsfonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank, project number: 16099: "Jüdisch-christiliche Polemik: Akkulturation und Modernisierung")
The webpage was created by Karoly Daniel Dobos