Converting the Jews? The duties of the prince, between religious imperative and political necessity (Lombardy, 15th century)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6092/1593-2214/5322Keywords:
Christianity, conversion, Duchy of Milan, Jews, Prince, Sforza, treaties of princes, ViscontiAbstract
This paper first examines the princely power’s implementation of a conversionist policy regarding Jews in the late medieval Duchy of Milan, and then considers the treatment of the conversion in contemporary treaties and mirrors of princes. The Sforza’s attitude towards conversion was more complex than one might expect given common assumptions about medieval religiosity. Until the end of the 15th century, the duke did not do much to promote the conversion of Jews, out of fear that doing so might cause a popular uprising, or even prove illegal. But when Jews did convert, the duke defended and exploited their actions. Indeed, the prince affirmed his political superiority through his refusal to submit to the Church’s injunction to force the Jews to convert. Paradoxically, he demonstrated his power by refraining from intervention.
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