John of Garland on the Jews

• Published in: Journal of medieval history 2022-08, Vol.48 (4), p.478-495
• Main Author: Jordan, William Chester
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: crusades; heretics; Jews; John of Garland; Muslims; rhetoric; Virgin Mary
• ISSN: 0304-4181; 1873-1279
• DOI: 10.1080/03044181.2022.2098530

The works of John of Garland, an Englishman who taught in Paris and Toulouse in the first half of the thirteenth century, have many virulent passages describing the Jews of his day. Although he never denied the possibility that conversion to Christianity could redeem the Jews, he thought it unlikely they would come over to the Catholic faith or remain steadfast in the religion. His invective was extreme by the standards of the time but was influential in that it appeared in many of his pedagogical works for adolescents and young men at the universities. These works and others which were directed at a more learned audience, like those that praised the Virgin Mary and extolled the triumphs of the Church Militant, were written in rhetorically complex Latin and have not attracted the interest they deserve from scholars. This article is a first attempt toward remedying this state of affairs.