houses and housing 353established in the religious narratives of late medieval
culture. It was a particularly common accusation leading
regional pogroms in FRANCONIA,BAVARIA,AUSTRIA, and,
in the later 14th and 15th centuries, in BOHEMIA and
eastern Germany. In such attacks it usually began as an
alleged insult by Jews to the Eucharist, in public, during
a eucharistic procession, or in some private event. It was
quickly turned into a violent mass movement to take
revenge for Christ. Lynching and mass murder might
begin and spread throughout whole regions. By the 15th
century, accusations of host desecration were made as a
preliminary justification of the expulsion of Jewish com-
munities from towns and regions.
See alsoANTI-JUDAISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM.
Further reading:Miri Rubin, Gentile Tales: The Nar-
rative Assault on Late Medieval Jews(New Haven, Conn.:
Yale University Press, 1999); Joshua Trachtenberg, The
Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and
Its Relation to Modern Anti-Semiticism(Philadelphia: The
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1943).
Hostiensis, Cardinal (Henry or Henricus de Bartholo-
maeis of Segusio or Susa, Suza)(ca. 1200–1270) Italian
canon lawyer, political theorist
Born at Susa about 1200 to a family named Bartolomei,
Henry studied canon law at BOLOGNA, and then taught at
PARIS, where he held the post of archdeacon. He may also
have taught at Bologna. He was from a similar intellectual
background as Ugolino de’ Segni, later Pope GREGORY
IX, and Sinibaldo Fieschi, later Pope INNOCENTIV, and
probably benefited from their patronage. After going to
ENGLANDwith the Savoy relatives of the queen of HENRY
III, he climbed the ecclesiastical hierarchy in his home
region. Bishop of Sisteron in 1244, he was archbishop of
Embrun from 1250 to 1261, then served in the
entourages of Pope Urban IV (r. 1261–64) and Clement
IV (r. 1265–68), popes of French origin. He was in ROME
as cardinal-bishop of Ostia from 1262 to his death on
October 25, 1270.
Hostiensis received his nickname from the location of
his cardinalate, Ostia near Rome. He was one of the most
important 13th-century scholars of CANON LAW. He pro-
vided the PAPACY with theoretical arguments to assert
authority against temporal power, especially that of the
emperor. His Golden Summa,probably written about 1250,
and his commentary on the Decretals,written toward the
end of his life, promoted papal sovereignty. Only the pope
possessed power absolutely. For Hostiensis, the power or
sovereignty of the pope could be exercised absolutely not
just in the spiritual, but also in temporal matters. The
emperor was merely the pope’s vicar.
See alsoPOLITICAL THEORY AND TREATISES.
Further reading:James A. Brundage, Medieval Canon
Law (London: Longman, 1995); Clarence Gallagher,
Canon Law and the Christian Community: The Role of Law
in the Church according to the Summa Aurea of Cardinal
Hostiensis(Rome: Università Gregoriana, 1978); John A.
Watt, The Theory of Papal Monarchy in the Thirteenth Cen-
tury: The Contribution of the Canonists(New York: Ford-
ham University Press, 1965).houses and housingPEASANT DWELLINGS
The peasant houses of the early Middle Ages were made
of earth and wood for the walls and vegetable material for
the roofs. They were built by the locals according to
regional traditions. The houses of northern regions and
many southern ones sheltered both people and beasts,
with one or two rooms forming a somewhat unhealthy
core area for human habitation. The demographic and
economic expansion of the 11th and 12th centuries
encouraged a development and elaboration of farming
buildings and housing. From then on separate buildings
such as the the dwelling itself, barns, or stables were con-
structed around an often enclosed courtyard on more
elaborate farming establishments. Construction was madeA medieval house in the city of Cluny in Burgundy(Courtesy
Edward English)