with it, and who will ultimately redeem its flawed people.
God’s will, as expressed in the Scriptures and through
priestly instructions (the code of the “Torah,” or “Law”)
will eventually triumph. Worship consisted mainly of in-
struction on how to live according to the Torah, together
with readings from the prophets, psalms, hymn-singing,
and certain prayer recitations. Although sharing some
tenets, Rabbinic Jews differed from Christians in a number
of obvious ways: they sought to obey ancient Jewish laws;
all males had to be circumcised; and they rejected the
Christian belief that Jesus Christ was the expected mes-
siah and the savior of mankind.
The demonization of Jews, which has its roots in the
New Testament but dates essentially from the Roman Em-
pire’s adoption of Christianity, was particularly motivated
by the Jewish rejection of Christ. For Christians (Catholic
and Protestant) this was evidence enough of hellish de-
pravity and was used to justify ferocious suppression of
Jews throughout medieval and Renaissance Europe. ANTI-
SEMITISMthrived. It is true that the history of Jews in the
period is hugely varied, and that local factors always in-
fluenced the brutality or tolerance that was shown to this
minority sect. But a general observation can be made: by
1500, the great nations of Europe were largely free of Jew-
ish communities.
Jews had been expelled from England (1290), France
(1394), Spain (1492), and Portugal (1497). Largely owing
to these expulsions and related pogroms, Renaissance
Jews were by necessity peripatetic. Take, for instance, the
fate of the Shephardi—Portuguese or Spanish Jews. These
communities had been removed from the Iberian penin-
sula during the 1490s, together with communities from
the Spanish-held islands of Sardinia and Sicily. They
moved eastwards, traveling to Ottoman Turkey, Constan-
tinople, and Salonika (Thessaloniki in modern Greece).
Western Europe’s cultural loss was Eurasia’s gain.
In the early 16th century Italian states generally ac-
cepted the presence of Jews, but in 1542 they were re-
moved from Naples (which was still ruled by Spain) and
were later ghettoized (by papal decree) in Mantua, Rome,
and Venice. These antisemitic acts are notorious, whereas
the fate of Judean communities in early 17th-century East-
ern Europe is less well known. The Catholic state of
Poland held controversial hegemony over Greek Catholic
communities in the Ukraine. The latter rose against the
Poles in 1648/9 and Jews, the common enemy, got caught
in the middle. Both sides brutally massacred Jews, pro-
voking great numbers to move west to eastern German
states. At around the same time, Jewish settlements were
established in Amsterdam and Hamburg. Jews would
gradually be integrated into European economic affairs, in
the way that they had, to some extent, been integrated
(mainly as moneylenders) in the pre-expulsion Middle
Ages.
It should also be recognized that Jews had a limited
presence in states from which they were officially barred.
In England, for instance, no Jews were officially resident
between 1290 and 1656. But it is now believed that as
many as 150 Jews flourished in Elizabeth I’s London.
Some of these Jews (marranos), who practiced their faith
privately, contributed substantially to the court, the econ-
omy, and the arts. Jewish historiographers have long rec-
ognized the vitality of these communities; now, finally,
non-Jewish cultural historians acknowledge the rich
legacy that “illegal” Jews made to Renaissance England
and to other early modern states.
See also: HEBREW STUDIES
Further reading: Jonathan I. Israel, European Jewry in
the Age of Mercantilism, 1550–1750 (Oxford, U.K.: Claren-
don Press, 1985); Brian Pullan, The Jews of Europe and the
Inquisition of Venice, 1550–1670 (Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell,
1983); Cecil Roth, The Jews in the Renaissance (New York:
Harper & Row, 1965); W. D. Rubenstein, A History of the
Jews in the English-Speaking World: Great Britain (Bas-
ingstoke, U.K.: Macmillan and New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1996); Moses A. Shulvas, The Jews in the World of
the Renaissance, transl. Elvin I Kose (Leyden, Netherlands:
Brill and Spertus College of Judaica Press, 1973).Jiménes de Cisneros, Cardinal Francisco See
XIMÉNES DE CISNEROS, CARDINAL FRANCISCOJodelle, Étienne (1532–1573) French dramatist and poet
A member of the PLÉIADE, Jodelle applied the principles of
the group to dramatic composition and succeeded in pro-
ducing the first modern French tragedy and comedy, ut-
terly different in every way from the morality and mystery
plays then occupying the French stage. He is chiefly re-
membered for the tragedy Cléopâtre captive (acted before
the court in 1552), which excited great interest in hu-
manist circles for its careful construction, elegiac atmos-
phere, long declamatory speeches, and characters in the
grand style. Together with Didon (c. 1560) and his comedy
Eugène (1552), this play broke new ground and prepared
the way for the great neoclassical dramatists Racine and
Corneille. Despite these successes, Jodelle died in Paris in
extreme poverty.Johannes de Muris See MURIS, JOHANNES DEJohn I (1357–1433) King of Portugal (1385–1433),
founder of the Avis dynasty
The illegitimate half-brother of Ferdinand I (king
1367–83), John of Avis took the crown after a short inter-
regnum. He decisively defeated a much larger Castilian in-
vasion force at Aljubarrota in 1385, assuming undisputed
control of Portugal and assuring its independence from
Spain for the following two centuries. The great Domini-
can monastery of Batalha (Battle), north of Lisbon, wasJJoohhnn II 2 26611