A Relationship Revisited: The Reformation and the Jews

The advent of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century sent shock waves through Europe. The emerging Christian confessions had to return to fundamental questions relating to their claims to authority, their understanding of doctrine, and their collective identity. In all of these, their relationship with Jews – both biblical and contemporary – was central. The Reformation undoubtedly witnessed a sharpening of tensions between Christians and Jews, and some deeply unpleasant pronouncements by the former; but it also saw a growing awareness of shared interests, and efforts at collaboration and enhanced mutual understanding. This talk will seek to sketch out a more nuanced picture of this relationship in a comparative European perspective.

Kenneth Austin is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Bristol. His first book, From Judaism to Calvinism: The Life and Works of Immanuel Tremellius (c.1510-1580) was published in 2007. He is currently writing a full-length study of the Jews and the Reformation. His other research interests include the history of scholarship, and friendship and correspondence networks in the Renaissance and the Reformation.