General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the State of the Rhineland-Palatinate (GDKE) (Web)

Venue: Landesmuseum Mainz
Time: 04.-05.11.2019
Proposals by: 31.03.2019

During the High Middle Ages, episcopal centres grew into vibrant urban communes. Craftspeople, Traders and Merchants developed new forms of social and political organization. Many towns and cities on the Rhine received liberties from emperors and kings or from their episcopal lords. The Jewish communities played an exceptional role in this process. In Speyer, Worms, and Mainz talmudic academies reached Europe-wide fame. Known as ShUM (Shpira, Warmaisa, and Magenza), the three communities wielded great authority in matters of religion, ritual, and Jewish law. They built synagogues and miqwa’ot that became models for such buildings in central Europe.

What roles, what images, and what social standing did the Jewish and Christian women attain in the emerging new forms of social and political organization in the Rhenish cities? Did their status vary according to their cultural and religious identity? How were their roles expressed, and who expressed them? These questions are the focus of an interdisciplinary conference. Its aim is to highlight the role and position of Jewish and Christian women in the medieval urban societies of the Rhineland in view of their social, cultural, and religious aspects and contexts. Particularities as well as intercultural exchange will be discussed, and needs for further research identified. Weiterlesen und Quelle … (Web)