Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages

by Mark R. Cohen

Overview

Did Muslims and Jews in the Middle Ages cohabit in a peaceful "interfaith utopia"? Or were Jews under Muslim rule persecuted, much as they were in Christian lands? Rejecting both polemically charged ideas as myths, Mark Cohen offers a systematic comparison of Jewish life in medieval Islam and Christendom—and the first in-depth explanation of why medieval Islamic-Jewish relations, though not utopic, were less confrontational and violent than those between Christians and Jews in the West.

Under Crescent and Cross has been translated into Turkish, Hebrew, German, Arabic, French, and Spanish, and its historic message continues to be relevant across continents and time. This updated edition, which contains an important new introduction and afterword by the author, serves as a great companion to the original.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691139319
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/24/2008
Edition description:	With a New introduction and afterword by the author
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Mark R. Cohen is professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University. His books include Jewish Self-Government in Medieval Egypt, The Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Century Venetian Rabbi, and Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt (Princeton).

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration

Introduction

Ch. 1 Myth and Countermyth 3

Ch. 2 Religions in Conflict 17

Ch. 3 The Legal Position of Jews in Christendom 30

Ch. 4 The Legal Position of Jews in Islam 52

Ch. 5 The Economic Factor 77

Ch. 6 Hierarchy, Marginality, and Ethnicity 107

Ch. 7 The Jew as Townsman 121

Ch. 8 Sociability 129

Ch. 9 Interreligious Polemics 139

Ch. 10 Persecution, Response and Collective Memory 162

Conclusion 195

Notes 201

Index 271

Editorial Reviews

Mark R. Cohen, Winner of the 2010 Goldziher Prize, The Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at Merrimack College

Winner of the 1994 National Jewish Honor Book in Jewish History

"Cohen's concern in this important new book is with a historiographically far more interesting and useful question [than the debate over the Jewish experiences in the medieval worlds of Christendom and Islam]: why the difference? . . . Cohen's argument is buttressed with an impressive range of evidence drawn from both Jewish and non-Jewish sources in the Islamic and Christian worlds."—-David Wasserstein, The Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher

This important work . . . should be of interest to all those interested in Jewish history. [Cohen's] brilliant and subtle analysis, though focused on the medieval period, provides lessons that are of vital importance today.

European Legacy - John E. Weakland

This is a required text for anyone interested in the history of the lives of our ancestors in this region and in other regions during the medieval period, which is written in a readable way and does not demand of its readers prior historical knowledge.

Haaretz - Sasson Somekh

Under Crescent and Cross . . . is a useful volume about an extremely sensitive issue.

Canadian Jewish News - Sheldon Kirshner

Mark R. Cohen has crafted a work that is fascinating in detail and provocative in analysis.

Speculum - Frederic Krome

On the whole, given the complexity of the issues and the long history of the debate about them, Cohen's fresh approach . . . is welcome, and anyone interested in the subject in the future will find it necessary to refer to this important work.

Medieval Encounters - William M. Brinner

Cohen's is a polemical text in the best sense of the word: it tries to open debate, not stifle it, and asks questions where they are traditionally shouted away. . . . A reassuringly balanced and judicious assessment of Jewish life in the Middle Ages.

New York Newsday - Andre A. Aciman

[Cohen's] systematic, comparative approach . . . makes this a useful book for courses in general medieval history and Jewish history. Cohen presents the differences between the history of Jewish life under Edom [Christianity] and Ishmael [Islam] in a lucid and comprehensive manner.

American Historical Review - Stephen D. Beinin

Cohen's concern in this important new book is with a historiographically far more interesting and useful question [than the debate over the Jewish experiences in the medieval worlds of Christendom and Islam]: why the difference? . . . Cohen's argument is buttressed with an impressive range of evidence drawn from both Jewish and non-Jewish sources in the Islamic and Christian worlds.

The Times Literary Supplement - David Wasserstein

The re-printing of this book with a new introduction and afterword by the author could not come at a better time. . . . Survivors of the Holocaust have left a long and detailed accounting of their suffering which has been added to the collective memory. Unfortunately, it would appear that this memory has transcended history, which is an excellent reason to read Mark Cohen's book lest we forget an essential part of the Jewish heritage.

Sephardic Heritage Update - Aimee Dassa Kligman

This important work . . . should be of interest to all those interested in Jewish history. [Cohen's] brilliant and subtle analysis, though focused on the medieval period, provides lessons that are of vital importance today.
— John E. Weakland

European Legacy

This is a required text for anyone interested in the history of the lives of our ancestors in this region and in other regions during the medieval period, which is written in a readable way and does not demand of its readers prior historical knowledge.
— Sasson Somekh

Haaretz

Under Crescent and Cross . . . is a useful volume about an extremely sensitive issue.
— Sheldon Kirshner

Canadian Jewish News

The re-printing of this book with a new introduction and afterword by the author could not come at a better time. . . . Survivors of the Holocaust have left a long and detailed accounting of their suffering which has been added to the collective memory. Unfortunately, it would appear that this memory has transcended history, which is an excellent reason to read Mark Cohen's book lest we forget an essential part of the Jewish heritage.
— Aimée Dassa Kligman

Sephardic Heritage Update

Mark R. Cohen has crafted a work that is fascinating in detail and provocative in analysis.
— Frederic Krome

Speculum

On the whole, given the complexity of the issues and the long history of the debate about them, Cohen's fresh approach . . . is welcome, and anyone interested in the subject in the future will find it necessary to refer to this important work.
— William M. Brinner

Medieval Encounters

Cohen's is a polemical text in the best sense of the word: it tries to open debate, not stifle it, and asks questions where they are traditionally shouted away. . . . A reassuringly balanced and judicious assessment of Jewish life in the Middle Ages.
— Andre A. Aciman

New York Newsday

[Cohen's] systematic, comparative approach . . . makes this a useful book for courses in general medieval history and Jewish history. Cohen presents the differences between the history of Jewish life under Edom [Christianity] and Ishmael [Islam] in a lucid and comprehensive manner.
— Stephen D. Beinin

American Historical Review

Cohen's concern in this important new book is with a historiographically far more interesting and useful question [than the debate over the Jewish experiences in the medieval worlds of Christendom and Islam]: why the difference? . . . Cohen's argument is buttressed with an impressive range of evidence drawn from both Jewish and non-Jewish sources in the Islamic and Christian worlds.
— David Wasserstein

The Times Literary Supplement