"The Medieval Jew" - Norman Cantor

Norman Cantor, Professor of History, Sociology and Comparative Literature at New York University, offers a rousing re-evaluation of the achievements of medieval Jewish civilization. For more information on this Colloquium, visit www.iishj.org/c....

[@TheAsharedhett]

Knowing he sounded like this would have changed my experience of reading his major book.

[@silverskid]

c.f. David Ruderman on the mass voluntary conversions of Jews to Catholicism starting in 1391 (Conversos-- Marranos is not a neutral term, though, meaning "swine"). They had not gotten that option to convert en masse prior to the pogroms of 1391. Unlike the heroic martyrdom response to Northern Crusades in 1096, Iberian Jews begin to opt out for social and cultural mobility and freedoms. Cantor seems to blame Jewish mysticism for catalyzing this apostasy. But what is the evidence for that claim other than disdain for Kabbalah we find in, for wexample, Graetz who is mentioned in lecture? How can we know?

[@raymondwaterson4657]

Brilliant lecture

[@gabirican4813]

Very interesting lecture.

[@jameson6930]

Pulls no punches

[@joea363]

I highly recommend his book ‘The Civilization of the Middle Ages’.

[@ThunderBroomPilot]

Please do NOT disrespect the Polish Pope, as a cheap joke among your peers. It takes away from your scholarly persona. Do not lower yourself, like Bob Hope, who used to tell Polish jokes on national TV, and was sponsored by Ford.

[@robertmontgomery6256]

Is he referring to the Dominican monks?

[@joea363]

He was correct about a pope from Latin America. But I do not see a conflict between Islam and Christianity. I see am alliance of religious fanatics and fundamentalists against the secular rational world. This is happening in the US.

[@sunnydime7212]

The Romans invaded north Europe before 500 ad that land never belonged to them to begin with...

[@Kybeline]

this video distorts the history

[@mikeappleget482]

Why don’t you enlighten us? I’m sure you know much more than this highly respected scholar..

[@silverskid]

How so?

[@ICUB4UCME23]

​@mikeappleget482, you haven't read any of his books, have you?

[@gabehessenthaler6820]

Funny how it was a German Pope and then a Latin American, but he established connections with the Jews, and changed church law not allowing us to be converted.

[@renapoole7742]

Religion is distorting everyone’s mind.🤦🏾‍♀️