B5220 - History and Culture of the Jews in the Early Modern Age (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have acquired an excellent knowledge of the intellectual, artistic, literary and historical-religious history of the Jews in the early modern age and of the relations between European thought and Jewish history. They will demonstrate an understanding of thematic and methodological trends in historiography and how key concepts in the early modern theological-political lexicon have changed in relation to contemporary debates. They will be able to critically examine different types of sources relating to Jewish culture and the experience of deep cultural interaction that characterises the theoretical and historical-political reflection of Jewish authors, as well as the Christian interest in Jewish language and tradition (biblical and post-biblical). They will be able to evaluate the implications of different media for dissemination and teaching. They will be able to contextualise and use the scholarly bibliography of the field studied and to apply their knowledge in the editorial field; they will also be able to recognise the relevance of historical memory in contemporary culture and the role of the historian in promoting a critical and scientific approach; they will be able to interpret and sift the data on the subjects studied, formulating scientifically valid judgements in the historical, philosophical, literary, historical-artistic fields. Finally, they will be able to identify the specific contribution that the historical sciences can make to addressing issues and problems of interest to society.

Course contents

The course aims to present the different aspects that characterized the life of Jews in early modern Europe and the Mediterranean, covering the period from 1492 to 1789, that is, from the expulsion of Jews from Spain to the emancipation following the French Revolution. The course will focus on four themes:

1. The Jewish presence in Europe and the Mediterranean (15th-18th centuries): Expulsions, ghettos, and institutions.

2. The political organization of Jews: Authority, power, justice, and membership.

3. Jewish intellectuals in modern Italy and their relationship with Christianity.

4. The discovery of Hebrew in early modern Europe (15th-18th centuries): Texts, authors, and ideas.

Readings/Bibliography

In addition to the material distributed in class, each student will be required to study two texts chosen from the following list:

- David B. Ruderman, Early Modern Jewry. A New Cultural History, Princeton and Oxford, Princeton University Press, 2010.

- G. Bartolucci, Vera religio. Marsilio Ficino e la tradizione ebraica, Torino, Claudiana, 2017.

- M. Caffiero, Legami Pericolosi. Ebrei e Cristiani tra eresia, libri proibiti e stregoneria, Einaudi, Torino, 2012.

- Y. Kaplan, From Christianity to Judaism. The Story of Isaac Orobio de Castro, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1989.

- Y. Kaplan, An Alternative Path to Modernity. The Sephardi Diaspora in Western Europe, Leiden - Boston – Köln, Brill 2000.

- P. Savy, Les princes et les Juifs dans l’Italie de la Renaissance, Parigi, Puf, 2023.

- R. Toaff, La Nazione ebrea a Livorno e a Pisa (1591-1700), Firenze, Olschki, 1990.

- M. Caffiero, Storia degli Ebrei in Italia in età Moderna, Roma, Carocci, 2014.

- G. Maifreda, Italya. Storie di ebrei, storia italiana, Roma, Laterza, 2020.

- S. Di Nepi, Sopravvivere al ghetto. Per una storia sociale della comunità ebraica nella Roma del Cinquecento, Roma, Viella, 2013.

- K. Stow, Il ghetto di Roma nel Cinquecento. Storia di un’acculturazione, Roma, Viella, 2014.

- U. Cassuto, Gli Ebrei a Firenze nell’età del Rinascimento, Firenze, Galletti e Cocci, 1918.

- S. B. Siegmund, The Medici State and the Ghetto of Florence. The Construction of an Early Modern Jewish Community, Stanford, Stanford University Press 2005.

- A. Leone Leoni, La Nazione Ebraica Spagnola e Portoghese di Ferrara (1492-1559), 2 voll., Firenze, Olschki, 201, solo vol. 1.

- Y. H. Yerushalmi, Dalla Corte al Ghetto. La vita, le opere, le peregrinazioni del marrano Cardoso nell’Europa del Seicento, Milano, Garzanti, 1991.

- Verso l'epilogo di una convivenza, a cura di Giuseppina Muzzarelli, Firenze, Giuntina, 1996.

- E. Nelson, The Hebrew Republic, Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 2010.

- M. Idel, La Cabala in Italia (1280-1510), Firenze, Giuntina, 2007.

- M. Mantovani, Il cabbalista aristotelico. Paolo Ricci tra Rinascimento e Riforma, Roma, Viella, 2024.

- M. Benfatto, Gesù frainteso. La polemica ebraica anticristiana nel Sefer chizzuq emunah di Yshaq ben Avraham Troqi (c. 1533-1594), Roma, Viella, 2022.

- Oltre il Ghetto. Dentro e Fuori, a cura di Andreina Contessa, Simonetta della Seta, Carlotta Ferrara degli Uberti, Sharon Reichel, Milano, Silvana Editoriale, 2020.

- Filosofia Ebraica in Italia (XV-XIX), «Filosofia italiana», 1, 2020, Guido Bartolucci, Libera Pisano and Michela Torbidoni (a cura di).

- A. O. Albert, Jewish Politics in Spinoza’s Amsterdam, London, The Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation, 2022.

- Il Rinascimento parla ebraico, a cura di Giulio Busi e Silvana Greco, Milano, Silvana Editoriale, 2019.

- F. E. Manuel, Chiesa e Sinagoga. Il Giudaismo visto dai Cristiani, Genova, ECIG, 1998.

- G. Todeschini, La banca e il ghetto. Una storia italiana, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2016.

- D. Nirenberg, Antigiudaismo. La tradizione occidentale, Roma, Viella, 2016.

For non-attending students, please also add:
A. Foa, Ebrei in Europa, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 2001 and subsequent editions.

Teaching methods

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Course Structure (5 weeks):

• Week 1: Introduction to the course and discussion of the main themes.

• Weeks 2–5: Each week will be dedicated to one of the themes listed above. The weekly structure will be as follows:

  • 1st Lesson: Introductory lecture on the topic.

  • 2nd Lesson: Group discussion with students of an essay related to the week’s theme, distributed the previous week via the Virtuale platform.

  • 3rd Lesson: Group discussion with students of a source (in Italian) related to the week’s theme, distributed the previous week via the Virtuale platform.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending. The oral examination will take place in the exam sessions provided at the end of the course.To evaluate the exam, the teacher will take into account the student's ability to master the contents of the course, to understand the historical concepts, to orientate himself in the bibliography, to know how to read a source, to connect the informations acquired, to expose what he has learned in a synthetic way and with an appropriate language. The student who will meet these demands will have an excellent mark. The student who will simply repeat the informations acquired in a mnemonic way and with a language not entirely adequate will have a discreet evaluation. The student who will show that he knows the contents superficially and with some gaps, using an inappropriate language, will have a sufficient evaluation. The student unprepared and incapable of orientation in the subject will have a negative evaluation.

During the academic year, oral exam sessions are scheduled in the following months:

January (for students with pending exams), March (for students with pending exams), June (for all students), July (for all students), September (for all students), November (for all students).

Teaching tools

Presentations in Prezi format, sources, essays, online repertoires can be provided by the teacher. The materials will be made available in the specific section of the University website.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Guido Bartolucci