The Jews of Renaissance Italy

The Jews of Renaissance Italy: An Online Course with Dr. Stefanie Siegmund

Four Thursdays: March 9, 16, 23, 30
7:30–8:45 p.m. ET  
Online

The Italian Renaissance evokes images of Michelangelo’s David, Moses, and the heroic Judith of Carvaggio. But Moise, Juditta, Iacob, Isac, Danielle, and Bruna—actual Jews—were also in the piazza! This course will explore what life was like for Jews in the Italian states from 1300 to 1600, including topics such as:

• The culture of Jewish bankers as represented in their illuminated manuscripts.
• The nature of daily life for typical Jewish men and women of the Italian Renaissance, from goose-meat sausage to fist fights in synagogue.
• The religious and political factors that led to the imposition of Jewish ghettos in Venice, Rome, and Florence.
• The arrival of Portuguese Jews and development of wealthy merchant communities in Venice, Ancona, and Livorno. 

Course participants in the New York area are invited to sign up for a special in-person tour of the JTS Library’s Special Collections to view illuminated ketubbot (marriage contracts) and other rare items from the period.

Cost

$120 for four sessions.

About the Instructor

Dr. Stefanie Siegmund is associate professor of Jewish History and Gender Studies; Women’s League chair in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies; coordinator, Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Studies at JTS.