Part Two Of “The German View of Judaism” Series
While preparing for the First Crusade, many Catholics also recognized the Jewish enemy throughout Europe.
Lord Godfrey of Bouillon, a German knight and the leader of the First Crusade swore to fight in Jerusalem “only after avenging the blood of the crucified one by shedding Jewish blood and completely eradicating any trace of those bearing the name “Jew”.
These facts are documented in a book published by Jewish Historian Shlomo Eidelberg:
Shlomo Eidelberg, The Jews and the Crusaders: The Hebrew Chronicles of the First and Second Crusades. (Madison, University of Wisconsin, 1977), 25.
This source can be viewed for free on Google Books:
Count Emicho, a member of German nobility led a group of Crusaders through Europe and decided to attack Jewish communities. His soldiers chanted the slogan, “Why fight Christ’s enemies abroad when they are living among us?” They attacked synagogues in Speyer, Worms, and Mainz. Allegedly, 5,000 Jews were killed.
These facts are documented in a book published by British Historian Thomas Asbridge:
Thomas Asbridge, The First Crusade: A New History: The Roots of Conflict between Christianity & Islam. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004), 86.
This source can be viewed for free on Google Books:
These Crusades were unfortunate but protected the European economy from Jewish usury and influenced future Germans. In 1298, Lord Rindtfleisch, a German knight gathered a mob and attacked Jews that had desecrated the Catholic Eucharist. Later, he declared he had received a mandate from heaven to avenge the sacrilege and exterminate the Jews. They destroyed the Jewish communities in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Würzburg, Bamberg, Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen Forchheim, and Nuremberg. Allegedly, 5,000 Jews were killed.
This article is part two of “The German View of Judaism” series:
Introduction: Jett & Jahn Media Presents “The German View of Judaism”
Charlemagne: Capitulary for the Jews
The German Crusade of 1096
Martin Luther: On the Jews and Their Lies
Immanuel Kant: Anthropology From A Pragmatic Point of View
Johann Gottlieb Fichte: A State Within A State
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: The Spirit of Christianity
Arthur Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena
Johann Sebastian Bach: St. John’s Passion
Ludwig Von Beethoven: The Beethoven I Knew
Richard Wagner: Judaism & Music
Conclusion: Modern Germans & Judaism