Monday 11 February 2013, 5:15pm, Lecture Room 1, New College
‘The Renaissance of the Jews?’
Stephen S. Bowd, Reader in European History, 1500-1800, University of Edinburgh
Renaissance humanists, who cultivated a knowledge of classical languages and history, responded to the ancient Hebrews and their Jewish descendants with a mixture of fascination and disgust. In this lecture, Dr Bowd will show how some humanists worked to read and translate Hebrew scriptural texts or recover and promote the mystical tradition of the Kabbalah in the name of Christianity, while others integrated Hebrew history into their narratives of ancient empires and demonstrated how ancient wisdom was held by the Hebrews. Drawing on a wide range of published and unpublished texts, Dr Bowd will consider the nature of Jewish-Christian relations in Italy and suggest how a modern understanding of the Renaissance may be challenged by this new evidence.
Book your place at http://edinburgh-university-141.eventbrite.co.uk/
Edinburgh Jewish Studies Network 