Mediterranean Sea, the Black Death and how people blamed the Jewish community

I had created an outline for the paper but feel free to not follow it.

The goal is to answer as many as the questions in the outline as possible (they don’t all have to be answered so long as the main point is). The sources are just what I found that help answer the questions, I would like most of them to be used but if you find another source that works better feel free to use that (it just has to an academic source or a primary source). All sources must be cited.

Again, you don’t have to follow the outline if it would help you write. As long most of the questions are answered and the most of the sources are used.

Outline

Research questions
How was the Jewish population treated as a result of the Black Death? Before? During? After?
Why were they treated this way? Who was treating them this way and why?
What actions did people take? What conflicts arose and how were they dealt with?
How was the Jewish community affected and what changed?

Paper outline

Intro:
1. Begin with a brief background of the Black death.
2. Discus how our understanding of the disease is different and include brief examples of what people thought caused the disease back in the 1300s.
a. “Jews throughout the world were reviled and accused in all lands of having caused it through the poison which they are said to have put into the water and the wells” (from “The Cremation of Strasbourg Jewry St. Valentine’s Day”)
i. This may work better in the middle of the paper rather than at the beginning
3. Go on to talk about the Jewish community and how they were prosecuted by Christians for a number of reasons.
4. Ending intro stating that this paper will look at the interactions between Christians and Jews, taking a closer look on the nuances of the relationship.

Body 1 (Mob and relations attack on Tàrrega, example of brutality) (using mainly “Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World”) (largest section at the moment)
1. uprising in Tàrrega (65)
2. Stable Jewish-Christian relations until the arrival of the black death, leading to a mob attacking the Jewish community in Barcelona, killing many people (66)
a. Need to find more supporting detail from other sources (or pages 73-91 with analysis)
b. Reaction of Pere III to Barcelona (66)
3. The fear within the Jewish community when a second wave of the disease is on its way and that of Pope Clement VI (68)
a. More detail on the fear of the survivors from the Barcelona (71)
Note: Evidence of event found on page 73-91. Use this information for a deeper analysis

Body 2 (the Jewish reaction) (Note: This might not be enough for its own section and might need to be combined with Body 3 or 4)
1. Jewish Community of Barcelona, (“ABSTRACT OF TAKKANAH” from “Ordinance of the Jews”)
a. A counsel of Jewish leader meant to unite the Jewish people and community
b. Seeks protection from a possible attacked by the Christians, seeks aid from the king
c. Also seeks to establish a number of demands/rules to be followed (note: no need to go over all 30, simple pick the best that fit with the paper)

Body 3
1. Other examples of forced convictions (“The Confession of Agimet of Geneva, Châtel”) were a man is tortured until admitting of having poisoned seral towns (these towns were not poisoned they were infected with the black death)
2. Examples of being banned from entering cities (“The Cremation of Strasbourg Jewry St. Valentine’s Day”)
a. And those who did admit to having poisoned the water were burnt
3. Mothers would throw their children into a fire and then burn themselves rather than have her child be raised a Christian after her death. (“Jean de Venette”)
a. “Jean de Venette” also includes a number of there accounts and statements but is a secondary source with not much relevance in the Mediterranean
i. Can be used as support but not suited for a core piece of the paper

Body 4 (Loans, wealth, and economy)
1. Catalonia, the economic issues it faced before the disease and how the Jewish population were, in majority, the ones that controlled the loans (“Pandemic Disease” 69)
2. In order for some Jews to be spared they had to be baptized and convert, this however also meant that they had to give up all debts that were owed to them (“THE JEWS ARE BURNT”
3. Day 1 – The Third Story from “The Decameron”
a. “The Decameron” may need its own septate body depending on the length of the analysis

Conclusion
1. Try to sum up the research question
2. Give a very brief recap on the paper
3. Any last thoughts to wrap up the paper

Possible Sources

Jean de Venette on the Progress of the Black Death
Richard A. Newhall
http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/plague.html

The Confession of Agimet of Geneva, Châtel, October 20, 1348,
Translated by Agimet of Geneva
http://alchemipedia.blogspot.com/2009/10/agimet-of-geneva-confession-october-20.html

Jewish History Sourcebook: The Black Death and the Jews 1348-1349 CE,
by Jacob Marcus
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.asp

Medieval Sourcebook: Ordinance of the Jews of the Crown of Aragon, 1354 CE
By Louis Finkelstein
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/1354ordinance-aragon-jews.asp

TMG 1 (2014): Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World: Rethinking the Black Death, ed.
By Monica Green
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=medieval_globe
The Black Death and Its Consequences for the Jewish Community in Tàrrega: Lessons from History and Archeology, 62-91