This seminar explores the intertwined histories of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in medieval Spain. It examines the emergence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, initial encounters and shifting relationships between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Spain, cultural cross-influence and religious conversion between these groups, and the expulsions of Jews and Moriscos from Spain in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The course also explores modern legacies of this history and addresses broader questions about the fruits and challenges of cultural pluralism and the causes and consequences of cultural intolerance. Participants will have the extraordinary opportunity to travel to Spain from May 17 to 28, 2022— after final exams and before commencement—to visit the places they will have studied.
About Paola Tartakoff
Paola Tartakoff studies the social and cultural history of Jews and Christians in medieval and early modern Europe. She is particularly interested in conversion to and from Judaism, the medieval and Spanish inquisitions, and ritual murder accusations. Her first book was based on archival research conducted in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia. Her current work explores Western Europe and the Mediterranean more broadly.