Medieval Europe · 1000-1400

Jewish life in medieval Europe

Jewish communities lived in the towns of medieval Europe as scholars, merchants and doctors, but also faced growing laws, accusations and expulsions. Students meet Rashi of Troyes, map where communities lived and were forced to leave, and discuss how this history should be remembered.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1100 to AD 1300
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Jewish communities lived in the towns of medieval Europe as scholars, merchants and doctors, but also faced growing laws, accusations and expulsions. Students meet Rashi of Troyes, map where communities lived and were forced to leave, and discuss how this history should be remembered.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate important medieval Jewish communities and explain why many lived along trade routes and in towns.
  • Describe the contributions of Jewish scholars such as Rashi of Troyes.
  • Explain the growing restrictions and expulsions of the 1200s and 1300s, and why many Jews moved east to Poland.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1100

Cities on the Rhine

Open the map in 1100 and zoom in on the Rhine between Speyer, Worms and Mainz. Some of the oldest Jewish communities north of the Alps lived in these three cities. Why might merchants settle along a great river?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1300

Expelled from the west

Move to 1300 and zoom out over Western Europe. England expelled its Jews in 1290 and France in 1306. Find both kingdoms. Where could the people who were expelled go?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1300

Welcome in the east

Pan east to Poland. Its rulers granted protection to Jewish communities, and many moved there in the following centuries. Why might a king invite skilled newcomers?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Christians were forbidden by the Church to lend money at interest, and Jews were shut out of many guilds and from owning land. How did this push many Jews into moneylending?
  2. Rulers often protected Jewish communities because they could tax them heavily. Why was that protection fragile?
  3. In 1215 a Church council ordered Jews and Muslims to wear clothing that marked them out. What is the danger of laws that single out a group?
  4. False accusations spread about Jews, and mobs attacked communities, for example in 1096 and during the Black Death. Why do people look for scapegoats in times of fear?
  5. Rashi's commentaries are still studied today. Why do some books outlive the world they were written in?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Mansa Musa, who ruled a trading empire of many peoples in the early 1300s. Afterwards, compare: why did some rulers welcome minorities and protect them, while others expelled them?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.