Skip to product information
1 of 1

Agobard of Lyons and the Medieval Concep

Regular price $3.00
Regular price Sale price $3.00
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Medieval Christian attitudes toward Jews crystallized through the influential writings of Agobard, ninth-century bishop of Lyons, who fundamentally reshaped Jewish-Christian relations by merging two competing theological traditions. Early Christianity had spawned divergent approaches: Augustine's doctrine of tolerant coexistence, derived from Paul's Epistle to the Romans, stood in tension with John Chrysostom's hostile anti-Jewish polemics. Through analysis of letters written between 822 and 828, Agobard's synthesis of these traditions emerges as a watershed moment that transformed traditional legal protections for Jews into primarily restrictive measures. His correspondence with Emperor Louis the Pious and church officials marks a pivotal shift from viewing Jews as theological witnesses to casting them as active threats requiring systematic legal restraint. While rejecting violent persecution, Agobard advocated comprehensive enforcement of restrictive laws originally codified in the Theodosian Code and sixth-century Frankish church councils. His innovative fusion of imperial Roman law, patristic theology, and ecclesiastical legislation established foundational concepts that would shape both official church policy and popular Christian attitudes toward Jewish communities throughout medieval European society.

View full details
  • Physical Description

  • Publication Information

    Published 1974

    ISBN

  • Publication Credits

    Kenneth Stow