Christians and Christianity in Payytanic Literature

Between Typological and Concrete Representations

Abstract

This essay compares representations of Christians and Christianity in piyyutim (liturgical poems) from late ancient Palestine and from medieval Europe. Allusions to Christianity, I argue, were rare in the earlier period but became frequent in later times, especially after the First Crusade. Moreover, in late antiquity references to Christianity were for the most part typological, based on the identification of the biblical Esau with Edom, with the Romans, and ultimately with the Christian empire. Piyyutim from medieval Europe continued to exhibit this typology but also increasingly contained concrete references to contemporary Christendom. Furthermore, the medieval poems become considerably harsher, rife with expressions of scorn, invective, and calls for revenge. The significant differences between the two periods should be understood in light of the transition from late antiquity, when Jewish culture flourished under Byzantine rule, to the more hostile attitudes displayed, in theory and in practice, by the Christian empire in medieval Western Europe.