Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages

Nirenberg particularizes and differentiates the types of aggression against diverse minorities in 14th-century Aragon. (Nirenberg, 15-27) By identifying direct purposes and motives, in the First Chapter of “The Historical Background” he calls into inquiry obtained metanarratives on the theme of the persecution of devout minorities. Nirenberg makes wealthy use of both Christian and Jewish archival assets, encompassing correspondence, edicts, and judicial and economic records. In his unfastening contentions, Nirenberg criticizes what he calls a “structuralist” approach to the theme of medieval persecutions, exemplified by Robert Moore (but furthermore present in the works ...