European Jewry In The Age Of Mercantilism 1550-1750

by Jonathan I. Israel

This survey history of Jewish life and culture in early modern Europe is the first to focus on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a radically new phase in Jewish history. The book lays particular emphasis on the reversal of trends in western and central Europe in the late sixteenth century, which was followed by a rapid increase in Jewish numbers and activity, and far-reaching reorganization of Jewish society and institutions. A major consequence of these changes was a much expanded and more varied Jewish role in European civilization as a whole. The first edition of this book was the joint winner of the Wolfson Literary Prize for History in 1986. For this third edition, the book has been updated and includes a new introduction.

Genres: History, European History, Judaica

266 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Jonathan Irvine Israel is a British writer on Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, in January 2001. He was previously Professor of Dutch History and Institutions at the University of London.

In recent years, Israel has focused his attention on a multi-volume history of the Age of Enlightenment. He contrasts two camps. The "radical Enlightenment" founded on a rationalist materialism first articulated by Spinoza. Standing in opposition was a "moderate Enlightenment" which he sees as profoundly weakened by its belief in God. In Israel’s highly controversial interpretation, the radical Enlightenment is the main source of the modern idea of freedom. He contends that the moderate Enlightenment, including Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, made no real contribution to the campaign against superstition and ignorance.

Reviews

[Introverticheart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narracja chaotyczna. Gdyby nie to, byłoby znacznie wyżej. Ogólnie dosyć ciekawa perspektywa historii Żydów w dobie nowożytnej.

[Mir]

My notes about this book, which I do not recall:
-Past scholarship synthesized from secular POV
-Broad trends, esp econ
-4 periods: 1) Expulsion from Europe 2) [I left this blank] 3) High point 1650-1713 4) decline
-Netanyahu argues that conversos were sincere Catholics forced into Jewish identification by suspicious neighbors.

Jewish Self-Hatred: Anti-Semitism and the Hidden Language of the Jews