Encounters in Early Modern Italy

In this final session we will turn to Italy, since inquisitorial archives there hold many intriguing records in which Jews were accused of removing crucifixes from walls, stoning or damaging Christian statues and paintings, or failing to demonstrate the obligatory respect to images carried through the streets. These inquisitorial records reveal how charges of image desecration were anticipated by the Jews themselves whenever they rented or occupied spaces which already housed Christian sacred images.