Why Were Jews and Christians Separated in The Elizabethan...

I. My Question â€Å"Well Ashley, Jews and Christians did not get along in the Elizabethan time period,† said my parish priest. Once I heard this, I was determined to research more information. I knew that Jews and Christians have always had their differences in what they believed religiously. I questioned myself what did each religious group believe in? What did they agree with? What do they disagree on? I knew that persecutions took place in the past for what a religious group may stick up for. I need to find out more on why they were persecuted for sticking up for what they believed in and expressing their values. From all of the things I have listed, I was able to form my research question: Why were Jews and Christians separated†¦show more content†¦The term to describe them was heretics (Audio English). In Europe, the Catholics treated Jews as heretics. The character of Jews suffered badly during the medieval era. Jews were considered to be guilty for spreading the Bubonic Plague or the Black Death among Christians (Alchin). According to the information on the Elizabethan website, there were prejudice issues against both religions. Reading background information on Venice, it stated that in 1290 Jews were merchants and moneylenders, they were â€Å"allowed to work in Venice, but were forced to pay a special tax of 5% on all their import and export transactions. The Jewish moneylenders received permission to settle in the city in 1385 and [were] given a piece of land to be used as a Jewish cemetery in 1386† (Weiner). The prejudice against the Jewish race in the Elizabethan England was a completely different issue to the unfairness against the Catholic faith. In order to understand this prejudice, it is necessary to look at the history of Anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is the belief or behavior of unfriendliness toward Jews (Stop Hate). The Elizabethan Era consisted of the prejudice against Catholics which related to their faith. However, â€Å"Anti-Semitism extended to the whole of the Jewish Race, as well as their religion† (Alchin). The Jews then became banned from the city in 1394.Show MoreRelatedEssay on The Moor in the Works of William Shakespeare4150 Words   |  17 PagesWorks of Shakespeare      Ã‚  Ã‚   One theme consistently reemployed throughout Shakespeares plays is that of the Other. The Other is usually characterized as a character that is somehow separated, stigmatized, or noted as being different from the mainstream ideal. For the Elizabethan England of Shakespeares time, it may have been a self-defensive maneuver against the encroachment of something which threatened too close to home (Bartels 450). Bryant lists several methods used to employ this convention