Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland: A Beleaguered Church in the Post-Reformation Era - Softcover

Teter, Magda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521109914 ISBN 13: 9780521109918

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Contrary to the common contention that the Catholic Church triumphed in Counter-Reformation Poland, this study reveals that from the rise of the Reformation and the rapid dissemination of its new ideas, the Catholic Church was overcome with a strong sense of insecurity. The beleaguered Church sought to separate Catholics from non-Catholics: Jews and heretics. This process helped form a Polish identity that led to racial anti-Semitism and to the exclusion of even most assimilated Jews from the category of Poles. The book portrays Jews not only as victims of Church persecution but as active influential participants in Polish society.

About this title

Book Description:

Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland takes issue with historians' common contention that the Catholic Church triumphed in Counter-Reformation Poland. In fact, the Church's own sources show that the story is far more complex. From the rise of the Reformation and the rapid dissemination of these new ideas through printing, the Catholic Church was overcome with a strong sense of insecurity. Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland portrays Jews not only as victims of Church persecution but as active participants in Polish society who as allies of the nobles, placed in positions of power, had more influence than has been recogniz ed.

About the Author:

Magda Teter is Assistant Professor of History at Wesleyan University. She is the recipient of the Koret Foundation publication prize and has been published in English, Polish and Hebrew in such journals as Jewish History, AJS Review and Gal-Ed.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0521109914
• ISBN 13: 9780521109918
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312