Reception of medieval European anti-Jewish concepts in late medieval and early modern Norway

Yvonne Friedman investigates images of “Jews” in Norwegian church art and lay didactic texts. The anti-Jewish sentiments voiced in homilies, miracle stories, and church art were part of an effort to communicate Christianity to the laity, emphasising the importance of salvation. Developments on the European mainland, especially with regard to the Marian cult, exercised a strong influence on Norwegian anti-Jewish concepts. However, even if the anti-Jewish sentiments expressed in the legends were comparable to those in contemporary Europe, Norway lacked the full-fledged development of anti-Jewish theology, and the laity was only presented with the generally negative connotations associated with Jews. Antisemitism was not as fully developed as in the rest of Europe, but it was also far more than a “literary import,” as had been claimed by earlier research.