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The '''Jews''' are a race of people originating in the [[mesopotamia]]n region and having spent much of their history in [[Israel]].  They spread throughout [[Europe]] after the revolt of Bar Kochba in AD99.  The '''Jews''' also form a religious grouping following the '''Jewish''' religion.  The intellectual focus of the '''Jewish''' religion is the [[synagogue]], although by and large '''Jews''' tend to treat attendance at a [[synagogue]] differently to the way that [[catholic]]s treat attendance at [[church]].

== Jewish History in the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]] ==

(a very brief and mildly inaccurate outline).

=== Early [[Middle Ages]] ===

In eastern [[Europe]], the main Jewish force from the [[8th century]] onwards was the [http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazars Khazars].

In western [[Europe]], the early [[medieval]] life of the Jews was established by [[Gregory the Great]] and later [[Louis the Pious]] who in turn rejected forced baptism, encouraged favours for the Jewish people, and placed the Jews under the protection of the King.  The [[Catholic Church]] had prohibited [[usury]] amongst [[christian]]s, and so the Jews were handed a monopoly in the loaning of money.  This made many Jews relatively wealthy.

Until about 1150 or so, the Jews were variously required to wear particular [[clothing]], constrained from wearing various clothes or types of cloth, banned from bearing arms, banned from participating as wars, classed as ''unfree'', etc.  For the money sometimes it wasn't such a bad deal.

=== Later [[Middle Ages]] ===

Between the [[11th century]] and the [[13th century]] things took a drastic turn for the worse.  The first great persecutions of the Jews took place during the [[crusade]]s, and greater restrictions were placed on apparel.

The Jews were expelled from [[England]] in 1209, [[France]] in 1306 and again in 1394, subject to the inquisition in [[Spain]] from 1391, expelled from [[Spain]] in 1492 and from [[Portugal]] in 1496.  Modern historians rate the expulsion of the Jews from [[Spain]] as the single act that was most greatly to blame for the [[economic]] decline and later collapse of [[Spain]].

=== [[Renaissance]] and [[Reformation]] ===

Things got a lot better in the early [[Reformation]].  The humanist and [[Hebrew]] scholar [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin] became the spokesman of the Jews, succesfully arguing with the Emperor Maximilian that the Jews should provide [[Hebrew]] chairs at every German [[university]] for which the Jews should furnish books.

[[Martin Luther]]'s defence of the Jews was published in 1523, but he turned against the Jews in 1542 after which things got bad for the Jews again especially in [[German]] [[Protestant]] areas.

== [[Language]] and [[Custom]]s ==

The primary [[language]] of the Jews is [[Hebrew]].  Variously throughout the [[Middle Ages]] however they were prohibited from reading, writing, and/or speaking [[Hebrew]], and so other languages came into existence.  These were, chiefly:

* [[Yiddish]], an amalgm of [[Hebrew]], [[German]], [[Russian]] and some [[Polish]], most commonly spoken by [[Ashkenazi]] Jews in Eastern and Central [[Europe]].  It is normally written with the [[Hebrew]] alphabet, although the [[Latin]] alphabet can be used.
* [[Ladino]], essentially a [[Romance]] dialect, spoken by Jews in [[Spain]], [[Italy]], and later [[The Netherlands]].

== Your [[SCA]] [[Persona]] is a Jew ==

Firstly you need to do a fair amount of reading and [[research]] into the time period.  The [[SCA]] covers from the early [[medieval]] period until the late [[Renaissance]] of [[1600]] and the life and times of the Jews changed remarkably during that time period.

* Pick a time period and place.  The Jews were widespread throughout [[Europe]], with the main concentrations being in [[Spain]], [[Portugal]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]], and amongst the [http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazars Khazars].
* Find a noted Jewish [[scholar]] and quote his works.  Often.  Consider all other scholars to be mere shadows of his great self.  Remember, where two Jews are gathered together, there are at least 3 opinions.
* [[Research]] the [[clothing]] restrictions of the day and area your [[persona]] inhabits, and follow those closely.  The [[4th Lateran Council]] might be a good place to start looking.
* Learn some common [[Yiddish]] expressions, notably those of exasperation and belittlement, and bewilder your friends with them.
* Don't talk about money.  Except to complain about how little you have, how much this [[cloth]] is costing you, how your [[wife]] eats you out of house and home, and how you can't bear to sell it for the price you are offering but you're doing it for such a fine gentleman as a great favour.
* Common occupations:  The vast majority of Jews were poor: labourers, farmers, scholars, etc.  There were occasionally wealthy [[merchant]]s, [[doctor]]s, and especially [[bank]]ers amongst the Jews, however, and these are good target occupations for the Jewish [[SCA]] [[persona]].  The Jews tended not to be [[law]]yers, and were universally not of the [[noble]] or other arms-bearing classes, except amongst the [http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazars Khazars] where even the [[King]] was Jewish.