Table of Contents

Preface and acknowledgements; Notes; Abbreviations; Map of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Introduction; 1. 'One Mystical Body … Only One Shepherd': church ideal of spiritual and social hierarchy; 2. The upset social order: Nobles and the Jews in Poland; 3. Heresy and the fleeting 'Triumph of the Counter-Reformation'; 4. 'Bad and cruel Catholics': Christian sins and social intimacies between Jews and Christians; 5. 'A shameful offence': The Nobles and Their Jews; 6. 'Countless Books against common Faith': Catholic insularity and anti-Jewish polemic; 7. 'Warding off heretical depravity': 'Whom does the Catholic church reject, condemn and curse?'; Conclusion: did the Counter Reformation triumph in Poland? Glossary; Abbreviations; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Promotional Information

Portrayal of Jews as victims of Church persecution but also as participants in Polish society.

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.

Reviews

'This book will be of interest to scholars concerned with early modern European history, Church history, Polish history, Jewish history, and cultural studies. Its novel thesis about the Church and its marshalling of so many valuable primary sources will make it a necessary acquisition even for those who only touch the fields it covers in a secondary way.' Moshe Rosman, Bar Ilan University 'Exhaustively researched ... This fascinating book provides detailed evidence of a fearful, anxious and embattled Church usually content to live alongside Jews as long as other threats to its hegemony did not pose serious challenges. Magda Teter helps us to understand that ... the so-called 'Triumph of the Counter Reformation' was not only to a considerable extent illusory, but the fearfulness of the Church continually demonstrated that it was indeed so.' Tony Cross, The New Blackfriars 'Jews and Heretics is an original book, based on wide-ranging research in Polish libraries and archives. Teter has a persuasive thesis that will be of interest to all historians of early modern Europe.' Church History 'This volume not only fills a gaping hole in the historical literature on Polish Catholicism and Polish-Jewish relations, but it does so with admirable professionalism. Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland will remain the standard work on Catholic Judeophobia in early-modern Poland for years to come ... Should be read not only by specialists in early-modern religious history, but by anyone interested in the history of antisemitism, Jewish- Catholic relations, or Polish history more generally.' Journal of the American Academy of Religion 'The strengths of this book are numerous. ... This is a much more nuanced look at the actual situation in post-Reformation Poland than found in previous studies.' Sixteenth Century Journal