Giacomo della Marca and the Jews
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Copyright (c) 2025 Lorenzo Turchi
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63277/2385-1341/4741Abstract
Abstract in English
The article examines the relationship between Giacomo della Marca and the quaestio hebraica, analyzing both his juridical-pastoral activity and his published and unpublished writings. The Observant friar worked in numerous Italian cities, reforming statutes and regulations concerning the Jews, especially on economic matters and ritual practices. Although he operated within the usual fifteenth-century anti-Jewish frameworks, Giacomo often displays a moderate approach, avoiding the accusation of deicide and softening the harshest passages of his sources, including Isidore of Seville. In his sermons, Jews are portrayed through the theological categories of caecitas and obstinatio toward the Messiah, which illustrate how the synagoga iudeorum and its rites, “shadows” of future realities, no longer have value with the coming of Christ’s lumen veritatis. Comparison with the unpublished texts reveals an independent reworking of his sources and a consistent effort to integrate anti-Jewish polemic into a pastoral framework aimed at defending Christian identity and promoting a harmonious social order, often seeking to avoid violently polemical tones.
Abstract in italiano
L’articolo esamina il rapporto tra Giacomo della Marca e la quaestio hebraica, analizzando sia la sua attività giuridico-pastorale, sia i suoi scritti editi e inediti. Il frate osservante operò in numerose città italiane riformando statuti e normative riguardanti gli ebrei, soprattutto su temi economici e pratiche rituali. Pur muovendosi entro i consueti schemi antigiudaici del Quattrocento, Giacomo mostra un approccio spesso moderato, evitando l’accusa di deicidio e attenuando i passaggi più duri delle sue fonti, fra cui Isidoro di Siviglia. Nei suoi sermoni gli ebrei sono presentati attraverso le categorie teologiche della cecitas, dell’obstinatio verso il Messia, che dimostrano come la synagoga iudeorum e i suoi riti, “ombre” delle realtà future, non hanno più valore con l’avvento del lumen veritatis di Cristo. Il confronto con i testi inediti rivela una rielaborazione autonoma delle fonti e un costante sforzo di integrare la polemica antigiudaica in un quadro pastorale volto a difendere l’identità cristiana e a promuovere un ordine sociale armonico, con frequenti tentativi di evitare toni violentemente polemici.
