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Norman Roth. Jews, Visigoths and Muslims in Medieval Spain:

Cooperation and Conict. Medieval Iberian Peninsula Texts and
Studies, vol. 10. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994. 367 pp.
Barbara Hurwitz Grant
AJS Review / Volume 21 / Issue 01 / April 1996, pp 166 - 169
DOI: 10.1017/S0364009400007790, Published online: 15 October 2009

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0364009400007790

How to cite this article:
Barbara Hurwitz Grant (1996). AJS Review, 21, pp 166-169 doi:10.1017/
S0364009400007790
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BOOK REVIEWS

I can imagine the response to God's Phallus being similar to that given
Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, and to the work of Freud, whom EilbergSchwartz uses extensively; it's true, and so a scandal that will paint Jews as
polymorphously perverse among Gentiles (who think that they themselves
aren't). Despite this danger, we are left with a very real question: in the face
of a male/Father God, how do men recognize and embrace the feminine in
themselves and at the same time keep from excluding women? The questions,
seemingly, are not new.
Stanley N. Rosenbaum
Dickinson College
Carlisle, Pa.
Norman Roth. Jews, Visigoths and Muslims in Medieval Spain: Cooperation
and Conflict. Medieval Iberian Peninsula Texts and Studies, vol. 10. Leiden:
E. J. Brill, 1994. 367 pp.
The intent of Norman Roth's work is to consider relations between
Jews and Christians in Visigothic Spain and between Jews and Muslims in
al-Andalus and Christian Spain. The author states that the topic of JewishChristian relations in later medieval Spain will be considered in a subsequent
volume. Thus, both volumes together promise to provide a comprehensive
discussion of the relations of Jews with other peoples in medieval Spain as
a whole, and thus to provide an overview of the subject lacking in the more
specialized works of E. Ashtor and Y. Baer, among others. Indeed, it appears
that Roth's intent is to provide, as well, a corrective to the views of Ashtor
and other scholars in this field of research. In the present volume, he only
partially fulfills these goals.
Structurally, the first four chapters provide a general historical consideration of the topic, followed by more specific studies of such issues as urban
life, cultural influence, and polemical encounter in chapters 5 through 7. It
is the historical survey in the first four chapters which presents the book's
greatest weakness. The organization of these chapters is unclear, and, as
well, they appear to lack an overarching thesis. Roth tends instead to become
engrossed in minutiae and rather tangential arguments. Although some of
these are quite interesting, they render the work fragmented.
The disjointed nature of his discussion is particularly evident in the
section of chapter 1 entitled "The Jews under the Visigoths" (pp. 11-13),

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167

where he ranges from the demographics of Jews under the Visigoths to a

digression on the attractions of the Spanish climate and an attack on Bernard
Bachrach's view on intermarriage, and then concludes with a discussion of
Arianism and miscellaneous other scholarly arguments. The sections of the
chapter concerning Jews in the light of Visigothic law and church councils
devolve into mere listings of evidence. Roth argues that these subjects have
been sufficiently summarized and analyzed previously. However, the reader
is led to wonder why he simply repeats the information without discussing
the earlier analysis in relation to his own thesis.
Chapters 2 through 4 present an improved treatment of their topics.
In particular, the section on Christian anti-Muslim sentiment in chapter
2 displays more depth of discussion and the balanced view that while the
proximity of Spanish Christians to Muslims prevented the hostile stereotyping
found in Northern Europe, there is evidence of some hostility to Muslims
in Spanish Christian sources. Yet Roth still tends to raise an issue only to
drop it again, with the brief comment that it is "obviously too vast for any
kind of coherent discussion here" (p. 52). This is enormously frustrating to
the reader who expects a reasonably thorough discussion of all aspects of
the issue even within a synthetic study of the large topic of Jews, Visigoths,
and Muslims in medieval Spain. Because of Roth's brief and often superficial
focus on a succession of smaller points, there is no coherent movement from
topic to topic and central issues are often ignored. This is apparent in the
lack of true conclusions to chapters 1 through 3. The fourth chapter does
present such a conclusion, which stands, in fact, as a conclusion to the first
four chapters and clearly summarizes Roth's previous points, arguing that
Visigothic persecution of Jews had little influence on the law of later medieval
Christian Spain.
Chapters 5 through 7, which concern specific aspects of Jewish-ChristianMuslim relations, and draw significantly on Roth's earlier research, comprise
the strongest sections of the book. These chapters generally are much better
organized and argued than the preceding. Roth's discussion of slavery in
chapter 5 and of the courts in chapter 6 is particularly detailed. In chapter
7, he provides ample evidence and good close analysis in his discussion of
Jewish anti-Muslim arguments in materials, such as midrash, that are not
strictly polemical. This provides a useful service to scholars. The discussion
of Maimonides as polemicist is especially strong, although Roth tends to
devote more space to him than to the equally important figures of Muslim
anti-Jewish polemic, Ibn Hazm and al-Maghribl. The overemphasis of one

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figure is also characteristic of earlier sections of the book; for example, the
extensive discussion of the Ibn NaghrTllah family in chapter 3 results in too
narrow a focus in a chapter which is meant to discuss, in general, the status
of Jews under the Umayyad and Taifa kingdoms. The superior argument of
these last three chapters is marred by the same lack of conclusions that was
symptomatic of the previous chapters. Indeed, the entire book ends with no
real conclusion and so leaves the reader with no ultimate sense of the author's
thesis.
Roth is deeply concerned to provide a corrective to opinions voiced
by other scholars that he holds to be erroneous. And, upon occasion, he
succeeds in presenting his case. However, his depiction of the views of his
colleagues as "perverse" (p. 10), "nonsense" (ibid.), "worse than useless" (p.
69), and "worthless" (p. 266 n. 27) strikes this reviewer as unnecessary and
unprofessional. Generally, Roth is most effective when he uses his research
into source materials to find contradictory evidence. His critique is weakest
when he simply argues that another interpretation does not make sense. Roth's
most unfair attack is directed at Ross Brann's otherwise-acclaimed work, The
Compunctious Poet, which he dismisses as "a generally worthless book further
marred by repeated plagiarism of my own translations of poems, articles, etc."
(p. 303 n. 51). As evidence, Roth cites his review in the Journal of Semitic
Studies 37 (1992): 335-337. But nowhere in that review does Roth mention
plagiarism, much less provide evidence for it. Such an unsubstantiated attack
on a scholar's character is misleading and irresponsible.
The question of evidence raises another, more mechanical, issue. Roth
often presents his evidence in notes rather than in the text, and frequently
these only provide references to other works. Therefore, finding the evidence
is contingent upon finding the works cited. Roth would do his readers a
great service by presenting the evidence itself either in the text or the notes.
Similarly, the bibliographical information is split among several specialized
literature surveys scattered throughout the book as well as a general bibliography at the end. Even this general list does not include all the works cited
in the notes. Hence, the reader must hunt for full citation in several places,
including, most inconveniently, the notes.
Stylistically, the book suffers from frequent instances of awkward syntax,
one-sentence or disjointed paragraphs, and a style which on occasion devolves
into mere outline. Unfortunately, the editor must share some responsibility
for these problems, as well as for a number of errors in the text and index.
Generally, the book gives the impression of work hastily done. Although

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169

there is material of value here, as a comprehensive treatment of the topic of

Jews, Visigoths, and Muslims in medieval Spain, Roth's study falls short of
its mark.
Barbara Hurwitz Grant
Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y.
David S. Katz, The Jews in the History of England, 1485-1850. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1994, xv, 447 pp.
Anglo-Jewish history has been heavily rewritten since Todd Endelman
of the University of Michigan produced his prize-winning study, The Jews
of Georgian England, 1714-1830 (Philadelphia, 1979), identifying England
and not Germany as the correct source of modern emancipation. Since
then, under the influence of labor, feminist, and ethnic history, revising has
become a central activity for other scholars. Tone, attitude, and purport have
been transformed since the passing of a generation (or two) whose story of
the Jews of England was a narration of upward social mobility, economic
success, surburbanization, and British-style respectability. It was once a classic
Victorian story of self-help, the triumph of organization and determination
over indigence and prejudice, and the refinement of a "modern" form of
religious orthodoxy. Not only the English Jews but the English generally
earned credit for these achievements, since English culture itself was the final
cause.
This story still contains much truth. It would be well to remember that;
but it is no longer the only tale. The new one is far less adulatory. It knocks
communal leaders off pedestals. It reveals human frailty. It shares with
muckraking journalists a nose for the unpleasant, Tartuffian conduct, hidden
agendas, and cover-ups. The very concept of "national" history is challenged.
"Toleration" is considered problematical, "emancipation" a clouded issue.
A skeptical attitude prevails, although for largely political reasons patriotic
writings are often appearing outside the research academy in Britain and
America.
The benefit of the current analytical approach is that it uses both narrow
and major issues to reveal unresolved cultural difficulties in the life history of
nations. The point is reemphasized in the new historiography because some
well-known historians of Britain continue to belie its utility. Consequently