The Jewish diaspora in medieval northern France mastered Hebrew and Aramaic, since their main knowledge resources (Bible, Talmud, and Responsa literature) were written in these languages. However, Old French was their vernacular as it was for the Christian population. This medieval Judeo-French literacy is documented in various literary, scientific, and religious texts dating from the 11th to the…
Ecclesiastical law had a lasting influence on Western and Central Europe until the 20th century and contributed fundamentally to the emergence of common European legal foundations. The ways in which these influences were transmitted are manifold and go back a long way. For it was not only since the 12th century - as is often claimed - that Europe developed into a unified area in many respects in…
Greek etymological lexica ("Etymologika") are among the most important lexicographic achievements pertaining to the history of ancient and medieval knowledge in Europe. They continued to be produced, used and extended even into the Renaissance and the early modern period. The term used for these lexica is derived from Classical Antiquity’s philosophical and grammatical analysis of language in…
The Commission for Bavarian Regional History at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences is a scientific institution for the study of the history of Old Bavaria, Franconia and Swabia. The Institute for Folklife Studies and the Svabian research site Augsburg are affiliated to the Commission. In the following you can inform yourself about the structure and activities of the commission and make use of its…
There are more than 2000 surviving Jewish cemeteries in Germany, some dating from as far back as the eleventh century. Despite great losses, no other European country possesses a comparably old, rich and multi-layered Jewish tradition. These cemeteries are among the oldest testimonies to sepulchral culture in Germany, and therefore their preservation, documentation, development and dissemination…