Disputation of Barcelona

Representation of the Disputation of Barcelona, Anu – Museum of the Jewish People
Saló del Tinell (Tinel Hall), Palau Reial Major, where the disputation took place

The Disputation of Barcelona (July 20–24, 1263) was a formal ordered medieval disputation between representatives of Christianity and Judaism regarding whether Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. It was held at the royal palace of King James I of Aragon in the presence of the King, his court, and many prominent ecclesiastical dignitaries and knights between Dominican Friar Pablo Christiani, a convert from Judaism to Christianity, and Nachmanides, a leading medieval Jewish scholar, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.

During the Middle Ages, there were numerous ordered disputations between Christians and Jews.[1][2] They were connected with burnings of the Talmud, burnings of Jews at the stake, and anti-Jewish pogroms.[3] In Barcelona, Jews and Christians were given absolute freedom to deliver their arguments however they wanted—a freedom not otherwise available to Jews.[4][5]

  1. ^ Richard Gottheil; Kaufmann Kohler (1906). "Disputations". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  2. ^ Ben-Sasson, Haim Hillel. "Disputations and Polemics". Jewish Virtual Library. The Gale Group. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  3. ^ Ben-Sasson, Haim Hillel. "Disputations and Polemics - The 13th-Century Disputations". Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise & Encyclopaedia Judaica (The Gale Group). Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Disputation of Barcelona". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise & Encyclopaedia Judaica (The Gale Group). Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference HyamMaccoby was invoked but never defined (see the help page).