Jewish Magic in the Syncretic Renaissance: Baking a Pizza for the Bogeyman

Abstract

IN LATE MEDIEVAL and early modern Italy, Jews interacted with Christians on many levels, despite the restrictions imposed on them by Christian religious and secular authorities. They actively partook in Italian Renaissance society and culture, facilitating with their capital economic endeavors, procuring rare and exotic goods for their Christian neighbors and rulers, acting as cultural intermediaries of scientific and occult knowledge, and enriching the intellectual discourse of the