Without a drastic event in 70 AD, Christianity might not even exist today. It was only the Roman conquest of the city and the destruction of the Jewish temple that created the conditions for Christianity to establish itself as an independent religion. In the Middle Ages, this historical turning point was interpreted as part of the divine plan, as a historian has determined.
In the year 70, Israel had already been under Roman occupation for a long time. But resistance arose among the Jewish people and there were several uprisings and ultimately war. Roman troops under Vespasian and his son Titus first conquered Galilee and other areas around the Empire of Judea, then marched towards the capital Jerusalem and besieged it. In the late summer of 70, the Romans conquered the city and the temple district and burned down the temple – the largest sanctuary of the Jewish people. According to the historian Flavius Josephus, more than a million people were killed during the conquest of Jerusalem.
A turning point that lasted until the Middle Ages
The destruction of the Temple and the conquest of Jerusalem marked a profound break in the history of the Jewish people and Judaism: “That was really a turning point,” says historian Alexander Marx of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The trauma of the destroyed Temple continued to have an impact long after the end of antiquity and shaped the Jewish religion to this day. At the same time, this event became the midwife of Christianity, as Marx explains. The movement, which until then had been part of Judaism, began to form itself as a separate religion. Without the destruction of Jerusalem, early Christianity would probably have remained one of many Jewish movements.
The historian examined the significance of this historical moment in more detail using thousands of medieval texts. In the Middle Ages, the conquest of Jerusalem was not only remembered, but also reinterpreted again and again: as a punishment, as a warning or as a template for explaining one’s own present. During this time, history was not primarily understood as a sequence of events, but rather as the history of salvation – as part of a divine plan. Marx pursued these interpretations and showed how a single event could become a foil for religious, political and social ideas and actions over the centuries.
“Dividing line between Judaism and Christianity”
The Roman conquest of Jerusalem became a central crossroads in Christian history in the Middle Ages: “In tandem with the Passion of Christ, this event became the dividing line between Judaism and Christianity,” explains Marx. One interpretation has been repeated again and again over the centuries: the approximately 40 years between the crucifixion of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem were understood as a period of time that God had granted the Jews to repent. The fact that this remained unused was interpreted as a divine punishment, “in order to take revenge for the crucifixion,” according to the historian.
This pattern of interpretation was repeatedly transferred to new contexts in the Middle Ages. Jerusalem served as a recurring reference point, and the Roman emperors were considered role models. A particularly impressive example can be found in a sermon by the Augustinian canon Martin of León on the Third Crusade. He explained to his listeners: “If you don’t go on a crusade now, the same thing will happen to you [wie damals].” The interpretation of the past becomes a political instrument that is intended to motivate people to take part in the crusade. For their own purposes, medieval authors also selectively reproduced events, omitting details or reinterpreting them. The notes of Flavius Josephus, who described the Jewish War as a contemporary witness, did not always fit into the Christian interpretation of the fall of Jerusalem. The medieval rendition of this ancient event and its meaning was therefore more interpretive than chronistic, as the historian explains.
Comparison of sources reveals reinterpretations and narratives
In order to make these interpretations and nuances visible, Marx and his colleagues work with a variety of different sources in their project, including chronicles, sermons and Bible commentaries. Unlike chronicles, sermons and exegetical texts explain in more detail the meaning that was attributed to an event. “The dominant ideas of an era can be identified in a large number of sources,” says Marx. Sermons play a special role: “They really are at the interface with broader society,” says the researcher. With them, clergy had the aim of reaching a broad audience, teaching them and inciting their listeners to various actions.
In order to facilitate the comparison of different sources across genres and centuries, Marx is working in collaboration with the Austrian Center for Digital Humanities (ACDH) on a database that serves as a central tool within the project. “This brings together around 2,500 sources for the first time, including around 500 unpublished passages,” says Marx. This makes it clear what connections exist between the sources, who copied from whom and what textual traditions ran through the Middle Ages. “This results in something like a ‘textual archaeology’, which, as far as I know, does not yet exist in this form,” says the historian.
The database makes it possible to look beyond the specific subject and also to larger historical contexts. Important topics such as anti-Judaism, crusades and apocalyptics are touched upon. “I hope that the database can also be a useful tool for researchers in these areas,” said Marx.
Source: Austrian Science Fund FWF; project: Medieval reception of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem