The Jews of Medieval Speyer: A Lost Community

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the remarkable Jewish community of medieval Speyer, one of the three great ShUM cities along the Rhine. They trace its founding in 1084 under Bishop Rüdiger Huzmann, who granted unprecedented protections to Jewish settlers fleeing persecution elsewhere. The episode delves into the Speyer Judenhof, with its surviving synagogue and ritual bath (mikveh), and the legal charter that allowed Jews to trade, own land, and practice their religion freely—a rare haven in a turbulent age. Lucas explains how the community flourished until the First Crusade in 1096 brought violence and forced conversions, and how the city's Jewish quarter was rebuilt, only to face repeated expulsions and pogroms over the centuries. The conversation also touches on the importance of the ShUM communities (Speyer, Worms, Mainz) as centers of Jewish learning and law, and the legacy of Rabbi Judah ben Kalonymus and the Tosafist scholars. The episode concludes with the eventual decline of Jewish Speyer and its rediscovery through archaeology and memorialization today. #MedievalGermany #JewishHistory #Speyer #ShUM #Rhineland #Synagogue #Mikveh #FirstCrusade #BishopRüdiger #RabbiJudahbenKalonymus #Tosafists #Pogroms #MedievalEurope #UNESCO #History #FexingoHistory #JewishHeritage #MiddleAges Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo