Transregionale Religionsgeschichte (Prof. Dr. Laura Lieber)

This course will take students into the long and complex history of Jews in Regensburg, from the first settlements in the 10^th century,
through the period of the Crusades, the rise of the famous Pietists of
Ashkenaz (whose poetry is still a part of the modern Jewish prayerbook),
to the destruction of the community in 1519, its reemergence in the
early modern period, the horrors of the 20^th century, and the renewal of the 21^st century.  We
will consider a full range of sources but focus particularly on the
materials visible “on the ground,” using the city of Regensburg as our
primary text.

Although
the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament are mainly characterised by male
protagonists, there are also a number of central female figures and characters
who decisively determine and drive the plot: they appear as matriarchs (Sarah,
Rebecca, Rachel), wives (Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba), judges (Deborah) and
rebels (Judith).

During the
seminar, the characters will be analysed in terms of their representation and
function in the text. This serves as a starting point for their visualisation
strategies in Jewish and Christian art (history): Where and for what purpose
are these female protagonists depicted? How does their ‘image’ change across
epochs? And: What role do they play within iconography in comparison to their
male counterparts?