Studies in Jewish History and Culture86/4 Philosophers on the Periphery of Ashkenaz

A ground-breaking monograph on Ashkenazi Jewish philosophers in medieval Bohemia (ca. 1150-1450), and especially in Prague during the Hussite wars, analysing the impact of philosophy on medieval Jewish society in terms of Max Weber’s sociology and Marc Richir’s phenomenology. Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) had many followers among Jews living in the Mediterranean Basin, but his philosophical books were almost totally ignored by Ashkenazi Jews. Yet, the eastern periphery of Ashkenaz was an exception: in the late fourteenth century a circle of veritable philosophers emerged in the Jewish community of Prague and existed until the end of the Hussite wars (ca. 1434). This book analyses the works of the most important members of the circle, Yom Tov Lipmann Mühlhausen, Avigdor Kara, and Menahem Shalem, and examines the impact of philosophy on Jewish society using Max Weber’s sociology and Marc Richir’s phenomenology.