Mandeville’s Travels was tolerant of Islam but excluded Jews entirely

Evidence

In Mandeville’s Travels, a text that takes as its subject the magnificent diversity of the world, the relatively tolerant account of various religions includes a striking exception in its characterization of the Jews: they are demonized, identified with the enclosed tribes of Gog and Magog. The threat they pose to the Christians is at once distant and proximate: the enclosed tribes, located at the farthest northern reaches of the ecumene, will not emerge until the Apocalypse. At that time, their conquest will be facilitated by the modern-day Jews spread abroad in the world, who will act as interpreters for them and lead them into the cities of the Christians. In this text, paranoia is the flip side of toleration, and the celebration of diversity abroad requires the ostracism of difference at home. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 232 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Mandeville’s cosmopolitan tolerance of other religions coexisted with demonization of Jews — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 232; Mandeville’s Travels was a fabricated text yet widely beloved for its tolerance — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 294; Medieval texts could depict Islam tolerantly while excluding Jews entirely — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 294 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Mandeville’s cosmopolitan tolerance of other religions coexisted with demonization of Jews #expands (0.93) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 232
• Mandeville’s Travels uniquely grouped Europeans and Jews under Japheth’s lineage #complicates (0.75)