Dissertation

Aspects of Jewish life in Roermond and Central Limburg 1275-2018

On the 28th of October Hein van der Bruggen successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Author

H.J.J.M. van der Bruggen

Date

28 October 2021

Links

Leiden Repository

This micro-history of Jewish life in Roermond and Middle-Limburg is simultaneously European history. One reason for this is that in the course of time many European peoples or nations played a role in Roermond and its surrounding area. Yet it is also important to note that for centuries similar processes of acceptation and distancing with respect to Jews have occurred in many places in Europe. The central question of this study is: how did the attitude of the environment, strongly determined by Christianity, affect the position and status of the Jews in Roermond and Middle Limburg, from the late Middle Ages to the early twenty-first century? Because the Middle-Limburg region has throughout the centuries been predominantly Roman-Catholic, one of the main questions in this dissertation concerns the attitude of the Catholic Church as an institution over the course of time – and not only during the years 1940-1945 –, and the concomitant attitude of the Catholic press. The developments involved necessitate to address fundamental issues such as the relation between religion and society, and its importance for the status and position of minorities.

Supervisors:

Prof. dr. J. Frishman
Prof. dr. E.G.E. van der Wall