De Judaeis Circularis Disputatio

WAGENSEIL, JOHANN CHRISTOPH.

Jodocus Wilhelmus Kohlesius

Altdorf

1705

FIRST EDITION

JE, Vol. XII, p. 455

The idee-fixe of this German Christian Hebraist was that Jews engage in blasphemy of Christianity (par. vi). Wagenseil (1633-1705) devoted his literary career to gathering material that would substantiate this claim, namely anti-Christian works such as Toldoth Yeshu, which he incorporated in his magnum opus, Tela Ignea Satana, published in Altdorf, 1681. This theme also comes across in this scarce brief tract, wherein Wagenseil is exercised by the supposed pernicious influence Jews have over Christians. He sounds the alarm against Jews tutoring Christian pupils (par. viii), Jews and Christians intermarrying (par. xiii). He especially cautions Christian women from having sexual relations with Jewish men, whom he suspects of sadistic torture, citing an incident involving a Jewish man and a Christian woman in Prague in 1530 (par. xix). See JE, Vol. XII, p. 455