ABSTRACT
The early twelfth century was a period of great development in the genre of Christian–Jewish polemical writings partly as a result of a new direction in early twelfth-century thought. 1 2 The growth of cathedral schools, the use of private masters, the rise of the early universities, the translation of many Greek and Arabic texts into Latin (often by Jewish scholars in Spain and southern France), and the increased communication among intellectual communities across western Europe all contributed to the making of what is called the twelfth-century renaissance. Within this emerging renaissance, an increasing number of authors — mainly Christian — turned their attention to the differences between Christians and Jews seeking to provide convincing argumentation for the superiority of their own world view.
