ABSTRACT
The sources for Jewish history are as diverse as the Jewish communities and experiences about which they provide information. Some early modern Christian scholars included rabbinic or medieval texts, often in Hebrew, within their accounts. While their own purpose may have been to castigate the Jews, in their interpretation of events the authors of these texts focused on what they saw as Jewish particularism or Jewish anti-Christian sensibilities. Narrative sources include ego documents, as well as other forms of literature, including biographies, novels, and even poetry. Among diplomatic sources we might include materials that document an existing legal situation or create a new one, such as charters, court records, contracts, wills, and marriage licenses. Records of cases litigated in non-Jewish courts might involve suits between Jews and non-Jews or even by Jews against other Jews, who for whatever reason did not want or were not able to bring their dispute to a Jewish court.
