From Contested Space to Sacred Topography

This chapter traces the dynamics of interreligious coexistence in Cracow prior to and during the Protestant Reformation. Concentrating on shifts in Jewish and Protestant presence in the city, it discusses the local arrangements that helped establish and constantly redefined the experience of a shared urban centre. While emphasising the mutual influences between practical toleration and religiosity, this chapter emphasises the importance of religious topography in the urban environment and the limits it imposed on tolerance in the public sphere. It sheds new light on the interplay between economy, urban public space, and religious topography.