ABSTRACT
The most notable approaches to the history of religious tolerance usually focus on intellectual history and are linked to the philosophical and political backgrounds that eventually sustained and supported a new type of discourse about religion and society, which may be more inclusive towards religious minorities. In this article, we aim to add a new perspective, departing from urban religious diversity. Focusing on the Jews, we explore plausible relations between them and the city, look at their religious organisation in the urban environment, consider the types of conflict their presence aroused, and, finally, reflect upon the rise of the ghetto as a new urban invention in the Italian cities. However, despite the undercurrent of conflict between Jews and their environment, the article also offers insights into Jewish intellectualisation of the ways in which they belonged to the city.
