Messianic Hopes: Christian-Jewish Eschatological Encounters in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era

Objective

"MESSCJE: MESSianic hopes: Christian-Jewish eschatological Encounters in the Middle Ages and early modern era MESSCJE examines a set of late medieval and early modern sources revealing convergences between Christian and Jewish end-time expectations, in contrast with dominant Christian apocalyptic views of their time. These sources contributed to a new ""filo- Semite"" (pro-Jewish) understanding that grew more widespread in later centuries. The research focuses on three key authors: John of Rupescissa's prophetic works (mid-14th century), Johannes Angelus of Legonissa's Opus Davidicum (ca. 1497), and a selection of Guillaume Postel's writings (mid-16th century). These texts share three core elements: the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and the restoration of their kingdom; the Jews' conversion to a reformed Christianity, preceded by a purification of the corrupt Church; the unification of the world during the final age of history by a Christian universal monarch with messianic traits, in association with the future leader of the eschatological Jewish kingdom. While modern ""filo-Semite"" eschatological expectations have been extensively studied, their late medieval and early modern precursors have received little attention. The project aims to fill this gap, by extending the analysis of Rupescissa's reception of Jewish messianic elements, providing the first in-depth analysis of Legonissa's treatment of these elements, and reassessing the impact of Jewish messianic elements on Postel's speculation. The project's overarching objective is to analyze the medieval and early modern precursors of an eschatological tradition previously explored almost exclusively from the 17th century onward. It aims to provide the first comprehensive study of the ""prehistory"" of Christian ""filo-Semitism"" and offer insights into how eschatological and apocalyptic speculations affected Jewish-Christian relationships in Europe up to the present day."