The Diffusion of Exclusion: Medieval Expulsions of Jews

Abstract

What social processes guide the spread of ethnic or racial exclusion? I investigate the diffusion of medieval expulsions of Jews from polities in the Holy Roman Empire. For medieval rulers, religious and material concerns were strong rationales against expulsion. Yet expulsions increase markedly in the fifteenth century. Did an expulsion by one government affect another government’s choices about expulsion? Using event history analysis methods, I document the limited spread of expulsion among over 500 polities in the western Holy Roman Empire, 1385-1520 CE. Temporal and spatial trends indicate that expulsions in politically and economically powerful cities spurred expulsions generally but suppressed them nearby. The adoption of expulsion followed political and economic incentives that were embedded in inter-city relationships, particularly after theological changes gave expulsion fresh political value. Social interdependence can spur as well as squelch racial extremism.