The roles of Jews in the Florentine Sacre Rappresentazioni: Loyal citizens, people to be converted, enemies of the faith

The Florentine sacre rappresentazioni have been analyzed as ‘preaching in form of theatre’ by Paola Ventrone, who highlighted the connection between sermons and this peculiar genre of religious and civic theatre during the second half of the fifteenth century. These religious dramas drew on biblical stories, saints’ lives, and moral exempla which resembled those used by preachers. In addition to the performances organized by the brotherhoods of adults, this kind of theatre was a fundamental catechetical activity in the brotherhoods for boys. Moreover, the educational aim of this theatre was directed both at the performers and at the spectators. In fact, the audience saw both the contemporary problems of the city and exemplary solutions reflected in these plays, which formed a kind of preaching that adopted a narrative strategy and a visible language. Within this framework, the aim of this article is to investigate the roles of the Jews that appear in four plays, particularly how the Jews were characterised in this medium of religious instruction. In doing so, two elements are highlighted: the plurality of roles for Jews in these dramas and the connection between the staged stories and the contemporary Florentine history. The article proposes to detect three different profiles of Jews in these plays: Jews as loyal citizens who were faithful to the political authority; Jews as dangerous enemies of the Christian faith, and finally Jews as individuals who could be converted, in other words Jews as potential new Christians. Moreover, the long discussion in Florence about Jewish money lending and Monte di Pietà results a decisive historical background of the plays considered in this analysis. Finally, the article points out that there was not one single stereotypical character of the Jew in these Florentine sacre rappresentazioni, where the Jews could play indeed an ambivalent role. Furthermore, in the sacre rappresentazioni the Jews could also be instrumental in treating themes such as political and economic power.