Ahasverus, the Wandering Jew, is the name of a legendary figure who was cursed to eternally wander the earth for deriding Christ on the way to the crucifixion. Scholars consider it to be one of the most important expressions of the history of the Jewish people in European culture. This talk will discuss the anonymous German chapbook that first popularized the legend in 1602, shedding light on the publication practices and confessional circumstances that helped spread the legend of the Wandering Jew.

Our guest speaker this year is Yair Mintzker, who is Professor of History at Princeton University. A specialist in the history of early modern and modern Germany and Jewish history, his books include The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew (Princeton University Press, 2017) and The Defortification of the German City, 1689-1866 (Cambridge University Press, 2012).