Magic and Everyday Life: Two Case Studies of Domestic Rituals from 13th century northern France

This paper will analyze two examples of domestic rituals from a Hebrew manuscript that has yet to attract scholarly attention in the fields of cultural and social history. Written by Isaac son of Isaac, a French rabbi who was active in Chinon, northern France, in the mid-thirteenth century, the manuscript contains more than 250 pages of prayers, spells, incantations, magical-medicinal recipes, and rituals. Those relate to different aspects of communal and family life such as marriage, fertility, health, and good reputation. My paper will focus on two examples of rituals related to the above-mentioned topics: a magical-medicinal recipe in Hebraico-French against bon malon (fever and carbuncle), and a ritual for deciphering the fate of a potential match between a future bride and groom.
Analyzing the domestic or familial rituals in the context of daily life will allow a window onto the worldview of Jews in these Northern French communities, the worship and rituals that they performed in their homes and among families, and their perceptions and ideas about magic, science, and the natural world. In many cases, as I will demonstrate, their mentalities and expectations were not very different from those of their Christian neighbors. This similarity will be explored alongside the uniquely Jewish context in which the recipes themselves appear.