The history of the Jews in medieval Christendom until the mid-twelfth century.  Reading documentary sources from the period, we shall consider the establishment, growth, and character of the earliest European communities against the background of the encounter between Judaism and Christianity.  Special attention will be given to the emergence of Christian Europe from the Dark Ages in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the earliest crusades, and the impact of crusading on Ashkenazic Jewry.