Gnostic-dualistic tendencies in the history of medieval Europe Ch. I makes an exception to the main subjct of this volume, that of gnostic-dualistic tendencies. It is about the Disprivileged groups of the Middle Ages, Part I about the Jews and Part II about the women. With regard to the Jews, one should not use the term 'anti-semitism'. This is a term with a racial connotation, but racism did not exist in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. When people objected to Jews, it was on religious grounds, for which reason we should rather speak of 'anti-Judaism'. Another point is that all ancient and medieval societies, pagan, Muslim, Byzantine, Christians of the West, were based on the concept of wholeness, which means that these societies were thought to exist by the grace of a common set of beliefs and customs. The Jews nowhere fitted into this model. The attitude of the Byzantine Empire with regard to Jews was undoubtedly dualistic: the Jews should not be there and were discriminated against.
