*Ø* Blogmanac April 22, 1774 | The Wandering Jew: A curious medieval legend
1774 The Wandering Jew appeared in Brussels.
In the middle ages it was believed that there was a Jewish man still alive who had been alive at the time of Jesus Christ; the belief persisted as late as 1868 which is perhaps the last notice we have of 'the Wandering Jew'. The tale has obviously anti-Semitic origins and the central character of the enduring legend may be seen as a sort of medieval Ancient Mariner or Flying Dutchman.
Cartaphilus, who was about thirty years old then, has remained the same age ever since (despite Gustave Dore's representation of him as an old man). Having insulted Jesus Christ on the last day of the latter's life, he is condemned to wander the earth until Judgement Day.
Cartaphilus showed up numerous times, including Hamburg in 1542 (or 1547); Spain in 1575; the Netherlands in the same year; Vienna (1599); Lubeck (1601); Prague (1602); Lubeck (1603); Bavaria (1604); France (1604); Ypres (1623); Brussels (1640); Leipsic (1642); Paris (1644); Stamford (1658); Astrakhan (1672); Frankenstein (1676); Munich (1721); Altbach (1766); and Brussels in 1774 where he told his story to the bourgeois, but said that he had changed his name to Isaac Laquedem. By the 1800s, sightings of the Wandering Jew were generally attributed to impostors and the mentally ill.
He appeared again at Newcastle, England, in 1790. The last appearance mentioned appears to have been in America in the year 1868, when he was reported to have visited a Mormon named O'Grady. Other names that have been used for Cartaphilus include Ahasuerus (or Ahasverus), Buttadaeus and Juan Espera en Dios.
Biblical origins
The ancient story went that Jesus, as he was being dragged about in the court of Pilate just before his crucifixion, was struck on the back by one of Pilate's porters, Cartaphilus. "Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker! Why do you loiter?", Cartaphilus mocked Christ. Jesus looked at him and said "I am going, and you will wait till I return". Most versions of the tale recount that the Wandering Jew soon repented of his sins and was actually baptised in the Catholic Church, by Ananias (who also baptised the Apostle Paul), and was renamed Joseph. He grows old like the rest of us until reaching 100 years of age, at which point he sheds his skin and rejuvenates to the age of thirty.
In Matthew 16:28, Jesus promised a disciple (traditionally John): "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom".
A later but more influential, parallel to the story comes from John 21:20ff, from which a legend arose in the Church that St John would not die before the second coming of Jesus; yet another legend declares that the attendant Malchus, whose ear Saint Peter cut off in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:10), was condemned to wander till the Second Coming of Christ.
The myths somehow merged with several other old tales, for example the Biblical story of Cain who killed his brother Abel and was condemned by God to walk the earth forever, and the Qu'ran's legend of Samari the Samaritan who was cursed by Moses to wander forever because he helped make the idol of the golden calf.
The legend of the Wandering Jew seems to first appear in the Flores Historiarum by Roger of Wendover in the year 1228. This tells of an Armenian archbishop who was then visiting England, who was asked by the monks of St Albans about St Joseph of Arimathea (feast day March 17), the uncle of Jesus (who legend says took Jesus to the British Isles while Jesus was a youth, and whose tomb Jesus had been laid in after the crucifixion) and who was said to be still alive ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
1774 The Wandering Jew appeared in Brussels.
In the middle ages it was believed that there was a Jewish man still alive who had been alive at the time of Jesus Christ; the belief persisted as late as 1868 which is perhaps the last notice we have of 'the Wandering Jew'. The tale has obviously anti-Semitic origins and the central character of the enduring legend may be seen as a sort of medieval Ancient Mariner or Flying Dutchman.
Cartaphilus, who was about thirty years old then, has remained the same age ever since (despite Gustave Dore's representation of him as an old man). Having insulted Jesus Christ on the last day of the latter's life, he is condemned to wander the earth until Judgement Day.
Cartaphilus showed up numerous times, including Hamburg in 1542 (or 1547); Spain in 1575; the Netherlands in the same year; Vienna (1599); Lubeck (1601); Prague (1602); Lubeck (1603); Bavaria (1604); France (1604); Ypres (1623); Brussels (1640); Leipsic (1642); Paris (1644); Stamford (1658); Astrakhan (1672); Frankenstein (1676); Munich (1721); Altbach (1766); and Brussels in 1774 where he told his story to the bourgeois, but said that he had changed his name to Isaac Laquedem. By the 1800s, sightings of the Wandering Jew were generally attributed to impostors and the mentally ill.
He appeared again at Newcastle, England, in 1790. The last appearance mentioned appears to have been in America in the year 1868, when he was reported to have visited a Mormon named O'Grady. Other names that have been used for Cartaphilus include Ahasuerus (or Ahasverus), Buttadaeus and Juan Espera en Dios.
Biblical origins
The ancient story went that Jesus, as he was being dragged about in the court of Pilate just before his crucifixion, was struck on the back by one of Pilate's porters, Cartaphilus. "Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker! Why do you loiter?", Cartaphilus mocked Christ. Jesus looked at him and said "I am going, and you will wait till I return". Most versions of the tale recount that the Wandering Jew soon repented of his sins and was actually baptised in the Catholic Church, by Ananias (who also baptised the Apostle Paul), and was renamed Joseph. He grows old like the rest of us until reaching 100 years of age, at which point he sheds his skin and rejuvenates to the age of thirty.
In Matthew 16:28, Jesus promised a disciple (traditionally John): "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom".
A later but more influential, parallel to the story comes from John 21:20ff, from which a legend arose in the Church that St John would not die before the second coming of Jesus; yet another legend declares that the attendant Malchus, whose ear Saint Peter cut off in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:10), was condemned to wander till the Second Coming of Christ.
The myths somehow merged with several other old tales, for example the Biblical story of Cain who killed his brother Abel and was condemned by God to walk the earth forever, and the Qu'ran's legend of Samari the Samaritan who was cursed by Moses to wander forever because he helped make the idol of the golden calf.
The legend of the Wandering Jew seems to first appear in the Flores Historiarum by Roger of Wendover in the year 1228. This tells of an Armenian archbishop who was then visiting England, who was asked by the monks of St Albans about St Joseph of Arimathea (feast day March 17), the uncle of Jesus (who legend says took Jesus to the British Isles while Jesus was a youth, and whose tomb Jesus had been laid in after the crucifixion) and who was said to be still alive ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 9:23 PM | Permalink
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