Beyond Tolerance and Prejudice

To understand the nature of interreligious coexistence, Beyond Tolerance and Prejudice, tests its boundaries from the original perspective of the post-conflict reactions of religious minorities – Jews and Protestants – to the violent attacks of the Cracovian Catholic majority in the age of religious distress following the Reformation. With help of primary sources and in-depth historical analysis, the author describes interreligious co-existence as a lived experience, traces Jewish-Protestant encounters, and reconstructs the communal post-violence strategies which allowed the creation of a platform for reconciliation and reestablishment of religious status quo. The book, thus challenges the regnant paradigm of Polish religious tolerance and convincingly shows its true nature lies in both everyday practical toleration and ability to overcome crises and return to neighborly co-existence rather than prevent violence prevailing in early-modern society.