Consequences of Eucharistic dogma on transformations of medieval anti-Judaism

Between the x(th) and the xIII(th) centuries, the situation of the Jews in Occident became more and more precarious. They had been previously tolerated but, at the end of this period, they were demonized and became the target of persecutions. Beforehand, all they had to do to become Christians as the others was to be converted. But at the end of the Middle Ages, conversion was more difficult, and sometimes impossible. It seems that Jews were considered then as essentially different from Christians. This change may be explained by the theological formulation of the Eucharist which appeared at this time as a consequence of religious disputations. Host was placed at the centre of the believers' devoutness and, being a sign of Christ's incarnation, was considered as a symbol of the Christian conviction to be part of an organism from which every kind of otherness had to be excluded.