On Aug 23, 2010, at 1:42 PM, Dennis Claxton wrote:
> In the years prior to 1321, there was a strong desire in political circles both to destroy the Jews' economic position and to assume control of the considerable sums then accruing to charitable organizations set up to help lepers. Shortly afterwards both these aims were fulfilled.
>
> The appearance of such a large-scale, coordinated campaign can only be explained by the concurrent rise of the nation-state. The conspiracy appears as a distorted image of the new political system, a kind of grotesque caricature of the nation-state's new functions - but with that grain of truth in it that is a feature of all caricatures.
My sense of history is that the power in primitive clans was divided between the warriors/hunters and the medicine/herbalist/wiseone. This division evolved into the division of power between monarch/warrior and church/healer. And when the monarch-church power decided a change was needed (eg.advent of nation/state), the church needed to bring the population in line. All of the history of civilizations persecutions are wrapped around this attempt to align the public with the optimal religious form. Groups that resist adoption of the nation/state religion experience persecution.
Just another conspiracy theory.
martin