2. You paper should be 3-4 pages, double-spaced, use the textbook for citing: Aaron Hahn Tapper’s book, Judaisms,
3. READ THIS BEFORE YOU START: THE BACKGROUND!
This disputation or debate, one of many held in the Medieval period, was held over 5 days in June of 1263. The dialogue in the movie was written by a Jewish scholar named Hyam Maccoby, but it was based on a pamphlet published by Rabbi Moshe son of Nachman Gerondi. The individuals who appear in the movie are:
a. King James 1 of Aragon. Aragon was a kingdom in what later would become Spain. He was a very important king, as a crusader, a patron of literature and the arts, and a conqueror.
b. His wife Queen Yolanda who bore him 10 children.
c. His mistress (one of several lovers mentioned by historians).
d. Pablo Christiani, a monk from the Dominican order, who was formerly a Jew.
e. Rabbi Moshe son of Nachman Gerondi, known in Jewish circles as Ramban but also Nachmanides. He was a commentator on the Bible, a philosopher, and physician, and generally a leading Jewish intellect of the Middle Ages.
f. Raymond de Penyafort, the superior of Christiani and the confessor of King James.
Another aspect of the film you should understand before you watch is an issue of Jewish Law. Look at Judaisms, p.77, for the distinction between halakhah (legal material) and aggadah (stories or tradition intended for teaching purposes but which are not always to be taken literally.) See also the material on the messiah, Judaisms, pp.64-67.