Sometime in the early medieval period, the Jews of central and eastern Europe came to be called by this term. In conformity with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain was denominated Sefarad (Obadiah 20), France was called Tsarefat (1 Kings 17:9), and Bohemia was called the Land of Canaan. By the high medieval period, Talmudic commentators like Rashi began to use Ashkenaz/Eretz Ashkenaz to designate Germany, earlier known as Loter, where, especially in the Rhineland communities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz, the most important Jewish communities arose. Rashi uses leshon Ashkenaz (Ashkenazi language) to describe German speech, and Byzantium and Syrian Jewish letters referred to the Crusaders as Ashkenazim. Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France and Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to both the Jews of medieval Germany and France. COUNT 5
QSN1 The custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names meant that Spain was referred to as what? ANS1 Sefarad QSN2 The custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names meant that France was called? ANS2 Tsarefat QSN3 The reference to France as Tsarefat was taken from which biblical passage? ANS3 1 Kings 17:9 QSN4 How did Byzantium and Syrian Jewish letters refer to the Crusaders? ANS4 as Ashkenazim QSN5 Following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to the Jews of what two places? ANS5 medieval Germany and France