Medieval Ashkenazi Hasidism and the Sefer Hasidim

Medieval Ashkenazi Hasidism (Haside Ashkenaz) is a pietistic movement born in the Rhineland around figures such as Judah the Pious and Eleazar of Worms. It advocates intense devotion, humility, rigorous repentance, and demanding ethics, set forth notably in the Sefer Hasidim. Distinct from later Polish Hasidism, it also develops esoteric and liturgical speculations of its own.