[? ] godmersham park, kent. ” the rest of the annotation has been damaged by cropping, but it seems to refer to the births of edward ( austen ) knight ’ s children. within the entry for bridges, the entry “ elizabeth born may 23, 1773 ” has been highlighted by lines drawn above and below and what appears to be a cross ( x ) at the end. this highlighting neatly ties in with the cross ( x ) at the beginning of the annotated entry for edward austen at the foot of the page. it is likely that either elizabeth bridges or edward knight annotated this book. the baronetage features in persuasion : “ sir walter elliot, of kellynch - hall, in somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the baronetage ; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one ;... he could read his own history with an interest which never failed ” ( 3 ). there are several copies of the baronetage and the peerage in the knight collection ; austen could have been familiar with any or all of them, including this copy. although we cannot accurately date the annotations, it is possible that the interest in family history demonstrated by the annotations of the bridges entry suggested sir walter ’ s additions to the elliot family ’ s entry in the baronetage in persuasion. james fordyce, sermons to young women, in two volumes. 8th edition. london : printed for t. cadell in the strand, and j. dodsley in pall - mall. 1775. didactic literature abounds in advice about what young women should and should not read. novels are frequently execrated, while books like fordyce ’ s are recommended. jane austen, however, clearly considered fordyce ’ s sermons to be a byword for dullness, neither useful nor entertaining. in pride and prejudice she creates a vividly humorous scene where the lumpish mr. collins quite literally judges a book by its cover : mr. bennet was... glad to invite him to read aloud to the ladies. mr. collins readily assented, and a book was produced ; but on beholding it, ( for every thing announced it to be from a circulating library, ) he started back, and begging pardon, protested that he never read novels. — kitty stared at him, and lydia exclaimed. — other books were produced, and after some deliberation he chose fordyce ’ s sermons


from a circulating library, ) he started back, and begging pardon, protested that he never read novels. — kitty stared at him, and lydia exclaimed. — other books were produced, and after some deliberation he chose fordyce ’ s sermons. lydia gaped as he opened the volume, and before he had, with very monotonous solemnity, read three pages, she interrupted him.... ( 76 - 77 ) as previously noted, the austen family were “ great novel - readers & not ashamed of being so ” ( 18 - 19 december 1798 ), and they often borrowed novels from the circulating libraries. the joke is therefore on mr. collins : he is unable to appreciate that a novel might be both entertaining and instructive, and so he bores the girls with a reading from fordyce. sir charles grandison, novel and play samuel richardson, the history of sir charles grandison ; in a series of letters. london : printed for t. payne ; g. robinson ; w. lowndes ; wilkie and robinson ; j. walker ; r. lea ; j. nunn ; lackington and co. ; c. law ; longman, hurst, rees, and orme ; cadell and davies ; j. k. newman ; crosby and co. ; s. bagster ; j. booker ; j. asperne ; and johnson and co. 1810. we have already noted that, according to her brother, her nephew, and other family tradition, sir charles grandison was one of jane austen ’ s very favorite novels. she read and re - read it many times. henry austen wrote that “ richardson ’ s power of creating, and preserving the consistency of his characters, as particularly exemplified in “ sir charles grandison, ” gratified the natural discrimination of her mind, whilst her taste secured her from the errors of his prolix style and tedious narrative ” ( “ biographical notice ” 330 ). james edward went further in the memoir, claiming that “ her knowledge of richardson ’ s works was such as no one is likely again to acquire.... every circumstance narrated in sir charles grandison, all that was ever said or done in the cedar parlour, was familiar to her ; and the wedding days of lady l. and lady g. were as well remembered as if they had been living friends ” ( memoir 79 ). jane austen certainly referred frequently and familiarly to sir charles grandison and its characters. in september of 1813, she likened a


of lady l. and lady g. were as well remembered as if they had been living friends ” ( memoir 79 ). jane austen certainly referred frequently and familiarly to sir charles grandison and its characters. in september of 1813, she likened a cap of her own to one in the novel : “ it will be white sattin and lace, and a little white flower perking out of the left ear, like harriot byron ’ s feather ” ( 15 - 16 september 1813 ). a month later, she jokingly answered a letter of cassandra ’ s as follows : “ dear me! what is to become of me! such a long letter! — two & forty lines in the 2d page. — like harriot byron i ask, what am i to do with my gratitude? — i can do nothing but thank you & go on ” ( 11 - 12 oct 1813 ). sir charles grandison is a favorite with mrs. morland in northanger abbey, though the vacuous isabella thorpe ’ s friend miss andrews considers it heavy going : “ it is so odd to me, that you should never have read udolpho before ; but i suppose mrs. morland objects to novels. ” “ no, she does not. she very often reads sir charles grandison herself ; but new books do not fall in our way. ” “ sir charles grandison! that is an amazing horrid book, is it not? — i remember miss andrews could not get through the first volume. ” “ it is not like udolpho at all ; but yet i think it is very entertaining. ” ( 35 ) the book ’ s influence can also be seen in a number of pieces from jane austen ’ s juvenile writings, most notably in the character of charles adams in “ jack and alice. ” the copy displayed in the exhibition was from the knight collection, although austen knew the text well before 1810, the date of this edition. “ sir charles grandison, ” manuscript play in five acts in jane austen ’ s hand. five sections of pages of varying sizes, forming five ( perhaps originally four ) small booklets. in this manuscript, the five lengthy volumes of samuel richardson ’ s epistolary novel sir charles grandison ( 1753 - 54 ) become a very short five - act play. it was probably designed to be acted in private, in front of an audience who knew the source text well, and thus it provides useful evidence of the late eighteenth - and early nineteenth - century vogue for private theatrical


a very short five - act play. it was probably designed to be acted in private, in front of an audience who knew the source text well, and thus it provides useful evidence of the late eighteenth - and early nineteenth - century vogue for private theatricals, both in the austen household and more widely in europe. the playlet focuses on the harriet byron plot, omitting the sections of the original set in italy. austen family tradition suggested that the adaptation was dictated to austen by her niece jane anna elizabeth ( “ anna, ” 1793 - 1872 ), the daughter of her eldest brother, james ( 1765 - 1843 ), and a member of the most literary branch of austen ’ s immediate family. like the family, scholars are united in agreeing that the handwriting is austen ’ s own, although the heavy corrections and crossings - out are unlike those to be found in austen ’ s other manuscripts. in 1977, brian southam first made the suggestion that the work was likely to have been written by austen herself. he published his findings in 1980, identifying the work not as “ a complete new novel ” but something equally unexpected, “ sir charles grandison, ” “ a new play. ” southam dates the bulk of the composition at around 1800, when austen would have been twenty - four, and argues that the play was probably started in her youth and picked up at this later date. since his publication, leading austen scholars have expressed both agreement and skepticism. the evidence provided by both the watermarks ( undated paper is used for act one ; later sections are watermarked 1796 and 1799 ) and by other works that austen was composing in her teenage years and by 1800, is in itself open to interpretation. many scholars have relied on the textual evidence, which is simply that “ sir charles grandison ” is a poorly - written minor work, incompatible with the achievements of a highly accomplished writer who writes better in her teenage years. linda bree and janet todd, the editors of the later manuscripts volume of the cambridge university press edition of austen ’ s work, see “ no compelling reason ” ( cxvi ) to challenge the family tradition ’ s attribution of the play to anna. this is not the place to challenge or confirm attribution, or indeed to rehearse the lively critical debate of recent years. as a piece of work that austen was involved with, regardless of how big a role she played in the composition, “ sir charles grandison ” is an important manuscript for chawton house library — one of the jewels of


debate of recent years. as a piece of work that austen was involved with, regardless of how big a role she played in the composition, “ sir charles grandison ” is an important manuscript for chawton house library — one of the jewels of the collection — and a charming material object in its own right. its existence provides concrete evidence of the collective nature of the extended austen family ’ s reading and says much too about the enjoyment that several generations of this family obtained from reading, rereading, discussing, adapting, lampooning, quoting from, and laughing about canonical eighteenth - century novels. the play was performed, by undergraduate students at the university of southampton, in full costume and with a drawing - room set, in the great hall at chawton house library in december 2007, as part of the bicentennial celebrations of austen ’ s arrival in southampton. cast and audience alike were amused by the entertainment, although it is clear that comprehension was impeded by a lack of familiarity with richardson ’ s novel : few twenty - first century readers can claim that richardson ’ s characters are for them “ living friends. ” this response is a useful reminder of how different our horizon of expectations is from austen ’ s own and from that of her contemporary readers, and of how important an understanding of austen ’ s reading is to an understanding of her novels. austen frequently alludes elliptically to the literary works, characters, or authors that she, her family, and her friends knew well, drawing on the powerful potential of shared reading to create a bond between author and reader. katherine mansfield once wrote of jane austen that “ every admirer of the novels feels that he or she has become the “ secret friend ” of the author ” ( 304 ). our “ friendship ” with austen — in other words, our better comprehension of her novels — can only be strengthened and deepened when we properly understand her references to the books she read. knight family bookplates the following are some examples of bookplates used by members of the knight family at godmersham and chawton in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and are still to be found in the knight collection today. thomas knight i ( 1701 - 1781 ) thomas knight ’ s family name was brodnax, and he was the first member of the family to link the chawton and godmersham estates. in 1727, he changed his name to may in order to inherit the godmersham estate, changing it again to knight in 1738 to inherit the chawton estate. his son,


family to link the chawton and godmersham estates. in 1727, he changed his name to may in order to inherit the godmersham estate, changing it again to knight in 1738 to inherit the chawton estate. his son, also called thomas knight, made edward austen ( later knight ) his heir to the godmersham, chawton, and steventon estates. edward knight ( 1794 - 1879 ) it is unclear if this bookplate relates to edward knight ( 1767 - 1852 ), jane austen ’ s brother, or his eldest son who was also called edward ( and whose dates are given above ). like all of the children of jane austen ’ s brother edward knight, the younger edward was born austen and took the name knight only when his father did so in 1812. based on the inscriptions in the knight collection copy of byron ’ s poetry, it is possible that the bookplate shown here was edward knight junior ’ s bookplate as the inscriptions in the book are his. montagu g. knight ( 1844 - 1914 ) montagu knight was the son of jane austen ’ s nephew, edward knight. montagu knight was the first of this branch of the family to make chawton his main home. ( edward knight junior sold godmersham in 1874, and montagu inherited chawton on his father ’ s death in 1879. ) in 1911 montagu co - wrote a history of the house and estate called chawton manor and its owners. a copy of this book is in the chawton house library collection. montagu used three different bookplates, and shown here are examples of two of them. we are grateful to the trustees of chawton house library for allowing us to curate the original exhibition from material held in the library. particular thanks go to dr. sandy lerner, chair of the board of trustees, whose generous benefaction provided the bulk of the main collection, and to richard knight, whose family collection, the knight collection, is on extended deposit at chawton house library. we would also like to thank jacqui grainger, ray moseley, sarah parry, and helen scott, colleagues past and present at chawton house library, for their generosity in sharing their expertise, both technical and bibliographical. we are grateful to karen attar and olivia murphy for their help in preparing the exhibition guide. austen, henry. “ biographical notice of the author. ” persuasion. ed. janet todd and antje blank. cambridge : cup, 2006. 326 -


we are grateful to karen attar and olivia murphy for their help in preparing the exhibition guide. austen, henry. “ biographical notice of the author. ” persuasion. ed. janet todd and antje blank. cambridge : cup, 2006. 326 - 32. austen, jane. emma. ed. richard cronin and dorothy macmillan. cambridge : cup, 2005. _ _ _ _ _. jane austen ’ s letters. ed. deirdre le faye. 3rd ed. oxford : oup, 1995. _ _ _ _ _. juvenilia. ed. peter sabor. cambridge : cup, 2006. _ _ _ _ _. later manuscripts. ed. janet todd and linda bree. cambridge : cup, 2008. _ _ _ _ _. mansfield park. ed. john wiltshire. cambridge : cup, 2005. _ _ _ _ _. northanger abbey. ed. barbara m. benedict and deirdre le faye. cambridge : cup, 2006. _ _ _ _ _. persuasion. ed. janet todd and antje blank. cambridge : cup, 2006 _ _ _ _ _. pride and prejudice. ed. pat rogers. cambridge : cup, 2006. _ _ _ _ _. sense and sensibility. ed. edward copeland. cambridge : cup, 2006. austen - leigh, james edward. a memoir of jane austen. a memoir of jane austen and other family recollections. ed. kathryn sutherland. oxford : oup, 2002. 1 - 134. barker, gerard a. grandison ’ s heirs : the paragon ’ s progress in the late eighteenth century novel. london : associated up, 1985. gay, penny. jane austen and the theatre. cambridge : cup, 2002. gilson, david. “ jane austen ’ s books. ” jane austen : collected articles and introductions. privately printed, 1998. 73 - 90. grundy, isobel. “ jane austen and literary traditions. ” the cambridge companion to jane austen. ed. edward copeland and juliet mcmaster. cambridge : cup, 1997. 189 - 210. halsey, katie. introduction. complete works of jane austen. newcastle : cambridge scholars, 2009. _ _ _ _ _. jane austen and her readers. london : anthem ( forthcoming ). _ _ _ _ _. “ reading the evidence of reading. ” popular narrative media 2 ( 2008 ) : 123 - 37. harris, jocelyn. jane austen ’ s art of memory. 1989. cambridge : cup, 2003. _ _ _ _


_ _ _ _ _. “ reading the evidence of reading. ” popular narrative media 2 ( 2008 ) : 123 - 37. harris, jocelyn. jane austen ’ s art of memory. 1989. cambridge : cup, 2003. _ _ _ _ _. a revolution almost beyond expression : jane austen ’ s persuasion. newark : u of delaware p, 2007. lascelles, mary. jane austen and her art. london : oxford up, 1939. le faye, deirdre. chronology of jane austen and her family. cambridge : cup, 2006. _ _ _ _ _. jane austen : a family record. 2nd ed. cambridge : cup, 2004. mansfield, katherine. novels and novelists. new york : knopf, 1930. moler, kenneth l. jane austen ’ s art of allusion. lincoln : u of nebraska p, 1968. richardson, alan. “ reading practices. ” jane austen in context. ed. janet todd. cambridge : cup, 2005. 397 - 405. southam, brian. jane austen ’ s “ sir charles grandison. ” tr. and ed. brian southam. foreword by lord david cecil. oxford : clarendon, 1980. stabler, jane. “ literary influences. ” jane austen in context. ed. janet todd. cambridge : cup, 2005. 41 - 50. scott, walter. journal. ed. w. g. tait. edinburgh : oliver, 1939. st. clair, william. the reading nation in the romantic period. cambridge : cup, 2004. sutherland, kathryn. “ chronology of composition and publication. ” jane austen in context. ed. janet todd. cambridge : cup, 2005. 12 - 22. _ _ _ _ _. jane austen ’ s textual lives. oxford : oup, 2005. waldron, mary. jane austen and the fiction of her time. cambridge : cup, 1999.


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france ( formerly called gaul ) : - church laws against jews. - — roman - gallic epoch : - merovingian period : - decrees of church councils. - under childebert and chilperic. - conversion of jews. - under dagobert. - carlovingian period : - " king of the jews " at narbonne. - under charlemagne. - under louis le debonnaire. - agobard ' s account. - amulo ' s " against the jews. " - the first capets — 987 - 1137 : - persecution of jews in limoges and rouen. - franko - jewish literature. - the crusades : - r. tam in the second crusade. - blood accusation. - expulsion from france, 1182. - the " tosafot. " - centers of rabbinic learning. - in the south. - provencal learning. - halakic studies. - rabad and rambam. - the translators. - thirteenth century. northern france : - recalled by philip augustus, 1198. - innocent iii. - under louis viii. and st. louis. - increased restrictions under st. louis. - disputations between jews and christians. - burning of the talmud. - under philip the bold and philip the fair. - blood accusation and host desecration. - increasing taxation. - exile of 1306. - thirteenth century. southern france : - policy of alphonse of poitiers. - relations with the inquisition. - the schools of paris and elsewhere. - jewish learning in southern france. - polemics and apologetics. - maimonists and anti - maimonists. - dispute about philosophical studies - return of the jews to france, 1315 : - under philip v. - under charles iv. - conditions at tours. - under john the good. - under charles v. - under charles vi. - levi b. gershon. - narboni, kalonymus, and others. - the rest of france. - beginnings of emancipation. - debates in the national assembly. - during the reign of terror. - attitude of napoleon. - the sanhedrin. - the consistories. - after the restoration. - state recognition. - mode of consistorial election. - reform in france. country forming the most westerly part of central europe. church laws against jews. — roman - gallic epoch : the banishment of archelaus to vienne in gaul in the year 6


of consistorial election. - reform in france. country forming the most westerly part of central europe. church laws against jews. — roman - gallic epoch : the banishment of archelaus to vienne in gaul in the year 6 ( josephus, " ant. " xvii. 13, § § 2 - 3 ; idem, " b. j. " ii. 7, § 3 ; dion cassius cocceianus, " hist. romæ, " lv. 27 ; strabo, xvi. 2, 46 ), and that of herod antipas to lugdunum ( lyons ) in the year 39 ( josephus, " ant. " xviii. 7, § 2, but differently in " b. j. " ii. 9, § 6 ), were assuredly not the determining factors in the jewish immigration into the gallic provinces. the immigration was due rather to economic causes and to chance trading - journeys. there is no documentary proof of the presence of jews in this country dating earlier than the fourth century, but they were certainly there before that period. hilary of poitiers ( died 366 ) is praised for having fled from their society ( venantius fortunatus, " vita s. hilarii, " iii. ). a decree of the emperors theodosius ii. and valentinian iii., addressed to amatius, prefect of gaul ( july 9, 425 ), prohibited jews and pagans from practising law and from holding public offices ( " militandi " ), in order that christians should not be in subjection to them, and thus be incited to change their faith ( " constit. sirmond. " vi., ed. hoenel, " corpus juris antejustin. " i. 458 ). at the funeral of hilary, bishop of arles, in 449, jews and christians mingled in crowds and wept, while the former sang psalms in hebrew ( honoratus " vita hilarii, " 22 ; " prosperi et honorati opera, " ed. salinas, p. 304, rome, 1732 ). from the year 465 the church took official cognizance of the jews. the council of vannes ( 465 ) for bade the clergy to partake of the meals of the jews or to invite them to their own, because, christian food being placed under the ban by the jews, the clergy would appear inferior


. the council of vannes ( 465 ) for bade the clergy to partake of the meals of the jews or to invite them to their own, because, christian food being placed under the ban by the jews, the clergy would appear inferior to them if they accepted jewish food while the jews refused to eat the food which christians offered them ( " concil. vanet. " can. 12 ; mansi, " sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, " vii. 954 ). in 472 sidonius apollinarius recommended a jew to eleutherius of tournai, saying that " these people are accustomed to having good causes to plead. " on two occasions in 473 he made use of the services of a jew named gozolas to send a letter to one of his correspondents. at the same date he recommended another jew, who had been baptized, to nonnechius, bishop of nantes ( " sidon. apollin. " ed. baret, iii. 8, p. 252 ; iv. 8, p. 277 ; vi. 8, p. 350 ; viii. 4, p. 410 ). jews were found in marseilles in the sixth century ( gregory of tours, " historia francorum, " v. 11, vi. 17 ; gregory the great, " epistol. greg. " 1, 47 ; migne, lxxvii. 500 ), at arles ( ib. vii. 24 ), at uzes ( " vita ferreoli " ), at narbonne ( gregory of tours, viii. 1 ), at clermont - ferrand ( ib. iv. 12 ; v. 11 ), at orleans ( gregory, " vit. patr. " vi. 7 ), at paris, and at bordeaux ( gregory, " de virt. s. martini, " 3, 50 ). these places were generally centers of roman administration, located on the great commercial routes, and there the jews possessed synagogues ( for clermont, see gregory of tours, " hist. franc. " v. 11 ; for orleans, ib. viii. 1 ). in harmony with the theodosian code, and according to an edict addressed in 331 to the decurions of cologne by the emperor constantine, the internal organization of the jews seems to have been the same as in the roman empire. they appear to have had priests ( rabbis or ha


code, and according to an edict addressed in 331 to the decurions of cologne by the emperor constantine, the internal organization of the jews seems to have been the same as in the roman empire. they appear to have had priests ( rabbis or hazzanim? ), archisynagogues, patersynagogues, and other synagogue officials ( " cod. theod. " 4, xvi. 8 : " hieros et archisynagogos et patres synagogarum et ceteros qui synagogis deserviunt " ). the jews were principally merchants ( gregory of tours, " hist. franc. " iv. 12, 35 ; vi. 5, " concil. matisc. " can. 2 ; mansi, ix. 932 ) and slave - dealers ( " epist. greg. " 7, 24 ; migne, lxxvii. 877 ) ; they were also tax - collectors ( gregory of tours, " hist. franc. " vii. 23 ), sailors ( idem, " de gloria conf. " 97 ), and physicians ( idem, " hist. franc. " v. 6 ). they probably remained under the roman law until the triumph of christianity, with the status established by caracalla — on a footing of equality with their fellow citizens. the emperor constantius ( 321 ) compelled them to share in the curia, a heavy burden imposed on citizens of townships ( " cod. theod. " 3, xvi. 8 ). there is nothing to show that their association with their fellow citizens was not of an amicable nature, even after the establishment of christianity in gaul. it is known that the christian clergy participated in their feasts ( " council of agda, " 506 ) ; intermarriage between jews and christians sometimes occurred ( council of orleans, 533 ) ; the jews made proselytes, and their religious customs were so freely adopted that at the third council of orleans ( 539 ) it was found necessary to warn the faithful against jewish " superstitions, " and to order them to abstain from traveling on sunday and from adorning their persons or dwellings on that day. merovingian period : decrees of church councils. during this period the church endeavored to modify existing conditions in the interests of christianity. in the provincial councils the bishops adopted a series of measures for the purpose of creating a chasm between jews and


merovingian period : decrees of church councils. during this period the church endeavored to modify existing conditions in the interests of christianity. in the provincial councils the bishops adopted a series of measures for the purpose of creating a chasm between jews and christians, and of marking the inferiority of the jews. as stated above, the council of vannes prohibited the clergy from taking their meals with them ( " concil. vanet. " can. 12 ; mansi, vii. 954 ; compare the action of the council of elvira in 305 ). this prohibition was repeated at the council of agda in 506 ( " concil. agath. " can. 40 ; mansi, viii. 331 ), again at the council of epaon in 517 ( " concil. epaon. " can. 15 ; mansi, viii. 561 ), and once more at the third council of orleans ( " concil. aurel. " iii. can. 13 ; mansi, ix. 15 ). the second council of orleans ( 533 ), that of clermont ( 535 ), and that of orleans ( 538 ) prohibited all intermarriage of jews and christians. christians who would not agree to dissolve such unions were to be excommunicated ( " concil. aurel. " ii. can. 19 ; mansi, viii. 838 ; " concil. arvern. " can. 6 ; mansi, viii. 861 ; " concil. aurel. " iii. can. 13 ; mansi, ix15 ). the council of clermont ( 535 ) forbade the appointing of jews as judges ( " concil. arvern. " can. 9 ; mansi, viii. 861 ). the third council of orleans ( 538 ) and again that of macon ( 581 ) decreed that " since, by the grace of god, we live under the rule of catholic kings, " the jews should not appear among christians for four consecutive days after good friday ( " concil. aurel. " iii. can. 30 ; mansi, ix. 19 ; " concil. matisc. " can. 14 ; mansi, ix. 934 ). the fourth council of orleans ( 541 ) decreed among other things that whenever a jew made a proselyte ( " advena " ), or reconverted to his religion a jew


14 ; mansi, ix. 934 ). the fourth council of orleans ( 541 ) decreed among other things that whenever a jew made a proselyte ( " advena " ), or reconverted to his religion a jew who had been baptized, or possessed himself of a christian slave, or converted to judaism any one born of christian parents, he should be punished by the loss of all his slaves. if any one born of christian parents became a jew, and obtained his freedom on condition of remaining such, the condition must be considered void, for it was unjust that one living as a jew should enjoy the freedom attaching to christian birth ( " concil. aurel. " iv. can. 31 ; mansi, ix. 118 ). the council of macon ( 581 ) reiterated the prohibition against appointing jews as judges, and closed to them also the office of tax - collector, " in order that christians may not be subjected to those whom god rejects " ( " concil. matisc. " can. 13 ; mansi, ix. 934 ). to the prohibition against appearing in public during holy week were added the obligation to show reverence to ecclesiastics and the interdiction against walking before them. those who broke this law were to be punished by the local magistrates ( ib. can. 14 ; mansi, ib. ). despite the decrees of previous councils, jews living in some of the towns continued to hold christian slaves. the council of macon, therefore, decreed that such slaves were to be ransomed for twelve sous, and either be set at liberty or continue in servitude under their new masters. if the jews refused to free them, the slave, until his master accepted the price of his redemption, should be free to dwell among christians wherever he chose. if a jew succeeded in converting a christian slave to judaism he lost his property rights over that slave and the right of making him an object of testamentary bequest ( ib. can. 16 ; mansi, ix. 935 ). the council of narbonne forbade jews to sing psalms at burials of their own people ; those who transgressed this decree were compelled to pay a fine to the lord of the city ( " concil. narbon. " can. 9 ; mansi, ix. 1016 ). the fifth council of paris ( 614 ) prohibited the jews from asking or from exercising civic or administrative rights over christians, unless they and their


" concil. narbon. " can. 9 ; mansi, ix. 1016 ). the fifth council of paris ( 614 ) prohibited the jews from asking or from exercising civic or administrative rights over christians, unless they and their families should accept baptism from the bishop of the place ( " concil. paris, " v. can. 17 ; mansi, x. 542 ). the same prohibition was renewed at the council of rheims in 624 - 625 ( " concil. rem. " can. 11 ; mansi, x. 596 ). this council returned to the question of christian slaves and decreed that if a jew converted or tormented his christian slaves they should revert to the state treasury ( ib. ). under childebert and chilperic. it may be seen that these different measures were not in any way founded upon the supposition that the jews were morally debased, but harmonized rather with the views of theologians and politicians. the church, it will be observed, no longer content with issuing prohibitions concerning the conduct of christians with relation to the jews, now placed jews themselves, in certain cases, under its own jurisdiction, and at the same time made it to the interest of the civil authorities to assist in carrying out its measures. the council found it necessary also to obtain the sanction of the temporal power for its canons, an aim which it pursued unflaggingly and with much success, for the merovingian kings in general showed themselves willing to accept its authority. yet they were not all submissive to the requests of the clergy. pope gregory the great ( 599 ) rebuked queen brunhilda, thierry, king of the burgundians, and theodebert, king of austrasia, for allowing the jews to hold christian slaves. but such resistance was infrequent : the power of the church at that time, in an almost barbarous state, is well known. childebert was the first fanatic king, and he ratified the decisions of the third council of orleans concerning the presence of jews in public during holy week ( " concil. matisc. " can. 14 ; mansi, xiv. 836 ; according to boretius, however, it is not certain that the article became a part of the constitution ; ( see " beitrage zur capitularienkritik, " p. 21 ). he banished ferreol ( 555


god forbids it " ( gregory of tours, " hist. franc. " viii. 1 ). clotaire ii., who had been raised to the throne at a prelates ' congress, hastened to legalize ( oct. 18, 614 ) the canon of the fifth council of paris ( oct. 10, 614 ) relating to the jews ( " chlotar. edit. " cap. x., ed. boretius, i. 22 ). gondebaud, fourth king of the burgundians, in his struggleagainst clovis ( 500 ) had been exposed to the enmity of the clergy. forced to submit, he agreed to embrace christianity. it was then that what is known as the " loi gombette " was drawn up, which among other things forbade all marriage between jews and christians, such unions, in accordance with the law of theodosius ix., being declared adulterous by the " loi gombette " ( " lex rom. burg. " tit. xix. 4 ; " monum. germ. ll. " iii. 609 ). about the year 517 the same gondebaud prescribed, in the law which is attributed to him, that any jew who struck or kicked a christian should be punished by having his hand cut off, though he might compromise by paying a compensation of 75 sous and a fine of 12 sous. for striking a priest the penalty was death and confiscation of property ( " libr leg. gundob. " 102, 1 - 3 ; " monum. germ. ll. " iii. 573 ). conversion of jews. in order to insure the public triumph of the church, the clergy endeavored to bring the jews to the acceptance of baptism. a certain simon who was converted about the year 350 even became bishop of metz ( " pauli et petri carmina, " 25, 25 : migne, " patrol. lat., poet. lat. carol. " i. 60 ). the council of agda ( 506 ) determined the conditions on which jews were admitted to baptism. ferreol, bishop of uzes, converted them by living in familiar intercourse with them. having been severely rebuked for this by childebert, ferreol ordered the jews of his diocese to meet in the church of st. theodoric, and preached to them a baptismal sermon.


by living in familiar intercourse with them. having been severely rebuked for this by childebert, ferreol ordered the jews of his diocese to meet in the church of st. theodoric, and preached to them a baptismal sermon. some jews abjured their faith ; he forbade the others to remain in the city, and expelled them from his diocese ( 558 ) ( " vita ferreoli, " l. c. ). saint germain ( 568 ) converted a jew at bourges named sigerich ( venantius fortunatus, " vita s. germ. " cap. 62 ). avitus, bishop of clermont, strove long but vainly to make converts. at length in 576 a jew sought to be baptized. one of his former coreligionists poured fetid oil over his head. the following sunday the mob that accompanied the bishop razed the synagogue to the ground. afterward the bishop told the jews that unless they were willing to embrace christianity they must withdraw, since he as bishop could have but one flock. it is said that five hundred jews then accepted baptism, and the rest withdrew to marseilles ( gregory of tours, " hist. franc. " v. 11 ; venantius fortunatus, " carm. " v. 5, a poem written at the command of gregory ). the example of avitus was imitated by virgilius, bishop of arles, and by theodore, bishop of marseilles, and it became necessary for pope gregory the great, on an appeal from the jews who were engaged in commerce at marseilles, to enjoin more moderation and the employment of only suasion for the conversion of the incredulous ( " epist. greg. " i. 47 ; ed. migne, lxxvii. 509 ). sulpicius, bishop of bourges ( before 644 ), engaged with equal ardor in the work of conversion ( " vita s. sulpicii, " i. 14 ). the jews were not unconcerned in the troubles which devastated the country during the struggles with the " barbarians. " with their fellow citizens they defended the city of arles, which was besieged in 508 by the franks and the burgundians. when cæsarius, the bishop, gave evidence of burgundian leanings and one of his kinsmen passed over to the hostile forces, the jews and the


besieged in 508 by the franks and the burgundians. when cæsarius, the bishop, gave evidence of burgundian leanings and one of his kinsmen passed over to the hostile forces, the jews and the goths taxed the bishop with treason. according to the historian, he found a jew to open negotiations with the enemy and to propose the surrender of the city ( " vita s. cæsarii episc. arelat. " i., by s. cyprius, bishop of toulouse ; ed. migne, " patrol. lat. " lxvii. ). this story has been rightly mistrusted ( see israel levi in " r. e. j. " xxx. 295 et seq. ). under dagobert. in 629 king dagobert proposed to drive from his domains all jews who would not accept christianity. he was instigated to this step by heraclius, emperor of the east, to whom astrology had predicted the destruction of his empire by a circumcised people ( fredeg. " chron. " 65, ed. monod, p. 147 ; comp. " gesta dagoberti, " c. 24 ; bouquet, ii. 586 ). the story, fabulous in itself, was not invented until after the arab conquest in 632. it is known from other sources that the clergy were never so powerful under any merovingian king as under dagobert. from his reign to that of pepin the short no further mention of the jews is found. but in the south of france, which was then known as " septimania " and was a dependency of the visigothic kings of spain, the jews continued to dwell and to prosper. from this epoch ( 689 ) dates the earliest known jewish inscription relating to france, that of narbonne ( " r. e. j. " xix. 75 ). the jews of narbonne, chiefly merchants, were popular among the people, who often rebelled against the visigothic kings. it is noteworthy that julian of toledo ( " hist. rebel. adversus wambam insultatio in tyrann. galliæ, " i. 25 ; ed. migne, xcvi. 797 ) accuses gaul of being judaized. wamba ( 672 - 680 ) decreed that all the jews of his realm


tyrann. galliæ, " i. 25 ; ed. migne, xcvi. 797 ) accuses gaul of being judaized. wamba ( 672 - 680 ) decreed that all the jews of his realm should either embrace christianity or quit his dominions. this edict, which " threatened the interests of the country, " provoked a general uprising. the count of nimes, hilderic ; the abbot ramire ; and guimaldus, bishop of maguelon, took the jews under their protection, and even compelled their neighbors to follow their example. but the insurrection was crushed, and the edict of expulsion was put into force in 673 ( ib. 28 ). the exile of the jews was not of long duration, since in 681 the twelfth council of toledo took cognizance of them, and at the seventeenth, in 694, egica demanded the punishment of relapsed jews, but excepted from this measure those who inhabited the provinces of gaul, in order that they might assist these regions in recovering from the losses they had sustained, and, in general, that the jews who dwelt in the country might help the duke who was its governor and might contribute to the reestablishment of the province by their talent and by their care and industry. but this was always with the understanding that they be converted to the catholic faith ( dom vaissette, " hist. generale de languedoc, " ed. privas, i. 750 - 751 ). carlovingian period : " king of the jews " at narbonne. from a letter of pope stephen iii. ( 768 - 772 ) to bishop aribert of narbonne it is seen that in his time the jews still dwelt in provence, and even in the territory of narbonne, enjoying hereditary allodial tenure, and being exempt from high taxation in the towns and outskirts by concession of " the kings of france. " they owned fields and vineyards and employed christians ( " stephanipapæ epist. " 2 ; ed. migne, cxxix. 857 ). this concession is probably connected with a curious episode in the struggle with the arabs. the " roman de philomene " ( dom vaissette, ed. du mege, addit. to iii. 30 ) recounts how charlemagne, after a fabulous siege of narbonne, rewarded the jews for the part they had taken in the


roman de philomene " ( dom vaissette, ed. du mege, addit. to iii. 30 ) recounts how charlemagne, after a fabulous siege of narbonne, rewarded the jews for the part they had taken in the surrender of the city ; he yielded to them, for their own use, a part of the city, and granted them the right to live under a " jewish king, " as the saracens lived under a saracen king. meir, son of simon of narbonne ( 1240 ), in his " milhemet mizwah " refers to the same story. it is a well - known fact, he adds, that at the siege of narbonne king charles, having had his horse killed under him, would himself have been killed but for a jew who dismounted and gave the king his horse at the cost of his own life, for he was killed by the saracens. a tradition that charles granted to them a third part of the town and of its suburbs ( neubauer, in " r. e. j. " x. 98 - 99 ) is partly confirmed by a document which once existed in the abbey of grasse, and which showed that under the emperor charlemagne a " king of the jews " owned a section of the city of narbonne, a possession which charlemagne confirmed in 791 ( note of du mege, " memoires de la societe des antiquaires, " 1829, viii. 340 ). in the royal letters of 1364 ( doat collection, 53 et seq. 339 - 353 ) it is also stated that there were two kings at narbonne, a jew and a saracen, and that one - third of the city was given to the jews. a tradition preserved by abraham ibn daud, and agreeing in part with the statement of benjamin of tudela, his contemporary, attributes these favors to r. makir, whom charlemagne summoned from babylon, and who called himself a descendant of david ( neubauer, " med. jew. chronicles, " i. 82 ). the jewish quarter of narbonne was called " new city " ( " hist. litter. de la france, " xxvii. 561 ), and the " great jewry " ( tournai, " catal. du musee de narbonne " ). the makir family bore, in fact, the name " nasi " ( prince ), and lived in a building known


, and the " great jewry " ( tournai, " catal. du musee de narbonne " ). the makir family bore, in fact, the name " nasi " ( prince ), and lived in a building known as the " cortada regis judæorum " ( saige, " hist. des juifs du languedoc, " p. 44 ). the granting of such privileges would certainly seem to be connected with some particular event, but more probably under charles martel or pepin the short than under charlemagne. a similar story of the surrender of toulouse to the saracens by the jews is rejected as a fable by catel ( " memoires de l ' histoire du languedoc, " p. 517 ), and also by dom vaissette ( iii. 252 ). under charlemagne. whatever be the amount of truth in these stories, it is certain that the jews were again numerous in france under charlemagne, their position being regulated by law. a formula for the jewish oath was fixed ( " capit. de judæis, " cap. 4 ; boretius, i. 258 ). they were allowed to enter into lawsuits with christians ( " capit. miss. aquisgran. alt. " cap. 13 ; boretius, i. 152 ), and in their relations with the latter were restrained only from making them work on sunday ( ib. ). they must not, however, take in pawn goods belonging to the church ( " capit. de judæis, " cap. 1 - 3 ; boretius, i. 258 : though it is doubtful whether this paragraph dates from charlemagne ). they must not trade in currency, wine, or corn ( ib. ; also a doubtful paragraph according to boretius ). of more importance is the fact that they were tried by the emperor himself, to whom they belonged ( ib. ). they engaged in export trade, an instance of this being found in the jew whom charlemagne employed to go to palestine and bring back precious merchandise ( " mon. sangal. " i. 16 ; " monum. germ., scriptores, " ii. 737 ). furthermore, when the normons disembarked on the coast of narbonnese gaul they were taken for jewish merchants ( ib. ii. 14 ; ii. 757 ). they boast, says one authority, of buying whatever they please from bishops and abbots ( "


wrote to the emperor a memoir relating all that the church of gaul and its heads, as well as the bishops, had done to keep the two religions distinct. in the letter to which he here makes allusion he refers to the " superstitious ideas and absurd beliefs of the jews, " citing traits which recall the " shi ' ur komah, " " sefer yezirah, " the talmud, and divers midrashim of late date ( it may be remembered that hai gaon, in " ta ' am zekenim, " reports that the french jews boast of possessing mystical works from natronai ). in their books these jews, after their fashion, recount the history of jesus and peter ( he seems to refer to a " toledot yeshu " ) ; they pretend that the christians adore idols, and that the powers obtained by the intercession of the saints are in reality secured through the devil. in a letter to nibridius, bishop of narbonne, agobard begs him to work for the separation of jews and christians as he himself is doing, enjoining upon the christians to flee from the society of the jews at lyons and in some of the neighboring towns. promiscuity is dangerous, for as a matter of fact the christians celebrate the sabbath with the jews, desecrate sunday, and transgress the regular fasts. because the jews boast of being of the race of the patriarchs, the nation of the righteous, the children of the prophets, the ignorant think that they are the only people of god and that the jewish religion is better than their own ( " agobardi opera, " ed. migne, civ. ; comp. bernhard simon, " jahrbucher des frankischen reiches unter ludwig dem frommen, " i. 393 et seq., leipsic, 1874 ). the highly colored picture presented by the letter of agobard shows not only the policy followed by the church — the separation of jews and christians, and the reproaches then hurled at the jews — but also the prosperity which the jews enjoyed as merchants ( not usurers ), and the commencement of their literary activity. amulo ' s " against the jews. " agobard had a worthy successor in the person of his disciple amulo ( amolon ), who in 846 published a letter ( " contra judæos, " ed. migne, cxvi. ) which


jews. " agobard had a worthy successor in the person of his disciple amulo ( amolon ), who in 846 published a letter ( " contra judæos, " ed. migne, cxvi. ) which took up and carried to completion agobard ' s arguments ; his memoir affords new information on the situation of the jews of his diocese. the people had not yet perceived the danger of intermingling with the jews, and the leaders were afflicted with the same blindness. wine, even for religious purposes, was always purchased from the jews ; christian freemen continued to take service with them, both in the city and elsewhere ; the ignorant still claimed that the jews preached to them better than did the priests. he states that certain converted jews have informed him that in some places jewish farmers of revenue abuse their power by compelling those of little spirit, the weak - minded, to deny jesus. it is in this way that the deacon bodon has been deceived into becoming a jew. on several occasions amulo has ordered his flock to keep aloof from the jews, and has ordered the bishops to come into closer relationship with their charges in order that danger may be averted. amulo likewise denounces the aberrations and superstitions of the jews, who devote themselves entirely to their traditions, which they make the subject of discourses and sermons every saturday in the synagogues. he mentions also the invidious expressions of which they make use to designate the apostles and the gospel, and their arguments in defense of their messianic ideas ( which accord with those of the " sefer zerubbabel " and the " ma ' aseh of r. joshua b. levi " ). this memoir is contemporary with two synods which met at meaux ( june 17, 845 ) and at paris ( feb. 14, 846 ). at these councils, in which amulo took part, the king was urged in the terms of the " contra judæos " to observe toward the jews the ancient laws and edicts ( " concil. meld. " can. 73 ; labbe, xiv. 836 ). the king, however, paid little attention to the exhortationsof the bishops ( prudentius of troyes, " annales, " ed. migne, cxv. 1399 ), and did not ratify the canon on the jews ( " capitularium sparnaci " )


the bishops ( prudentius of troyes, " annales, " ed. migne, cxv. 1399 ), and did not ratify the canon on the jews ( " capitularium sparnaci " ). the attempt had failed once again. according to the legend related in the annals of hincmar ( ad ann. 877 ; " monum. germ., scriptores " i. 504, 589 ), charles the bald paid for this imprudence, being poisoned in mantua by his jewish doctor sedecias ( annalista saxo, ib. 584 ). the king also employed jews on foreign missions ( diego, " historia de los condes de barcelona, " p. 26 ). the jews, who continued to devote themselves to commerce, differed in their privileges from the christians only in the amount of duty levied on them, paying one - tenth of the value of the goods, while christians paid one - eleventh ( bouquet, vii. 104 : if this capitulary is authentic ). ibn kordadhbeh, who speaks of the southern french jews about 850, depicts them going as far as the indies and china ( " journal asiatique, " sixth series, v. 512 ). see commerce. from the middle of the ninth to the twelfth century is certainly an important epoch ; it was then that french society became transformed by the development of the feudal system and the organization of the gilds ; the arbitrary rapacity of the one oppressing the weak — agricultural serf and jewish merchant alike — and the jealous exclusiveness of the other prohibiting the exercise of trades by non - catholics, while both invested all things with the religious fanaticism which later expressed itself in the crusades. at the same time it is the epoch in which the rabbinical schools, already mentioned in amulo ' s account, appeared in full light, when hebrew literature in france produced its first works, and when famous rabbis made french judaism illustrious and impressed upon it the character which it was to retain for several centuries. unfortunately, however, but few details concerning this transition period are known ; they are as follows : at sens, about 876, the archbishop ansegise, prelate of gaul, expelled the jews and the friars from his city — for a certain reason, according to an eleventh - century historian ( odorani, " chron. " ad ann. 883 ; bouquet, viii. 237 ). as far as


of gaul, expelled the jews and the friars from his city — for a certain reason, according to an eleventh - century historian ( odorani, " chron. " ad ann. 883 ; bouquet, viii. 237 ). as far as concerned the jews this is, perhaps, the first sign of the triumph of feudalism. in 899 charles the simple confiscated, for the profit of the church at narbonne, all the property held by the jews and subject to the payment of tithes ( vaissette. iii. 63 ). according to saige ( " hist. des juifs du languedoc, " p. 9 ), this signifies that the jews might not possess land upon which church tithes were levied, but it did not abrogate their right to hold free land. at any rate, in the eleventh century they were in peaceful possession of their landed property around narbonne. the first capets — 987 - 1137 : persecution of jews in limoges and rouen. according to richer, a historian who, as stated by monod, inspires mistrust, hugh capet, " whose whole body was covered with sores, " was killed by the jews in 996 ( " richeri historia, " lib. iv., toward the end, p. 308, ed. guadet ). according to guadet, richer merely means by this statement that the jewish physicians were the cause of his death. a hebrew document ( berliner ' s " magazin, " iv. ; " ozar tob, " p. 49 ) states that a jew of blois, who had been converted to christianity, wished to destroy the limoges community in 996, and accused the jews of employing on three holidays of the year a wax image of the lord of the land, which they pierced in order to bring about his death, just as they did in the case of the host. but since the fable of the pierced host came into existence several centuries later, the story is open to doubt. following the accusation of this convert, a priest appears to have counseled his lord no longer to tolerate the jews in the city. in 1010 alduin, bishop of limoges, offered the jews of his diocese the choice between baptism and exile. for a month theologians held disputations with them, but without much success, for only three or four of the jews abjured their faith ; of the rest some fled into


, offered the jews of his diocese the choice between baptism and exile. for a month theologians held disputations with them, but without much success, for only three or four of the jews abjured their faith ; of the rest some fled into other cities, while others killed themselves ( " chronicles of adhemar of chabannes, " ed. bouquet, x. 152 ; " chron. of william godellus, " ib. 262, according to whom the event occurred in 1007 or 1008 ). a hebrew text also states that duke robert of normandy having concerted with his vassals to destroy all the jews on their lands who would not accept baptism, many were put to death or killed themselves. among the martyrs was the learned rabbi senior. a rich and esteemed man in rouen, jacob b. jekuthiel, went to rome to implore the protection of the pope in favor of his coreligionists, and the pontiff sent a high dignitary to put a stop to the persecution ( berliner ' s " magazin, " iii. ; " ozar tob, " pp. 46 - 48 ). robert the pious is well known for his religious prejudice and for the hatred which he bore toward heretics ; it was he who first burned sectarians. there is probably some connection between this persecution and a rumor which appears to have been current in the year 1010. if adhemar of chabannes, who wrote in 1030, is to be believed, in 1010 the western jews addressed a letter to their eastern coreligionists warning them of a military movement against the saracens. in the preceding year the church of the holy sepulcher had been converted into a mosque by the mohammedans, a sacrilege which had aroused great feeling in europe, and pope sergius iv. had sounded the alarm ( " monum. germ., scriptores, " iv. 137 ). the exasperation of the christians, it seems, brought into existence and spread the belief in a secret understanding between the mohammedans and the jews. twenty years later raoul glaber ( bouquet, x. 34 ) knew more concerning this story. according to him, jews of orleans had sent to the east through a beggar a letter which provoked the order for the destruction of the church of the holy sepulcher. glaberadds that on the discovery of the crime the expulsion of the jews was everywhere decreed. some were


sent to the east through a beggar a letter which provoked the order for the destruction of the church of the holy sepulcher. glaberadds that on the discovery of the crime the expulsion of the jews was everywhere decreed. some were driven out of the cities, others were put to death, while some killed themselves ; only a few remained in all the " roman world. " five years later a small number of those who had fled returned. count riant says that this whole story of the relations between the jews and the mohammedans is only one of those popular legends with which the chronicles of the time abound ( " inventaire critique des lettres historiques des croisades, " p. 38, paris, 1880 ). another violent commotion arose about the year 1065. at this date pope alexander ii. wrote to the viscount of narbonne, beranger, and to guifred, bishop of the city, praising them for having prevented the massacre of the jews in their district, and reminding them that god does not approve of the shedding of blood ( " concil. " ix. 1138 and 1154 ; vaissette, 355 ). a crusade had been formed against the moors of spain, and the crusaders had killed without mercy all the jews whom they met on their route. franko - jewish literature. during this period, which continues till the first crusade, jewish culture was awakening, and still showed a certain unity in the south of france and the north. its domain did not embrace all human knowledge ; it included in the first place poetry, which was at times purely liturgical — the echo of israel ' s sufferings and the expression of its invincible hope — but which more often was a simple scholastic exercise without aspiration, destined rather to amuse and instruct than to move — a sort of dried sermon. following this comes biblical exegesis, the simple interpretation of the text, with neither daring nor depth, reflecting a complete faith in traditional interpretation, and based by preference upon the midrashim, despite their fantastic character. finally, and above all, their attention was occupied with the talmud and its commentaries. the text of this work, together with that of the writings of the geonim, particularly their responsa, was first revised and copied ; then these writings were treated as a " corpus juris, " and were commented upon and studied both as a pious exercise in dialectics and from the practical point of view. there was no philosophy, no natural


anjou, and a remarkable talmudist. he left to posterity many fine editions of the rabbinical writings of his predecessors. he was also an excellent poet, and the author of interesting decisions and responsa. liturgical poets, such as joseph b. solomon of carcassonne, benjamin b. samuel of coutances, and elias the elder b. menahem of mans, were numerous. jewish france was so rich in men of learning that she gave some of them to germany, among them isaac ha - levi of vitry, who became head of the school at worms, and isaac b. judah, who became head of the school of mayence. both of these became teachers of rashi. rashi. the great figure which dominates the second half of the eleventh century, as well as the whole rabbinical history of france, is rashi ( solomon b. isaac ) of troyes ( 1040 - 1106 ). in him is personified the genius of northern french judaism : its devoted attachment to tradition ; its naive, untroubled faith ; its piety, ardent but free from mysticism. his works are distinguished by their clearness, directness, and hatred of subtlety, and are written in a simple, concise, unaffected style, suited to his subject. his commentary on the talmud, which was the product of colossal labor, and which eclipsed the similar works of all his predecessors, by its clearness and soundness made easy the study of that vast compilation, and soon become its indispensable complement. his commentary on the bible ( particularly on the pentateuch ), a sort of repertory of the midrash, served for edification, but also advanced the taste for simple and natural exegesis. the school which he founded at troyes, his birthplace, after having followed the teachings of those of worms and mayence, immediately became famous. around his chair were gathered simhah b. samuel, r. samuel b. meir ( rashbam ), and shemaia, his grandsons ; likewise shemaria, judah b. nathan, and isaac levi b. asher, all of whom continued his work. in his biblical commentaries he availed himself of the works of his contemporaries. among them must be cited moses ha - darshan, chief of the school of narbonne, who was perhaps the founder of exegetical studies in france ; menahem b. helbo ; and, above all, joseph car


. among them must be cited moses ha - darshan, chief of the school of narbonne, who was perhaps the founder of exegetical studies in france ; menahem b. helbo ; and, above all, joseph caro. thus the eleventh century was a period of fruitful activity in literature. thenceforth french judaism became one of the poles of universal judaism. the crusades : the jews of france do not seem to have suffered much during the crusades, except, perhaps, during the first ( 1096 ), when the crusaders are stated to have shut up the jews of rouen in a church and to have exterminated them without distinction of age or sex, sparing only those who accepted baptism ( guibert de nogent, ed. bouquet, xii. 240 ; " chron. rothomag. " ; labbe, " novæ bibliothecæ, manuscript lib. " i. 367 ). according to a hebrew document, the jews throughout france were at that time in great fear, and wrote to their brothers in the rhine countries making known to them their terror and asking them to fast and pray ( anonymous text of mayence, in a. neubauer and stern, " hebraische berichte uber die judenverfolgungenwahrend der kreuzzuge, " p. 47 ). happily their fears proved groundless. r. tam in the second crusade. at the time of the second crusade, jacob tam, the grandson of rashi, had cause to lament the actions of the crusaders, who burst into his house, seized his possessions, destroyed a book of the law, and carried him off into the open field with the intention of putting him to death. but perceiving one of the nobles, he called him to his aid and was rescued. ephraim of bonn is the only writer who tells of this incident ; r. tam himself makes no reference to it ( " judenverfolgungen, " p. 64 ), and even ephraim adds that in the other communities of france no one was put to death or compelled to abjure his faith. nevertheless, the consequences of the crusades were terrible for the jews, for this great religious movement produced an excitement of the popular imagination which had dire results for them. it was about this time that accusations of ritual murder were bruited ; mere manifestations of a mental malady on the part of majorities intoler


for this great religious movement produced an excitement of the popular imagination which had dire results for them. it was about this time that accusations of ritual murder were bruited ; mere manifestations of a mental malady on the part of majorities intolerant of the existence of a minority who kept aloof from them. from the economic and social point of view this epoch was destined to be for the jews a turning - point. until that time the jews had been chiefly merchants ; henceforth they become known above all as usurers. st. bernard, abbot of clairvaux, who preached the second crusade, and who intervened with great courage to prevent the massacre of the german jews, asked king louis vii. to prohibit the jews from accepting usurious rates of interest from those who set out for the holy land. moreover, in speaking of their rapacity, and observing that in places where there were no jews the christian usurers were worse in their exactions, he says that on this account the latter might justly be accused of judaizing ( " epistola, " 363 ; ed. migne, clxxxii. 564 ). peter the venerable, abbot of cluny, wrote in 1146 to the king that even if he did not counsel the massacre of the jews, they should at least be punished by being despoiled of their ill - gotten gains and thefts, and that the army of the crusaders should not spare jewish treasures ( " epistola, " 36 ; ed. migne, clxxxix. 366 ). for having resisted these appeals louis vii. was accused by a contemporary historian of having been moved by cupidity ( " fragmentum historicum vitam lud. vll. summatim complectens, " in bouquet, xii. 286 ). pope alexander iii. in a letter to the archbishop of bourges ( 1179 ) addressed to him the same reproach ( bouquet, xv. 968 ). according to ephraim of bonn, the provisions of the bull of pope eugenius iv. exonerating the crusaders from their debts to the jews were carried out in france ( " judenverfolgungen, " p. 64 ). blood accusation. the accusation of ritual murder in france was closely connected with the crusades. according to a jewish account of the second crusade ( " judenverfolgungen, " p. 62 ), the crusaders, in order


). blood accusation. the accusation of ritual murder in france was closely connected with the crusades. according to a jewish account of the second crusade ( " judenverfolgungen, " p. 62 ), the crusaders, in order to justify their sanguinary exploits, pretended at times that they were punishing the jews for the murder of christians. it was said that the jews committed this crime not because they had need of christian blood for ritual purposes, but in order to repeat the crucifixion of jesus. at pontoise it was said some time before 1171 that they had crucified an adult christian of the name of richard. the dates given vary : it was in 1163 according to lambert waterlos, who died in 1170 ( bouquet, xiii. 520 ) ; in 1179 according to rigord ; in 1156 according to geoffroy of the abbey of st. martial of limoges, who died in 1184 ( bouquet, xii. 438 ; see also " judenverfolgungen, " p. 34 ). the body was carried to paris and worked numerous miracles in the church of the holy innocents, where it was interred. similar accusations were made against the jews at epernay and at janville ( department of eure et loire ) about the same time — that is to say, about the year 1170 — but no details are known ( " judenverfolgungen, " pp. 34 - 35 ). the outburst at blois is the most famous, and cost the lives of 31 persons. the affair was of a most lamentable nature. a man was watering a horse in the loire. frightened at the sight of a jew who was near, the animal reared. this was sufficient to cause the man to return at once and accuse the jew of having thrown into the stream the body of a christian child which had been crucified by the jew ' s coreligionists. he himself had been afraid of meeting the same death, and the horse had instinctively recoiled. thibaut de champagne, count of blois, immediately incarcerated all the jews in the city. a priest suggested that the man should be put to the test by water, and as the test resulted in his favor, the proof of the crime of the jews was regarded as conclusive. having rejected baptism, 31 jews were burned on wednesday, may 26, 1171. jacob tam, who was informed of this sad occurrence, decided


the test resulted in his favor, the proof of the crime of the jews was regarded as conclusive. having rejected baptism, 31 jews were burned on wednesday, may 26, 1171. jacob tam, who was informed of this sad occurrence, decided that this day should be one of fasting, and the communities of france, anjou, and the provinces on the rhine duly observed it as such ( statement of baruch ben meir of orleans ; letters of the notables of orleans ; letter of a jew of tours to r. yom - tob ; " martyrology of ephraim of bonn " ; letter of the notables of paris in " judenverfolgungen, " pp. 31 et seq. ; robert du mont, in bouquet, xiii. 315 ). robert du mont also says that jews were burned in paris likewise in 1177 for the murder of st. william. the belief in this legend was destined to be most baneful to the jews of the entire kingdom of france. philip augustus, who, in 1180, at the age of fifteen succeeded louis vii., his father, had, according to his historian rigord, often heard the young nobles who were his fellow students in the palace tell how the jews of paris went year by year into subterranean retreats on passover or during the holy week, and sacrificed a christian in order to outrage the christian religion. often during his brother ' s reign ( they said ) the guilty had been seized and thrown into the flames. immediately after his coronation, march 14, 1181, he ordered the jews arrested on a saturday, in all their synagogues, and despoiled of their money and their vestments ( an english chronicler, raoul of dicet [ ii. 14 ], says that he released them for a ransom of 15, 000 silver marks ). the jews, adds rigord, were then very numerous, and many rabbis ( didascali ) had come to sojourn in paris ; they had become enriched to the extent of owning nearly half of the city ; they were engaged in usury ; their patrons were often despoiled of their possessions, while others were kept on parole in the houses ofcertain of the jews. after having consulted a hermit who lived in the vincennes forest, the king released the christians of his domain from all their debts toward the jews, with the exception of one - fifth which he transferred to himself. expulsion from france, 1182. in the following april,


who lived in the vincennes forest, the king released the christians of his domain from all their debts toward the jews, with the exception of one - fifth which he transferred to himself. expulsion from france, 1182. in the following april, 1182, he published an edict of expulsion, but according the jews a delay of three months for the sale of their personal property. immovable property, however, such as houses, fields, vines, barns, and wine - presses, he confiscated. the jews attempted to win over the nobles to their side, but in vain. in july they were compelled to leave the royal domains of france ; their synagogues were converted into churches ( rigord, " gesta philippi augusti, " i., vi. 12 - 17 ; ed. delaborde, pp. 14 et seq. ; see also guillaume le breton, " philippidos, " i. 389 et seq. ; ed. delaborde, p. 23 ). as may be seen, these successive measures were simply expedients to fill the royal coffers. the goods confiscated by the king were at once converted into cash ( leopold delisle, " catalogue des actes du regne de philippe auguste, " 20, 21, 22, 27, 51, 58 ). it is well to add that at that time the royal domains were reduced to a very narrow strip of territory, extending around paris and orleans. during the century which terminated so disastrously for the jews their condition was not altogether bad, especially if compared with that of their brethren in germany. thus may be explained the remarkable intellectual activity which existed among them, the attraction which it exercised over the jews of other countries, and the numerous works produced in those days. the impulse given by rashi to study did not cease with his death ; his successors — the members of his family first among them — brilliantly continued his work. research moved within the same limits as in the preceding century, and dealt mainly with the talmud, rabbinical jurisprudence, and biblical exegesis. rabbenu tam, to whom reference will again be made, investigated at least one section of hebrew grammar ; he undertook the defense of menahem b. saruk against dunash b. labrat ; as innovator in another direction he composed a poem on the accents and imitated the versification of the spanish jews, which impelled abraham ibn ezra to ask : " who is this that has led the french


following centuries. subtlety did not exclude clearness ; logic never lost its rights ; order ruled in the editing of their notes. the production of tosafot became the dominant and absorbing occupation of this period, and impressed its distinctive character upon the studies of the time. centers of rabbinic learning. the work was participated in by a whole legion of scholars, spread over the north of france, normandy as well as the isle of france, champagne as well as burgundy and lorraine. champagne, however, was the most active center. in these different provinces schools were founded — at ramerupt after troyes, at dampierre, at auxerre, at sens, at falaise, at paris, etc. to these centers of instruction, just as to the french universities, hastened pupils from distant countries, from slavic lands, from bohemia, and from germany. like the traveling students of that period, the pupils of the rabbis traversed the land, mocking at distance, insensible to privation, going from one master to another in their thirst for instruction. the earliest masters who gave prestige to this form of instruction were members of the family of rashi : judah b. nathan, his son - in - law and the continuer of his commentary on the talmud ; meir, another son - in - law, who became director of the troyes academy after rashi ' s death ; jacob tam ( called commonly " rabbenu tam, " the son of meir ) — the true founder of the school of tosafists, a man of strong will and energetic character, and known to his contemporaries as the supreme authority of french judaism ; his brother samuel ( rashbam ), an excellent exegete, somewhat daring in parts of his biblical commentary ; samuel de vitry, a nephew of r. tam. to the same group belong samuel de vitry, a disciple of rashi, and author of the mahzor vitry ; his great - grandson, isaac b. samuel the elder, the famous " ri, " whose name occurs frequently in the tosafot, and who was chief of the school at dampierre ( to be distinguished from isaac b. abraham, known as " ri ha - bahur " ( the younger ), who succeeded him ) ; elhanan, son of isaac b. samuel, martyred in 1184. to these names of famous tosafists must also be added the following : jacob of orleans ( died in london in 1189 )


, who succeeded him ) ; elhanan, son of isaac b. samuel, martyred in 1184. to these names of famous tosafists must also be added the following : jacob of orleans ( died in london in 1189 ), who was also an exegete ; samuel b. hayyim of verdun, disciple of r. tam ; hoshaiah ha - levi of troyes ; menahem b. perez of joigny, also an exegete ; yom - tob of joigny ( died at york in 1190 ), a liturgical poet and biblical commentator ; samuel b. aaron and simon b. samuel of joinville ; eliezer b. samuel of metz, author of the " sefer yere ' im " ; moses b. abraham of pontoise ; simon b. joseph of falaise ; yom - tob ; judah b. yom - tob ; hayyim b. hananel cohen ; the celebrated judah b. isaac, alias sir leeon of paris ; simson de coucy, one of the most learned of the tosafists ; judah of corbeil ; joseph and isaac b. baruch of clisson ; eliezer b. solomon ; and the well - known simson ( b. abraham ) of sens, commentator of the mishnah and the sifra. side by side with these tosafists may be cited a number of scholars renowned for their vast knowledge, such as joseph kara, mentioned above in connection with the history of the previous century ; shemaiah, commentator on the talmud ; joseph b. isaac of orleans, better known under the name of " joseph bechor schor, " an ingenious exegete ; solomon b. isaac and eleazar of orleans ; samuel b. jacob of auxerre ; aaron and bender d ' epernay ; eliezer of beaugency, an exegete of authority ; jehiel b. david and jekuthiel b. judah of troyes ; jacob and isaac de bray, who died in 1191 ; david of brienne ; samuel de joinville ; joseph b. solomon de dampierre ; joseph b. joseph de pont audemer ; samuel b. joseph of verdun ; abraham of toul ; moses of saumur ; joseph b. moses and simson of troyes ; david of chateau - thierry ; meshullam b. nathan of melun ; nathan, his son


b. joseph of verdun ; abraham of toul ; moses of saumur ; joseph b. moses and simson of troyes ; david of chateau - thierry ; meshullam b. nathan of melun ; nathan, his son ; jedidia of the same town ; solomon b. abraham b. jehiel ; mattithiah b. moses ; judah b. abraham ; samuel, moses, and jacob b. samson ; elijah b. judah of paris ; joseph porat of caen ; joseph the saint and samson of corbeil ; joseph b. isaac of chinon ; joseph of chartres, poet and exegete ; moses of saumur ; isaac b. solomon and eliezer of sens. this list could be considerably prolonged if all the learned men of the time were mentioned whose birthplace is not exactly known, although they are certainly french. synods. it is sufficient to know that at a synod held at troyes under the presidency of samuel b. meir and r. tam, rabbis came from troyes, auxerre, the banks of the rhine, paris and its environs, from melun, normandy and the coast, anjou, pontou, and lorraine. these synods are distinctive of the history of northern france in the twelfth century ; in imitation of the local or national councils, and principally at the instigation of r. tam, the heads of the israelite community met several times, without doubt at the time of the champagne fairs, to deliberate upon dubious cases of jurisprudence, or to pass new laws necessitated by changed conditions. thus, they forbade jews to buy or to take in pledge crucifixes, church ornaments, or other objects connected with the catholic form of worship ; to summon their coreligionists to appear before non - jewish judges ; to allow themselves to be nominated by the civil authorities as provost or leader of the community without having been previously proposed for this office by the majority of the community. they also decided that the prohibition of r. gershom against polygamy should be enforced, and that it should not be revoked at any time in the future except under urgent necessity and by a council of at least a hundred rabbis from three different regions — from france, normandy, and anjou. the command was renewed to excommunicate traitors who brought false charges against their brethren. finally a question connected with the matrimonial laws was settled ( neubauer, " r. e. j. " xvi


and anjou. the command was renewed to excommunicate traitors who brought false charges against their brethren. finally a question connected with the matrimonial laws was settled ( neubauer, " r. e. j. " xvii. 66 - 73 ; gross, " gallia judaica, " pp. 231 et seq. ). in the south. in the south of france the intellectual life of the jews was equally intense, and for similar reasons. never had their situation been more happy ; rulers and people agreed in treating them with kindness. at toulouse and at beziers they had to suffer, it is true, odious restrictions at beziers, on palm sunday, the bishop regularly exhorted the people to take vengeance on the jews, " who had crucified jesus. " he even went further and gave them permission to attack the deicides and to raze their houses. this the inhabitants always did with such ardor that it resulted in bloodshed. the attack commenced on the first hour of the saturday before palm sunday, and lasted until the last hour of the saturday after passover. at toulouse, as a penalty for the alleged crime of having, in the time of charlemagne, delivered up the town to the saracens — a mere legend, since the moors never entered the town — thrice a year a jew was compelled to present himself before the church to have his ears boxed. but these two customs were justly abolished in the twelfth century ; the latter, at the commencement of the century, was replaced by a fixed payment to the canons of st. saturnin ( vaissete, ii. 151 ) ; that of beeziers in 1160 by a tax to be used in purchasing ornaments for the cathedral ( ib. iii. 813 ). the favor which the jews in general enjoyed at that time may be judged from the fact that they were employed by the counts and inferior lords in the position of " bailes. " as such they had the administration of lands dependent directly on their lords ; they also had a large share in the administration of justice. " above all, they filled the office of farmers of revenue, and were allowed to farm out the tolls, the receipts of the towns and fiefs, and even certain of the revenues of the chapters and bishops " ( saige, " les juifs du languedoc, " pp. 15 et seq. ). but if, as is natural, christian documents impart


has spread through all the land, " he found there kalonymus, son of the nasi todros, chief of the rabbinical school ; abraham ab bet din, author of " sefer ha - eshkol " ; r. judah ; and other learned men, all of whom had numerous pupils. he also found at beziers another school, under the direction of solomon halafta and joseph b. nathaniel ; at montpellier he met reuben b. todros, nathan b. simon, samuel and mordecai b. samuel ; at posquieres, the seat of a famous school, he saw abraham b. david ( rabad ), who was renowned for his knowledge, and who supported poor students at his own expense, and also joseph b. menahem, benveniste, benjamin, abraham, and isaac b. moses ; while at st. gilles was a community comprising about a hundred learned men, with isaac b. jacob, abraham b. judah, eliezer, isaac, moses, and jacob b. levi, and abba mari b. isaac at the head. at arles was a community of two hundred israelites, including moses, tobias, isaiah, solomon, nathan, and abba mari. at lunel, says benjamin, " is a holy brotherhood which studies the law day and night. the celebrated meshullam b. jacob teaches there ; his five sons, joseph, isaac, jacob ( nazir ), aaron, asher, famous for their wisdom as well as for their wealth, have withdrawn themselves from all worldly interests, pursue their studies unceasingly, and abstain from eating meat. moses b. judah, samuel he - hazzan, solomon ha - kohen, and judah b. saul ibn tibbon, the spaniard, also live there, and pupils are taught and supported gratuitously " finally benjamin stopped at marseilles, where he saw the wise simon b. anatoli, the latter ' s brother jacob, and several other rabbis. the number of famous rabbis mentioned in this chronicle as living in the same year is worthy of note. to complete the list, however, there still remain to be mentioned meir b. isaac of trinquetailles, author of the " sefer ha - ' ezer " ; the famous zerachiah ha - levi, originally from spain and author of the " sefer ha - ma ' or, " who lived at lunel ; abraham b. nathan


author of the " sefer ha - ' ezer " ; the famous zerachiah ha - levi, originally from spain and author of the " sefer ha - ma ' or, " who lived at lunel ; abraham b. nathan ha - yarhi of lunel, author of the " sefer ha - manhig " ; the whole kalonymus family at narbonne ; isaac b. merwan ha - levi ; moses b. joseph b. merwan ha - levi ; etc. halakic studies. a new method lent variety to the studies of these talmudists. isaac alfasi of spain had composed a sort of compilation of the talmud, omitting from it all matters not related to jurisprudence. this plan soon found favor with scholars of a methodical frame of mind, and the " little talmud, " as the work of alfasi was called, became the object of devoted study in provence. abraham ab bet din was the first scholar there to follow its method and to effect a codification of the contents of the talmud ( " sefer ha - eshkol " ). on the other hand, zerachiah ha - levi in his " ma ' or " criticised the " sefer ha - eshkol " severely. abraham b. david thereupon energetically undertook the defense of his master, and was supported by his disciple, meir of trinquetailles, in his " sefer ha - ' ezer. " much as these ardent polemics agitated the south of france, they were to be surpassed by others of which abraham b. david was destined to be the cause. to alfasi ' s summary was due the creation of a veritable " summa " of the talmud, the profoundest work and the most methodical that the talmud ever inspired — the mishneh torah of maimonides, in which for the first time the talmudic rules were classified and elucidated according to a scientific plan. the author, absorbed in philosophy, intended that this " summa " should enable students to dispense with a too absorbing study of the talmud. rabad and rambam. rabad, a follower of tradition, was startled by such boldness, for he saw in the book, and perhaps correctly, a mortal danger to the intellectual activity of judaism, and the cessation of those studies which, though narrow, furnished intellectual food for legions of scholars. furthermore, maimonides, a rev


for he saw in the book, and perhaps correctly, a mortal danger to the intellectual activity of judaism, and the cessation of those studies which, though narrow, furnished intellectual food for legions of scholars. furthermore, maimonides, a reverential pupil of aristotle, and an ardent rationalist, did not hesitate to submit to the judgment of reason the theological opinions of the rabbis of the talmud. everything which implied the materiality of the deity or a belief in the resurrection of the body, and all ordinances having, in his eyes, a superstitious character, were disregarded in the mishneh torah, and philosophic principles were placed at the foundation even of the legal code. it was a revolution ; rabad understood this, and he undertook to arrest it. he submitted the work of maimonides to a criticism, minute, bitter, and sometimes brutal, upholding with all his might the doctrine that absolute faith must be accorded to the teachings of the talmud. it was the battle of free inquiry against the principle of authority, the resistance of the conservative spirit to the audacity of dangerous innovation. learned as this criticism was, and great as was the authority with which rabad ' s incomparable talmudic knowledge and highly esteemed works had invested him, his opposition was powerless against the prestige which maimonides had already gained in provence. there portions of the mishneh torah were received as the work progressed, and its completion was eagerly awaited ( letter to joseph b. aknin ). maimonides, indeed, was consulted as an oracle in provence ; from marseilles came requests for his opinion even in matters of astrology. furthermore, he had written a theological treatise, the " guide to the perplexed, " of an audacityremarkable for that time, and in which he applied to the bible the methods of aristotle and sought for a rational explanation of the religious ordinances. the translators. far from being scandalized at this, the communities, such as that of lunel, asked him to translate the work from the arabic into hebrew, in order that they might study it thoroughly ; and at the end of the twelfth century the translation was undertaken by an inhabitant of lunel. such a phenomenon, new to france, is explained by the relationship which existed between the jews there and those across the pyrenees, where free inquiry was eagerly pursued. an event which rendered this spanish influence still more potent was the persecution of the almohades, who drove many


to france, is explained by the relationship which existed between the jews there and those across the pyrenees, where free inquiry was eagerly pursued. an event which rendered this spanish influence still more potent was the persecution of the almohades, who drove many spanish scholars from spain into provence, and thereby brought about in miniature a renaissance similar in its way to that which the conquest of constantinople afterward produced. two families, the ibn tibbons and the kimhis, transplanted into provence the arabic - jewish civilization of spain, and the medium for utilizing the forces thus presented was found in the person of meshullam b. jacob, who desired to play the part of an intellectual mæcenas, and who may justly claim to have been the author of the scientific movement among the southern jews. he it was who called forth the talent of judah b. saul ibn tibbon, originally from granada, then a fugitive at lunel. meshullam and his son asher insisted that judah should translate the principal works of the jews, which, being written in arabic, could not be read by all. with their assistance judah translated into hebrew bahya ' s " hobot ha - lebabot, " solomon ibn gabirol ' s " tikkun middot ha - nefesh, " judah ha - levi ' s " cuzari, " saadia ' s " sefer ha - emunot weha - de ' ot, " and even ibn janah ' s hebrew grammar. judah ibn tibbon became the head of a dynasty of translators who spread through the occident all the sciences cultivated in spain by the arabs and the jews. concurrently with judah ibn tibbon, joseph kimhi, also a refugee from spain, translated the " hobot ha - lebabot. " but while the talent of the ibn tibbons was directed to translating, that of the kimhis was on the whole devoted to biblical exegesis and grammar. through joseph kimhi and his sons moses and david were made accessible to provence all those treasures of exegetical and grammatical science of which jewish spain had enjoyed the benefit. the simple haggadic exegesis current in the north of france was replaced by a freer, bolder interpretation of the bible based upon a knowledge of grammar, and made profounder and more rigorous by a comparative study of arabic grammar. the ibn tibbons finished the conquest of provence commenced by abraham ibn ezra. when this bohemian genius entered the country, bringing with him a whiff of


knowledge of grammar, and made profounder and more rigorous by a comparative study of arabic grammar. the ibn tibbons finished the conquest of provence commenced by abraham ibn ezra. when this bohemian genius entered the country, bringing with him a whiff of the free air of spain, and dazzling all with his display of biblical knowledge and with the originality of his interpretation, he was received with enthusiasm ; and his visit was long remembered. beside these two forces — conservatism on the one side, knowledge freeing itself from tradition on the other — appeared at this time a third, mysticism, which was destined soon to show itself all - powerful. isaac the blind, son of abraham b. david ( rabad ), was the founder of cabala, and isaac ' s son asher was also a renowned cabalist, while even abraham himself manifested a tendency toward mysticism. the same is true of the family of meshullam b. jacob, whose sons aaron and jacob are likewise reputed to have inclined toward such speculations ( gross, in " monatsschrift, " 1874, p. 173 ). thus from north to south french judaism of the twelfth century affords the spectacle of an intense intellectual excitement. thirteenth century. northern france : recalled by philip augustus, 1198. this century, which opened with the return of the jews to france proper ( then reduced almost to the isle of france ), closed with their complete exile from france in a larger sense. in the month of july, 1198, philip augustus, " contrary to the general expectation and despite his own edict, recalled the jews to paris and made the churches of god suffer great persecutions " ( rigord ). the king adopted this measure from no good will toward the jews, for he had shown his true sentiments a short time before in the bray affair. but since then he had learned that the jews could be an excellent source of income from a fiscal point of view, especially as money - lenders. not only did he recall them to his estates, but, as has been pointed out by vuitry ( " etudes sur le regime financier de la france, " i. 315 et seq. ), he gave state sanction by his ordinances to their operations in banking and pawnbroking. he placed their business under control, determined the legal rate of interest, and obliged them to have seals affixed to all their deeds. naturally this trade was taxed, and the affixing of the royal seal was paid for by


the king ( see brussel, l. c. ). thence - forth they too had a revenue known as the " produit des juifs, " comprising the taille, or annual quit - rent, the legal fees for the writs necessitated by the jews ' law trials, and the seal duty. a thoroughly characteristic feature of this fiscal policy is that the bishops ( according to the agreement of 1204 regulating the spheres of ecclesiastical and seigniorial jurisdiction ) continued to prohibit the clergy from excommunicating those who sold goods to the jews or who bought from them. innocent iii. indeed, king and lords even took a firm stand against pope innocent iii. when he protested in 1205 against this new condition of affairs. the pontiff wrote to the king to censure him for his indulgence. if he was to believe what he had heard, the jews by their usurious practises had gotten into their power the goods of the church, they occupied castles, they acted as stewards and managers for the nobles, they had christian servants, and christian nurses on whom they committed abominable crimes. the civil authorities attached more faith to a deed signed by a debtor at the moment of the loan than to the witnesses whom he produced denying this deed. at sens the jews had been permitted to construct a synagogue higher than a church near which it stood, and there they sang so loudly as to disturb the service in the church. on easter day they walked in the streets and offered insults to the faith, maintaining that he whom their ancestors had crucified had been only a peasant. their houses remained open till the middle of the night and served to receive stolen goods ; assassination even occurred, as in the case of a poor scholar who had recently been found dead in the house of a jew ( " diplome de brequigny, " ii. 2, 610 ; bouquet, xix. 471 ). the pope wrote in the same spirit to the duke of burgundy and to the countess of troyes and the count de nevers ( 1208 ; bouquet, xix, 497 ). but his efforts were of no avail. eudes, duke of burgundy, having been informed by philip augustus that the pope had taken the crusaders under his protection and had exempted those who set out for jerusalem from the payment of the interest due their creditors, replied that " the pope can not, without the consent of the king, make any arrangement which may prejudice the rights


had taken the crusaders under his protection and had exempted those who set out for jerusalem from the payment of the interest due their creditors, replied that " the pope can not, without the consent of the king, make any arrangement which may prejudice the rights of the king and the barons, " and he counseled the latter to resist the innovations which would thus be introduced into the kingdom. under louis viii. and st. louis. it is probably at this epoch that the rule was established, " li meuble au juif le roi sunt au roi, " or " li meuble au juif sunt au baron " ( " etablissements de st. louis, " ed. viollet, ii. 249 - 250, ch. 132 - 133, drawn from the " customs of anjou " ). louis viii. ( 1223 - 1226 ), in his " etablissement sur les juifs " of 1223 ( " ordonnances, " i. 47 ), while more inspired with the doctrines of the church than his father, philip augustus, knew also how to look after the interests of his treasury. although he declared that from nov. 8, 1223, the interest on jews ' debts should no longer hold good, he at the same time ordered that the capital should be repaid to the jews in three years and that the debts due the jews should be inscribed and placed under the control of their lords. the lords then collected the debts for the jews, doubtless receiving a commission. louis furthermore ordered that the special seal for jewish deeds should be abolished and replaced by the ordinary one ( petit - dutailles, " etude sur la vie et le regne de louis viii. " paris, 1894, in 101st fascicle of the bibliotheque de l ' ecole des hautes etudes ). in spite of all these restrictions designed to restrain, if not to suppress, the operations of loans, louis ix. ( 1226 - 70 ), with his ardent piety and his submission to the church, unreservedly condemned loans at interest. he was less amenable than philip augustus to fiscal considerations. despite former conventions, in an assembly held at melun in december, 1230 ( " ordonnances, " i. 53 ), he compelled several lords to sign an agreement not to authorize the jews to make any loan. no one in the whole kingdom was allowed to detain a jew belonging to another,


on the confiscated property, the restitution to be made either to those who had paid it or to their heirs. later, after having discussed the subject with his son - in - law, thibaut, king of navarre and count of champagne, he decided to seize the persons and the property of the jews ( sept. 13, 1268 ). but an order which followed close upon this last ( 1269 ) shows that on this occasion also st. louis reconsidered the matter. nevertheless, at the request of paul christian ( pablochristiani ), he compelled the jews, under penalty of a fine, to wear at all times the " rouelle " or badge decreed by the lateran council in 1215. this consisted of a piece of red felt or cloth cut in the form of a wheel, four fingers in circumference, which had to be attached to the outer garment at the chest and back. disputations between jews and christians. the pious zeal of st. louis manifested itself in other ways also. one day, according to joinville ( " vie de saint louis, " ed. de wailly, pp. 18 - 19 ), a great disputation between the clergy and the jews was held at the monastery of cluny. a knight, having demanded from the abbot permission to speak first, said to the leader of the jews : " do you believe that the virgin mary, who bore god in her body and arms, gave birth while a virgin and was mother of god? " on the reply of the jew in the negative the knight, calling himself a fool for having entered the jew ' s house, struck him. the jews fled, carrying their wounded rabbi with them. when the abbot reproached the knight for his conduct, the latter replied that it was a greater fault to hold such disputations, since good christians, through a misunderstanding of the arguments of the jews, would become infidels. with regard to this, st. louis said to the chronicler : " no one, unless he be very well instructed, shall be allowed to dispute with them, but if a layman hear the christian law reviled, he shall defend it with his sword, of which he shall force as much into his body as he can make enter. " these controversies were never sought for by the jews, who were well acquainted with the danger of discussions. but the clergy and the friars were possessed by the desire, not so much to convert the jews