The Popes and the Jews in the Middle Ages

Book excerpt: Examines the theological attitudes and practical behavior toward Jews of various popes, from Gelasius I (492-496) to Alexander VI (1492-1503). Pre-Christian Rome was favorable to Jews. The first anti-Jewish laws were introduced by the Christian rulers of the Roman Empire. However, papal Rome used Roman law as a pattern for its legislation, and some provisions favorable to Jews were maintained. All of the popes aspired to convert the Jews to Christianity, sometimes due to practical considerations rather than theological ones. For example, Gregory the Great (590-604), who defined the future policies of the papacy toward the Jews, regarded the existence of a heterodox populace among Christians at a time of war against barbarians and heretics as politically dangerous. Despite this, the popes opposed the forced conversion of Jews, protected their lives and personal freedom, and condemned popular anti-Jewish superstitions. Even at the time of the harshest persecutions, popes like Innocent III respected Jews as people who had a unique role in the history of salvation. In medieval papal documents there are no traces of racism. In the 14th-15th centuries, when the problem of Conversos arose, the popes opposed limitations on "New Christians". The lower clergy and the common people did not always follow pontifical prescriptions, and anti-Jewish violence and forced conversion was a common occurrence. Contends that the papacy bears responsibility for what was done by Christians to Jews.