122 Popes and Jews, 1095–1291
Jews, invade or steal their property, or otherwise injure them.109 gregory expressed
with particular vehemence his horror at the killing of Jews and emphasized that
such evil desires aroused divine displeasure.110 He added that, since the papacy had
granted privileges to the Jews, crimes against them injured the Apostolic throne
itself.111 In other letters too he showed particular compassion for Jews, com-
plaining bitterly to the archbishop of Bordeaux and the bishops of Saintes,
Angoulême, and poitiers about crusader violence.112 It is clear that although he
was extremely concerned about Jewish usury, like his predecessors he remained
committed to the protection of Jews.
Nevertheless, during the 1240s conciliar legislation against Jews profiting finan-
cially from the crusades remained as severe as it had during the pontificate of
Innocent III. Constitution 5 of the First Council of Lyons (1245) repeated the
stipulations of the Fourth Lateran and of Innocent III’s own letters that Jews were
to remit the ruinous interest owed by crusaders. The new legislation also added
that until the Jews had done this they were to be cut off from contacts with
Christians, including those concerned with mercantile and business contracts—
which anticipated Innocent Iv’s latter letters concerning the Seventh Crusade and
Jewish debt.113 Led by Louis IX of France, robert of Artois, and Charles of Anjou
but under the spiritual guidance of the papal legate Odo of Châteauroux, robert,
patriarch of Jerusalem, and galeran bishop of Beirut, the Seventh Crusade
achieved, albeit briefly, military success in the conquest of damietta. In the lead up
to the crusade, papal suspicions of the clergy’s often hostile attitude to the Jews
was confirmed by reports in 1240 of the inflammatory preaching of Odo of
Châteauroux. Notwithstanding, Innocent Iv continued to issue letters relating
crusading and Jewish usury in 1247, 1248, 1252, and 1253 in connection with
Louis IX’s preparation for a further crusade in the Near East.114 Hence, to those
109 Mansi, vol. 23, col. 411; Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.326–8; gregory IX, ‘Lachrymabilem Judeorum in’,
Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.226–8; Simonsohn, pp.163–4; ‘Lachrymabilem Judeorum in’, Grayzel, Vol. 1,
pp.228–30; Simonsohn, p.165.
110 gregory IX, ‘Lachrymabilem Judeorum in’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.226–8; Simonsohn, pp.163–4. For
the ‘Barons’ Crusade’ of 1239, see Michael Lower, ‘The Burning at Mont-Aimé: Thibaut of Champagne’s
preparations for the Barons’ Crusade of 1239’, Journal of Medieval History 29 (2003), 95–108;
Michael Lower, The Barons’ Crusade: A Call to Arms and its Consequences (philadelphia, 2005), passim.
111 gregory IX, ‘Lachrymabilem Judeorum in’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.228–30; Simonsohn, p.165.
112 gregory IX, ‘Lachrymabilem Judeorum in’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.226–8; Simonsohn, pp.163–4.
113 Tanner, Vol. 1, p.299; Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.330; Innocent III, ‘post miserabile(m) Hierusolymitanae’
(17/15 August 1198), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.86; Simonsohn, p.71; ‘graves orientalis terrae’, Grayzel, Vol. 1,
p.98; Simonsohn, p.78; ‘Nisi nobis dictum’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.98; Simonsohn, pp.78–9; ‘gloriantes
hactenus in’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.134; Simonsohn, p.96; ‘Quia maior nunc’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.136;
Simonsohn, p.97; Honorius III, ‘Cum olim nobilis’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.144; Simonsohn, p.102; ‘dilecta
in Christo’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.150–2; Simonsohn, pp.106–7; gregory IX, ‘Ardenti desiderio aspir-
antes’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.180; Simonsohn, pp.126–8; ‘pravorum molestiis eum’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.218;
Simonsohn, pp.153–4; ‘rachel sum videns’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.216; Simonsohn, pp.152–3; Innocent Iv,
‘Cum laicorum obsequiis’ (3 April 1247), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.262; Simonsohn, p.189; ‘Afflicti corde pro’
(1252), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.290; Simonsohn, p.206; ‘planxit hactenus non’ (2 April 1253), Grayzel, Vol. 1,
p.290; Simonsohn, p.206; ‘pravorum molestiis eum’ (21 July 1248), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.280; Simonsohn,
pp.199–200.
114 Innocent Iv, ‘Cum laicorum obsequiis’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.262; Simonsohn, p.189; ‘pravorum
molestiis eum’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.280; Simonsohn, pp.199–200; ‘planxit hactenus non’, Grayzel, Vol. 1,
p.290; Simonsohn, p.206; ‘Afflicti corde pro’, Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.290; Simonsohn, p.290.