206 Popes and Jews, 1095–1291
1267, Clement Iv similarly complained to the archbishop of Tarragona about
innumerable abuses and blasphemies against Jesus and Mary in the Talmud and
claimed that it taught the Jews to utter daily imprecations against Christians.292
He also told James I of Aragon that he was grieved to hear that the Jews had
adopted the Talmud in place of the old law which they had received from Moses,
that it exceeded the old and new Testaments in length, contained innumerable
blasphemies and abuses against Jesus and Mary, and taught Jews to utter daily
imprecations against Christians.293
Clement Iv therefore ordered the king to ensure that the Jews give up the Talmud
and that all Jewish books be exhibited for inspection except for those which con-
formed to the text of the Bible and in which there was no question of blasphemies
or errors. All investigations were to be undertaken by the friars and in particular by
the Dominican friar Paul Christian, who as a former Jew and zealous convert was
conversant with Hebrew and was familiar with the content of the Jewish books as
well as Christian theology. As we saw in Chapter Two, even later in the century, in
1286, Honorius Iv complained to John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, about
reports that he had received that Jews in England committed outrageous acts—
including cursing Christians in their daily prayers—which insulted God, injured
Christians, and were detrimental to the Catholic faith.294 In particular he singled
out stories he had heard about Jews who were said to possess a certain pernicious
book—again a reference to the Talmud—which contained all sorts of abomin-
ations and falsifications and which they not only studied themselves but forced
their sons to study.295 As the following chapter will show, in the thirteenth century
friars such as Paul Christian were increasingly to become a scourge for Jews.
292 Clement Iv, ‘Dampnabili perfidia Iudeorum’ (15 July 1267), Simonsohn, pp.233–5. See discus-
sion in Grayzel, Vol. 2, p.101, footnote 4.
293 Clement Iv, ‘Damnabili perfidia Judaeorum’ (15 July 1267), Grayzel, Vol. 2, pp.97–102;
Simonsohn, pp.235–6.
294 Honorius Iv, ‘nimis in partibus’, Grayzel, Vol. 2, pp.157–62; Simonsohn, pp.262–4.
295 Honorius Iv, ‘nimis in partibus’, Grayzel, Vol. 2, pp.157–62; Simonsohn, pp.262–4.