Popes and Jews, 1095-1291

(Frankie) #1

The Papacy and the Place of Jews in Christian Society 225


and that Jews misunderstood the Mosaic commandments of the Old Testament.


For these reasons, by the beginning of the fourteenth century the Franciscan ter-


tiary Raymond Lull was arguing in The Book of Preaching Against the Jews (1305)—


written for missionaries—that Jews should either convert or be expelled from a


Christian society in which they had no place.130 This was in direct opposition to


the papacy’s Pauline–Augustinian stance that they were witnesses to the truth of


Christianity and must be protected. As we shall see in the following chapter, one


place where Jews were particularly protected was in the seat of papal power and


authority itself: Rome.


130 Richards, Sex, Dissidence and Damnation, p.96.
Free download pdf