138 Popes and Jews, 1095–1291
As we might expect from a pope who in his earlier life had been a meticulous
compiler of the Liber censuum Romanae Ecclesiae and had showed a keen interest
in papal finances, Honorius iii, in a number of letters, took it upon himself to
supervise Christian money transactions with Jews throughout the whole of europe.
so, in 1217 he complained to the abbot and the prior of st Geneviève of Paris and
to a Master Gerard Canon of Bourges, that he had received complaints that the
archbishop of sens and his suffragans were using double weights and refusing to
allow Jews living under the patronage of Blanche of Champagne the same privil-
eges they were accustomed to enjoy in the domains of Philip ii Augustus.15 And
in 1225 and 1226 he ordered that the Jews of the diocese and city of worms be
compelled, like all other citizens, to contribute money to Troyes to which worms
itself was in debt.16 Four of Honorius’s letters specifically mentioned Jews and the
payment of the tithe. in 1217, 1218, and 1219 he complained that Jews in spain
were not paying the tithes and offerings which churches had usually received from
Christians before various properties came into Jewish hands, but instead were
trying to circumvent Constitution 67 of Lateran iV.17 Yet he was also at times
willing to show leniency: as in a letter of 1226 in which he expressed concern that
the bishop of Breslau, about whom the duke of silesia had complained, was
making unwarranted exactions from his subjects—including Jews—when col-
lecting the tithe.18
Like Honorius, Gregory iX was concerned that Jews continue to pay the tithe.
in a letter of 1229 he complained to the bishop of Palencia that Jews refused to pay
gifts and tithes for their houses and other possessions even though their previous
Christian owners had made such contributions to the churches of the diocese
where they were located.19 He also wrote to the bishop of Burgos and the deans of
Burgos and Calahorra to register his dissatisfaction that Ferdinand iii of Castile
had annulled a regulation that Jews must pay tithes from estates originally Christian
but which they now possessed.20 Then in 1233 he confirmed to the bishop of
Baeza that Jews, along with others who held large possessions, must pay the tithe
in accordance to the law.21 indeed one of Gregory’s many charges against Frederick
ii’s treatment of the Church in sicily was that certain churches no longer held jur-
isdiction over Jews who had formerly belonged to their dioceses.22 Although he
was also well aware that Jews were often the victim of extortion by their Christian
15 Honorius iii, ‘Cum olim nobilis’ (28 January 1217), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.144; Simonsohn, p.102.
16 Honorius iii, ‘Cum olim tibi’ (8 July 1225), Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.168–70; Simonsohn, p.119;
‘e x parte tua’ (4 June 1226), Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.176–8; Simonsohn, pp.123–4.
17 Honorius iii, ‘Cum in generali concilio’ (27 January 1217), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.142; Simonsohn,
p.101; ‘in generali concilio’ (26 January 1218), Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.144–6; Simonsohn, p.103; ‘Ad
audientiam nostram’ (18 March 1219), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.148; Simonsohn, pp.104–5.
18 Honorius iii, ‘dilectus filius nobilis’ (2 March 1226), Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.174–6; Simonsohn,
pp.122–3.
19 Gregory iX, ‘Ad audientiam nostram’ (11 October 1229), Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.182–4; Simonsohn,
pp.129–30.
20 Gregory iX, ‘Miramur si vera’ (4 April 1231), Grayzel, Vol. 1, pp.188–90; Simonsohn, pp.132–4.
21 Gregory iX ‘Justis petentium’ (13 January 1233), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.194; Simonsohn, p.140.
22 Gregory iX, ‘de Judeis ablatis’ (17 August 1236), Grayzel, Vol. 1, p.224; simonsohn,
pp.162–3.