232 Popes and Jews, 1095–1291
massacres of 1096 associated with the first Crusade, and probably also because
they feared the outcome of Calixtus’s calling of the first Lateran Council in 1123.39
As we saw in Chapter five, Jews often feared the outcome of such councils.
Calixtus’s original ‘sicut iudaeis’, issued in 1123, no longer exists, but Alexander
iii referred to it in his re-issue between 1159 and 1181, the earliest re-issue to
survive.40
Although Calixtus’s ‘sicut iudaeis’ had no connection with his entrance into the
city of Rome, by 1145 its re-issue had become a traditional act of a new pope to estab-
lish a relationship with the Roman Jewish community. As we noted in the introduction
and Chapter Two, during the twelfth century five successors of Calixtus ii—
Eugenius iii, Alexander iii, Clement iii, Celestine iii, and innocent iii—re-issued
‘s icut iudaeis’ on five further occasions between 1145 and 1198. so in the twelfth
century no fewer than six popes issued ‘sicut iudaeis’ in an attempt to protect
Jewish communities. for Eugenius and Alexander their re-issues were probably an
integral part of the papal adventus. Each took possession of the city after periods in
exile and the decree gained significance as part of their expression of temporal and
spiritual power over the city.41
so Roman Jews increasingly aligned themselves with the protective power of the
papacy.42 We have no evidence of violence towards or persecution of the Jewish
community in Rome during the twelfth century nor indeed throughout the entire
period 1095–1291, which suggests that ‘sicut iudaeis’ offered some degree of pro-
tection.43 As we shall see, although there is no direct evidence for a relationship
between the promulgation of ‘sicut iudaeis’ and the Jewish community’s involve-
ment in papal adventus ceremonies, it is noticeable that twelfth-century popes who
conducted such rituals also issued the ‘Constitutio pro iudaeis’.44
PAPAL EMPHAsis on BiBLiCAL JuDAisM
As well as interacting with Jews in the city, in order to increase their power and
authority, popes both publicly identified Rome’s Jewish heritage and endorsed a
particular focus on the Christian supersession of Judaism.45 We know from works
such as the De sacra imagine SS Salvatoris in Palatio Lateranensi—sometimes referred
to as the Historia Imaginis Salvatoris—written about 1145 by the Lateran cleric
nicolaus Maniacutius, the Mirabilia Urbis Romae, a popular pilgrim guide of the
mid-twelfth century, and the Itinerarium of Benjamin of Tudela, a well-known
travel narrative of the same period composed by a Jew from the Kingdom of
navarre between 1169–1171, that popes focused attention on the Church’s
39 Champagne, The Relationship between the Papacy and the Jews in Twelfth-Century Rome, pp.121–2.
40 Champagne, The Relationship between the Papacy and the Jews in Twelfth-Century Rome, p.119.
41 Champagne, The Relationship between the Papacy and the Jews in Twelfth-Century Rome, p.124.
42 Champagne, ‘Walking in the shadows of the Past’, p.475.
43 Champagne, ‘Walking in the shadows of the Past’, p.474.
44 Champagne, ‘Walking in the shadows of the Past’, p.492.
45 Champagne, ‘ “Treasures of the Temple” and Claims to Authority in Twelfth-Century Rome’, p.118.