238 Popes and Jews, 1095–1291
but also on coronation day, as well as on occasions when the pope had already been
elected and consecrated outside of Rome. Certainly we know that the various scholae
greeted the pope as he passed through the city, but the Liber Pontificalis of Cardinal
Boso does not say at which point the Jewish schola greeted him. However, the Liber
Censuum of Cencius Camerarius, composed about 1192, indicated that the Jews
offered their acclamations and presented their laws during the Easter Monday
procession and noted a location among the twelfth-century monuments of the
city. The Liber Politicus (c.1140) of Canon Benedict—perhaps most relevant to
Eugenius iii’s pontificate—even described the route that the procession followed
on Easter Monday.90 As the pope proceeded towards the Lateran, the repository of
the great treasures of the ancient Hebrews and the ‘original covenant’, he stopped
to receive the law of the present-day Jews, and to reinforce Christian expectations
of their conversion at the end of time.91
The Liber Censuum also recorded the customary contribution which the Jewish
schola offered to the pope and which was presented either at his consecration or on
the Monday following Easter: three and a half pounds of pepper and two and a half
pounds of cinnamon.92 The ritual reveals the importance of the Jews of Rome as
merchants supplying rare and expensive spices.93 Roman Jews gained much from
participating in such civic and liturgical rituals which both acknowledged their
acceptance of the ruling authority and maintained their roles as ‘bona fide’ mem-
bers of the city.94 Yet according to the Liber Censuum they had no part to play
on Easter sunday itself, either because they were under curfew or because normal
restrictions of their movement meant it was unadvisable or even forbidden for
them to appear during Holy Week.95
furthermore, according to the Liber Censuum, when a pope arrived at Rome
after consecration elsewhere, all the Roman clergy left the city and went in pro-
cession to meet him, together with representatives of the Jewish community and
their scholae.96 The role of the Jews in the festivities consisted of reciting the
laudes, presenting the Torah, and contributing the gifts of pepper and cinna-
mon.97 The presbyterium paid to the Jews as their due reward was similar to the
payments made to both the clergy and laity of Rome. Cencius budgeted the
Jewish presbyterium with the sixteen scholae, who were paid for their role in run-
ning the papal palace and for participation in papal coronations. it is likely these
were the same scholae which, according to the Salian Ordo, were also intended
for remuneration at imperial coronation ceremonies.98 so as a reward for their
acclamations, the Jewish schola received a lavish twice-yearly payment both at
90 Champagne, The Relationship between the Papacy and the Jews in Twelfth-Century Rome, p.145.
91 Champagne, The Relationship between the Papacy and the Jews in Twelfth-Century Rome, p.147.
92 Champagne, ‘Walking in the shadows of the Past’, p.491.
93 Champagne, ‘Walking in the shadows of the Past’, p.492.
94 Champagne, ‘Walking in the shadows of the Past’, p.492.
95 Champagne, ‘Celestine iii and the Jews’, p.274.
96 Twyman, Papal Ceremonial at Rome in the Twelfth Century, p.105.
97 Linder, ‘The Jews too were not Absent... Carrying Moses’ Law on their shoulders’, 359.
98 Linder, ‘The Jews too were not Absent... Carrying Moses’ Law on their shoulders’, 358.