The Need for ProTecTioN
Papal protection at times of crisis was important for Jewish communities for a
variety of reasons. during the high Middle Ages Jews accounted for approxi-
mately one per cent of the overall population of europe. even in the urban areas
in which they tended to congregate, they constituted only a tiny fraction of the
inhabitants of rapidly expanding european towns.1 Yet their life was precarious,
not least because the types of livelihood open to them were limited. in some parts
of europe they were increasingly confined almost exclusively to money-lending
and commerce; at times they suffered from mob violence and everywhere from a
variety of restrictions and penalties imposed by both clergy and civil authorities.
That such authorities could not be trusted to protect them is clear from the many
expulsions during the period.
Nevertheless, even local authorities varied substantially in their toleration and
treatment of Jewish communities at different times and places. Kings, monarchs,
emperors, and princes often benefitted financially and economically from their
Jewish subjects and in return were willing to protect them.2 in particular the
crown at times derived much needed revenue from taxing Jewish moneylenders,
especially when their own nobles failed to provide economic support; hence rulers
did not generally welcome the church’s fierce preaching campaigns against
usury—lending money at extortionate rates of interest.3 Nevertheless, at other
times they seized Jewish assets in an attempt to generate income, or to encourage
crusading enterprises, or to instigate a ‘back-to-basics’ purity drive in their areas of
jurisdiction with a view to capturing the moral high ground and thus enhancing
their own reputations—at which point they would be sure to crack down on
1 The Trial of the Talmud: Paris, 1240. Hebrew Texts translated by John Friedman, Latin Texts trans-
lated by Jean Connell Hoff; Historical Essay by Robert Chazan (Toronto, 2012), p.6.
2 Anna Abulafia, Christian–Jewish Relations 1000–1300: Jews in the Service of Medieval Christendom
(harlow, 2011), p.221.
3 The Jews and the Crusaders. The Hebrew Chronicles of the First and Second Crusades, trans. and ed.
S. eidelberg (Madison, 1977), p.6; Kenneth Stow, Alienated Minority: The Jews of Medieval Latin
Europe (cambridge, Mass., 1992), p.225.
2
The Papal Promise of Protection