Papal bull from Clement V to an unnamed landowner in the Holy Roman Empire [Present-day Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, Vatican, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg]: “We are inclined towards your supplication, and we grant you that, since you have unjustly taken goods and amounts of money from the Jews who live on your lands, the same amounts and goods shall be considered as having been restituted, as long as you set them aside for the needs of the poor.” [Researcher’s note: This bull is in response to a letter from a noble landowner who asked permission to keep money and property he had unjustly taken from the Jews living on his land. Even though his tenants would have been clearly known to this nobleman, the Holy See grants his request with only the vague condition that the money and property be “set aside” for the needs of the (presumably Christian) poor. Had the extorted been Christians, such a papal response would have been unthinkable, and actual restitution certainly been ordered.]
Grayzel, Solomon. The Church and the Jews in the XIIIth Century, Volume II (1254-1315). The Jewish Theological Seminary of America: New York, 1989. Page 212. Researched by Dominik Jacobs 11/4/2019