Acts – Page 17 – OAJA.org

1. Full Date of Act	1236
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Imperial Letter of Protect" Issued by the Friedrich II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "In an imperial Letter of Protection in the year of 1236, Friedrich II finally institutionalizes the notion that all Jews are to be considered 'chamber servants' (servitus camere imperialis)." Demel, Michael: Gebrochene Normalität, S. 51
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 1237 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Order” of Friedrich II to the Jewry of Vienna
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Austria [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	“[..] the Jews are Our chamber-servants ('servi camerae nostrae') [… however] 3) in keeping with the command of imperial authority of ancient times, if the Christian princes so choose, [they] shall be able to exclude Jews from the tenured posts of civil servants. […]”
5. Source	Böhmer, Johann Friedrich: Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Philipp, Otto IV, Friedrich II, Heinrich (VII) und Conrad IV. 1198-1254 (Official Registry of the Empire under Philip, Otto IV, Fredrick II, Henry (VII) and Conrad IV. 1198-1254.); (Stuttgart; 1849)
6. Researcher & Translator	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research & Translation	2018
8. Notes	Researcher This law contained a number of privileges afforded to the Jewry of Vienna, except the section that grants the ruling princes - under whose domain Jews lived at that time - to excluded them from civil servant positions if they so choose.

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 22, 1238
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Edict of Expulsion by the Duke of Brittany
3. Geography of Act	France
4. Text of Act	Duke John of Brittany, 1239…To all who may read these letters, John, duke of Brittany, count of Richmont sends greetings: Know that, at the petition of the bishops, abbots, barons, and vassals of Brittany, and having in mind the good of all of Brittany, we expel all the Jews from Brittany. ...Moreover, all debts due the said Jews from any who live in Brittany, in whatsoever manner and form these are due them, we completely remit and nullify. Lands pledged to the said Jews and all other pledges of movable or real properly shall revert to the debtors or their heirs, ...Moreover, no one shall in any manner be accused or summoned for the death of Jew who has been killed. ...Moreover, we promise for ourselves and for our father, that no debts at one time contracted in Brittany shall be paid to Jews who live in the lands of our father. …Moreover, the bishops, barons, and vassals have sworn and granted that at no time will they hold or permit the holding of Jews in their lands in Brittany.
5. Source	“Church, State, and Jew in the Middle Ages.” Robert Chazan. 1980, Page 312-313. Online book.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1239
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	King Henry III
3. Geography of Act	England
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "In 1239, King Henry III ordered all of England’s Jews to turn over a third of their belongings and assets to the crown; Jews who couldn’t pay were imprisoned in the Tower of London while their property was seized." Dr. Yvette Alt Miller, "The Most Famous Jewish Woman in Medieval England," aish.com
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1239
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Restrictive Legislation under Henry III
3. Geography of Act	England
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "A letter from Henry III to his Treasurer set out regulations for the administration of the London archae, ... and required all Jews to remain in their existing place of residence for 12 months from 29 September 1239." Langham, Raphael: The Jews in Britain: A chronology, pp. 19-20
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 5, 1239
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Privilege, issued by Frederick II, Duke of Austria, to the citizens of the City of Wiener Neustadt
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Austria
4. Text of Act	We will not give any office to Jews, which could or would make it possible for them to burden the citizenry.
5. Source	Aronius, J. Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden im Fränkischen und Deutschen Reiche bis zum Jahre 1273 [Regests of the History of the Jews in the Frankish and German Empires until the Year 1273]. Simion: Berlin, 1902. Page 224.
6. Researcher	Dominik Jacobs
7. Year of Research	2020
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 9, 1239
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal Bull “Si Vera Sunt” issued by Pope Gregory IX
3. Geography of Act	France
4. Text of Act	…the Pope [Gregory IX] saw fit to write [June 9, 1239] to all archbishops of the kingdom of France as follows:…’Wherefore, since this [Talmud] is said to be the chief cause that holds the Jews obstinate in their perfidy, we thought that your Fraternity should be warned and urged, and we herewith order you by apostolic letters, that on the first Saturday of the Lent to come [March 3, 1240], in the morning, while the Jews are gathered in the synagogues, you shall, by our order, seize all the books of the Jews who live in your districts, and have these books carefully guarded in the possession of the Dominican and Franciscan friars. For this purpose you may invoke, if need be, the help of the secular arm; and you may also promulgate the sentence of excommunication against all those subject to your jurisdiction, whether clergy or laity, who refuse to give up Hebrew books which they have in their possession despite your warning given generally in the churches, or individually…’
5. Source	“Odo of Chateauroux, on the Jewish Tamud (1247, 1248).” Jacob R. Marcus, Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 20, 1239
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Burning of Talmud” order issued by Pope Gregory IX
3. Geography of Act	Holy Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	[…] Wherefore, since this [Talmud] is said to be the most important reason why the Jews remain obstinate in their perfidy, we, through apostolic letters, order your Discretion to have the Jews who live in the kingdoms of France, England, Aragon, Navarre, Castile, Leon, and Portugal, forced by the secular arm to give up their books. Those books, in which you will find errors of this sort, you shall cause to be burned at the stake. By Apostolic Power, and through use of ecclesiastical censure, you will silence all opponents. You will also report to us faithfully what you have done in the matter. But should all of you be unable to present at the fulfillment of these instructions, someone of you, nonetheless, shall carry out its execution. […]
5. Source	Saperstein, Marc and Jacob Rader Marcus: The Jews in Christian Europe: A Source Book, (2015) 315-1791.
6. Researcher	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research	2017
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Aug. 29, 1239
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal Bull “Significantibus Dilectis Filiis,” issued by Pope Gregory IX to the Bishop of Cordova
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Spain
4. Text of Act	Know that at the instance of our dear sons, the clerics of the districts and dioceses of Cordova and Baeza, we have learned that whenever, as often happens, the Christians of these districts and dioceses have to leave their homes and property and remain away for a long time occupied in fighting and pursuing the Saracens, the Jews as often run about the districts and cities of these provinces and dioceses, bearing no visible sign, and, in order to deceive the Christians even more, claiming that they are themselves Christians. They thus kidnap Christian boys, and steal whatever else they can, and sell them to the Saracens. Nor are they afraid to commit other enormities likewise in injury of the Christian name and the scandalization and ruin of many. Wherefore, since, in order that evils of this sort might be the more easily and completely avoided, the General Council decided after careful deliberation, that Jews of either sex shall in all Christian lands and at all times be distinguished from Christians by the nature of their clothes, we, by Apostolic Letters, inform Your Fraternity that we desire you to compel the Jews of Cordova and of the province and diocese of Baeza to wear the said sign, in accordance with the decree, by which they may be distinguished from Christians. You shall do so by removing them from communication with the faithful, who shall be forced to obedience by the secular arm if need be. You may grant no appeal.
5. Source	Grayzel, Solomon. Church And the Jews In the XIIIth Century: a Study of Their Relations During the Years 1198-1254, Based On the Papal Letters And the Conciliar Decrees of the Periods. The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning: Philadelphia PA, 1933. P. 245.
6. Researcher	Dominik Jacobs
7. Year of Research	2019
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1240
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Papal Bull” issued by Gregory IX
3. Geography of Act	Papal States
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) Ordered all Jewish books in Castile to be seized on the first Saturday in Lent while Jews were in synagogues. A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day; The Jewish Encyclopedia
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 10, 1240
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Ordinance of Ploërmel by the Jean, Duke of Brittany, Count of Richemond
3. Geography of Act	France
4. Text of Act	To all those who present these letters will see, John, Duke of Brittany, Count of Richemont, hello. Know that we, at the request of the bishops, abbots, barons and vassals of Brittany, having carefully examined the interest of the country, we expel from Brittany all the Jews. Neither we nor our heirs will ever hold one on our lands in Brittany and we will not suffer any of our subjects to have on his own. All the debts contracted toward Jews established in Brittany, in whatever manner and for whatever reason, we deliver them entirely and we give them a receipt. All lands mortgaged to Jews, all movable or immovable pledges held by them will return to the debtors or their heirs, except lands and other pledges that would have been sold to Christians by judgment of this Court. No one will be accused or put on trial for killing a Jew. We will pray, we will engage in good faith and with all our power, Monseigneur the King of France, to confirm by his letters the present foundation or ordinance, and we vouch for our father and for ourselves that the debts contracted in Brittany towards the Jews do not will never be paid on the land of our father [....]. Finally, the bishops, the barons and all the vassals of our duchy have sworn and granted that they will never receive nor allow to receive Jews on their lands in Brittany.
5. Source	Claude Tocze, Annie Lambert: “Les Juifs En Bretagne, Ve-XXe siècles,” Chapter 1. (Jews in Brittany in the Middle Ages); Accessed online
6. Researcher & Translator	Cristina Penland
7. Year of Research & Translation	2019
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jul. 26, 1240
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Canon issued by the Synod of Worcester
3. Geography of Act	Present-day United Kingdom
4. Text of Act	§56. Moreover, under threat of anathema, we prohibit Christian women to nurse Jewish boys, and Jews to have Christian servants lodging in their quarters.
5. Source	Grayzel, Solomon. Church And the Jews In the XIIIth Century: a Study of Their Relations During the Years 1198-1254, Based On the Papal Letters And the Conciliar Decrees of the Periods. The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning: Philadelphia PA, 1933. P. 331.
6. Researcher	Dominik Jacobs
7. Year of Research	2019
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1241
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Levies Against Jews” issued by King Henry III
3. Geography of Act	England
4. Text of Act	Commentary from Other Sources: 1) In England, first series of royal levies against Jewish finances, which forced the Jews to sell their debts to non-Jews at cut prices. Avraham, Yerachmiel Ben: All in the Name of Jesus: The Murder of Millions (2016)
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1242
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Jews Expelled from Berkhampstead Around 1242
3. Geography of Act	England
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "Simon de Montfort ... issued an edict expelling the Jews from his home city of Leicester. This proved to be the start of a host of expulsions from various cities and towns - ..." Langham, Raphael: The Jews in Britain: A chronology, p. 18
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jan. 15, 1243
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Writ of Conrad IV of Germany
3. Geography of Act	Holy Roman Empire; Present-day Germany
4. Text of Act	Conrad IV commands Gerhard [I.] von Sinzig (‘Sintzig’) to raise fifty Mark from the Jews of Sinzig, if necessary, though imprisonment and extortion and to send [these funds] to the royal court.
5. Source	Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland während des Mittelalters. Bearbeitet von Dr. M. Wiener. Erster Teil. (Regesta regarding the history of Jews in Germany during the Middle Ages. First Part.); (Hannover; 1862)
6. Researcher & Translator	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research & Translation	2020
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Dec. 8, 1243
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	28 Henry III, Membrane 18, 1243
3. Geography of Act	England
4. Text of Act	For the bishop and brothers of the hospital of St. Anthony of Vienna. — The king gave to the master and brothers of the hospital of St. Anthony of Vienna the chapel of the blessed Mary in London, which had once been a synagogue of the Jews. And the sheriffs of London are ordered to cause brother Thomas, the procurator and messenger of their master and brothers, to have full seisin of the same chapel without delay. Witness the king.
5. Source	The text of this Act is available in Latin in the “Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry III, Preserved in the Public Record Office, Printed under the Superintendence of the Deputy Keeper of the Records, A.D. 1242-1247,” Printed Under the Authority of His Majesty’s Stationery Office by The Hereford Times, Ltd., 1916, p. 142, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2024
8. Notes	Translator This text of the Act was translated using Google translate.

1. Full Date of Act	1244
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Impia gens” (“Impious Nation”) issued by Pope Innocent IV
3. Geography of Act	Papal States
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) Pope Innocent ordered Louis IX of France to burn all copies of the Talmud. This order was repeated in 1248 and 1254. Green, Jonathan and Nicholas J. Karolides (Reviser): Encyclopedia of Censorship; (New York; 2005)
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1244
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Jews Expelled from Newbury Around 1244
3. Geography of Act	England
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "Simon de Montfort ... issued an edict expelling the Jews from his home city of Leicester. This proved to be the start of a host of expulsions from various cities and towns - ..." Langham, Raphael: The Jews in Britain: A chronology, p. 18
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1244 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Statutum de Iudaismo, issued by King Henry III of England
3. Geography of Act	England [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	“The justices appointed for the protection of the Jews are ordered, as soon as they read this letter, to cause to be proclaimed throughout all the counties of England where there may be Jews that if a Jewess, the wife of any Jew, or their children, fly, or take to flight, or in any way skulk from the village where they were on the festival of St. Andrew, in the twenty-ninth year of that reign, up to the year following: so that if they did not promptly appear, at the summons of the king, or of his bailiffs, in the bailiwicks in which they dwelt, that the husband of that Jewess, and even the Jewess herself, and all their children, shall be presently outlawed; and all their lands, revenues, and all their chattels, shall come into the hands of the king, and be sold, for the assistance of the king, and for the future, they shall not return into the kingdom of England, without the king’s special orders.”
5. Source	Close rolls of the reign of Henry III preserved in the Public Record Office, London : H. M. Stationery Office, 1902-1938, Vol. 5 (1242-47), p. 275, Accessed online
6. Researcher	Dominik Jacobs
7. Year of Research	2016
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	May 9, 1244
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Letter written by Pope Innocent IV to King of France
3. Geography of Act	Present-day France
4. Text of Act	Order throughout your entire realm that everywhere (the Talmud) be found that it be burned...
5. Source	Sbaralea, Bullarium Franciscanum I, p. 322, n. 41
6. Researcher & Translator	Joan Paez
7. Year of Research & Translation	2016
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jul. 1, 1244
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Privilege,” issued by Frederick II, Duke of Austria, to the Jews of Austria, Styria and Krain
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Austria
4. Text of Act	5. Jews may not take as collateral any bloody or wet garments, nor those belonging to a church. 8. Any disputes between Jews shall not be adjudicated by the magistrate in town, but only by the Duke or by the Royal Chamberlain; in crimes against the person, the Duke shall have exclusive jurisdiction. 24. Nobody shall board in the house of a Jew.
5. Source	Aronius, J. Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden im Fränkischen und Deutschen Reiche bis zum Jahre 1273 [Regests of the History of the Jews in the Frankish and German Empires until the Year 1273]. Simion: Berlin, 1902. Page 233.
6. Researcher	Dominik Jacobs
7. Year of Research	2020
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jul. 27, 1245
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Decree issued by the First Council of Lyons
3. Geography of Act	France
4. Text of Act	We order that Jews be compelled by the secular power to remit interest, and that until they do so all intercourse shall be denied them by all Christ's faithful under pain of excommunication…The Jews shall be compelled to add to the capital, after they have deducted their necessary expenses, the revenues which they are meanwhile receiving from property held by them on security.
5. Source	“First Council of Lyons-1245 A.D.” No Author, Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Oct. 23, 1245
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal Bull “Cum In Sacro Generali,” issued by Pope Innocent IV to the Archbishop of Besançon
3. Geography of Act	Present-day France
4. Text of Act	Since, after careful deliberation, it has been decreed in the General Council that the Jews shall by their clothes be distinguishable from the Christians, lest Christians and Jews be able to have sinful intercourse with women of the other faith, we, therefore, through Apostolic Letters, order Your Fraternity to compel the Jews of your province and diocese to wear clothes in accordance with the decree of the said Council. After duly warning them, you shall compel them to this by shutting them off from communication with the faithful, appeal denied.
5. Source	Grayzel, Solomon. Church And the Jews In the XIIIth Century: a Study of Their Relations During the Years 1198-1254, Based On the Papal Letters And the Conciliar Decrees of the Periods. The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning: Philadelphia PA, 1933. P. 259.
6. Researcher	Dominik Jacobs
7. Year of Research	2019
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1246 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Orders of Confiscation issued by Louis IX
3. Geography of Act	France [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	"[…] 2. However, from those we held captive who are our Jews, since we wish to have from them as much as possible, you should seize goods […]. 4. We also order and command you to not compel anyone to repay debts to the Jews and receive nothing of debts which Christians owe to Jews."
5. Source	La collection Doat, CLIII, fol 243. Accessed online
6. Researcher	Franziska Wagener
7. Year of Research	2016
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 19, 1246
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Canons decreed by the Council of Beziers
3. Geography of Act	Present-day France
4. Text of Act	§37.— Because the Jews severely oppress the Christians by the exaction of usury, in spite of the fact that usury was completely forbidden by God, therefore we caused the Provincial Council to provide that the Jews shall not receive immoderate usury from Christians. Should they continue to exact it, the Church shall compel them to restore it by excommunicating the Christians who have commercial or any other dealings with them. §38.— Nor shall they have Christian servants or nurses in their homes. Nor shall they offer meat for public sale on days when Christians abstain. Nor shall they be permitted to be superiors to Christians as bailiffs or in any other offices. Moreover, meat which they prepare, they shall sell privately in their own homes and not in Christian marketplaces. §39.— In order that Jews may be told apart from Christians, we decree and emphatically order that they shall wear a round sign in the center of their breast. Its circumference shall be one finger in width, and of the measure of one half a palm in height. §40.— Nevertheless we forbid them to work publicly on Sundays and on festivals, that they may not scandalize Christians, nor be scandalized by them. §41.— We desire and we command that during Holy Week, from the day of the Lord's supper until the day of the Resurrection, none shall leave his house unless by reason of necessity. Prelates shall then have them guarded from molestation by Christians, especially during the said week. §42.— Moreover, we decree that each year, at the Feast of Resurrection, the Jews shall pay for each family six denars of Melgoriensian money as an offering to the parish churches. §43.— Furthermore, those Christians shall be excommunicated who because of illness, entrust themselves for healing to the care of Jews.
5. Source	Grayzel, Solomon. Church And the Jews In the XIIIth Century: a Study of Their Relations During the Years 1198-1254, Based On the Papal Letters And the Conciliar Decrees of the Periods. The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning: Philadelphia PA, 1933. P. 333.
6. Researcher	Dominik Jacobs
7. Year of Research	2019
8. Notes	None