Unconfirmed Acts

The following are Acts that are missing either a full date and/or an Official source.

Displaying 50 – 75 of 742
1. Full Date of Act 471
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Persecution of Jews” under Firuz (Peroz I)
3. Geography of Act Sassanian Empire
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) The Babylonian Jews are persecuted under the reign of King Firuz (Peroz I). Funk & Wagnalls: Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume IV (1903)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 475 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Lex Romana Burgundionium
3. Geography of Act King Gundobad of Burgundy
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) “[King Gundobad] prohibited intermarriage between Jews and Christians; violators where punished with ‘forced divorce’.” Scherer, Johann E.: Die Rechtverhältnisse der Juden in den deutsch-österreichischen Ländern (Leibzig; 1901) p. 27
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 506 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Decree from the Roman Law of the Visigoths issued by Alaric II
3. Geography of Act Present-day France [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “[Section 5:24:4 decreed] If Jews should circumcise purchased slaves of another nation, they shall be banished or suffer capital punishment.”
5. Source Linder, Amnon: “The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages.” Page 222
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 516 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Legal Book of Gundobald Regarding Jews” (“Liber Legum Gundobadi de Judaeis”) issued by King Gundobad
3. Geography of Act Kingdom of the Burgundians [Provisional]
4. Text of Act ““1) Jews who dare to lay a hand on Christians in a fight, or harm them with club, whips, stone, or by any other mean, we order that they should have their hand cut off, 2) unless they are able to pay a penance of 12 solidus* and a fine of 12 solidus* […]. 3) Furthermore, if a Jew dares to attack a clergymen, he shall be delivered to death and his possessions handed over to our treasury.””
5. Source Monvmenta Germaniae Historica. Inde Ab Anno Christi Qvingentesimo vsque ad annvm Millesimvm et Qvingentesimvm. Auspiciis Societatis Apriendis Fontibvs Rervm Germanicarvm Medii Aevi. Edidit Georgivs Henricvs Pertz. Serenissimo Borussiae Regi a Consil. Regim. Int. Bibliothecae Regiae Praefectus. (Hannoverae; MDCCCLXIII); (Monuments of Germanic History. From the year of Christi 500 to 1500. With the aid of the Society for German Sources of the Middle Ages. Edited by Georgius Herichcus Pertz. Governor of the Royal Library of the serene King of Prussia.); (Hannover; 1863);
6. Researcher Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research 2018
8. Notes
Researcher
*The solidus was a Late Roman cold coin. The date for this text is lost. All that is known is that it must have been issued before King Gundobad’s death in 516.
1. Full Date of Act 527
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Decree issued by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I
3. Geography of Act Byzantine Empire; Present-day Turkey
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) “Justinian issued a decree that said that slaves of the Jews are to gain their freedom by converting to Christianity without [offering their owners] any compensation.” Scherer, Johann E.: Die Rechtverhältnisse der Juden in den deutsch-österreichischen Ländern (Leipzig; 1901) p. 15
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act Jul. 527
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “The Legal Status of Jews and Samaritans and Pagans” Issued by Emperors Justin and Justinian
3. Geography of Act Byzantine Empire [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “Emperors Justin and Justinian, Between April and July 527…As for the other heretics, …the Jews and the Samaritans, we intend not only that what was already laid down in the laws shall be recalled and made firmer through this present law…We order, therefore, that none of the above-mentioned shall share in any honor whatsoever, nor shall put on an official belt, neither civil nor military, nor belong to any office …”
5. Source “Roman Imperial Laws concerning Jews (329-553); 35. The Legal Status of Jews and Samaritans and Pagans.” No Author, Accessed online 9/14/2011
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 529
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Justinian Code law issued by Justinian I
3. Geography of Act Byzantine Empire [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “If a Samaritan or Jew should attempt to make a man apostatize he shall be subjected to property confiscation and decapitated.”
5. Source Linder, Amnon: “The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages.” Page 45
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes
Editor
Author’s footnote dates this law in 529 as Justinian Code 1.9.18
1. Full Date of Act 532
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Testimony of Jews” decree issued by Justinian I
3. Geography of Act Byzantine Empire
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) Justinian I decrees that the testimony of Jews shall be valid only in Jewish cases. Funk & Wagnalls: Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume IV (1903)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 533
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Justinian Code law issued by Justinian I
3. Geography of Act Byzantine Empire [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “The Jews are permitted to circumcise their own sons. But if they should circumcise another, they shall be punished as castrators.”
5. Source Linder, Amnon: “The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages.” Page 54
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes
Editor
Author’s footnote dates this law in 533 as Justinian Code 48.8.11
1. Full Date of Act 534
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Law enacted by Emperor Justinian
3. Geography of Act Roman Empire [Provisional]
4. Text of Act ““…those Jews who dare to deny our faith consistently, will be condemned for their treachery.””
5. Source Codex Justinianus 1.1.8.22,
6. Researcher Joan Paez
7. Year of Research 2015
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 541
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Canon 30 & 31 issued by the Fourth Synod of Orleans
3. Geography of Act France [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “…30. If a Christian, who is the slave of a Jew, flees to a church or to any Christian requesting to be bought from the Jew, this shall be done, and the loss to the Jew made good according to just valuation. 31. If a Jew makes a proselyte called Advena to be a Jew, or perverts one who has been converted to Christianity to the Jewish superstition, or associates with his female Christian slave (for carnal connection), or perverts to Judaism one born of Christian parents, under the promise of freedom, he is to be punished with the loss of (all) his slaves. If one born of Christian parents has apostatised to Judaism, and has obtained his freedom on condition of remaining a Jew, this shall not be valid, for he ought not to remain free, who, being born of Christian parents, wishes to adhere to Jewish usages.”
5. Source “A History of the councils of the church, from the original documents. By the Right Rev. Charles Joseph Hefele.” Karl Joseph von Hefele. 1895, Page 213-214. Online book, Accessed 10/8/2011
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 554
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Expulsion of Jews”
3. Geography of Act Diocese of Clement; Present-day France
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) Jews are expelled from the Catholic Diocese of Clement. “Expulsions of Jews from Host Nations:” israelect.com; “Jewish Persecution | Timeline of Judaism | History of AntiSemitism;” simpletoremember.com
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 561
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Ultimatum to Jews” issued by the Bishop Saint Ferréol
3. Geography of Act Present-day France; Diocese of Uzès
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) The Bishop of Uzès give Jew the option to either convert or to leave his Diocese. Bilecki, Henry: This Land is Mine God, God Gave This Land to Me (2010)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 582
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Law issued by Chilperic I, son of Clovis
3. Geography of Act Present-day France [Provisional]
4. Text of Act ““To all Jews from Paris to be baptized on pain of having their eyes carved out and come to preside over [their] own execution.””
5. Source Les expulsions des Juifs de France, (The expulsions of the Jews from France) Dr. Richard Rossin, former Secretary General of the MSF. Co-founder of MDM. Delegate of the Collectif Urgence Darfour. Accessed online;
6. Researcher Cristina Penland
7. Year of Research 2019
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 583
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Edict issued by Council of Macon
3. Geography of Act France
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) “583 Council of Macon (Gaul) Expanded the edicts of the Council of Clermont and included a demand for Jews to respect the Christian clergy. Furthermore, Jews were forced to sell slaves at a lower price than market value if the slave declared his desire to convert.” Eli Birnbaum: “The History of the Jewish People.” (1996-2006)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 589
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Isolation of Jews” decree issued by Reccared I
3. Geography of Act Visigothic Kingdom
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) Reccared, Visigothic King of Spain, completely isolates Jews from Christians. Funk & Wagnalls: Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume IV (1903)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 591
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Order issued by Pope Gregory I
3. Geography of Act Present-day Italy [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “Gregory to the bishops Becauda and Agnellus, on the Hebrews…The Hebrews settled on Terracina supplicated us that they should have permission -with our authority as well – to have the place which they have had until now for a synagogue…But since we have heard that because that place was so close to a church that even the noise of the psalm singers reached there, we wrote to our brother and co-bishop Peter that if indeed the voice from that place is being heard at the church’s entrance, he should stop the Jews from having their celebrations. Your Fraternity should therefore inspect that place diligently, together with the said Peter, and if this is the case, or if it would seem to you that there is something detrimental to the church, provide another place within that fort where the said Hebrews shall assemble and in which they would be able to celebrate their ceremonies without hindrance…We forbid that the said Hebrews be aggrieved or harassed, contrary to reason…They should not be permitted, however, to have Christian slaves.”
5. Source Linder, Amnon: “The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages.” Page 423
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act Jun. 591
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Order issued by Pope Gregory I
3. Geography of Act Present-day Italy [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “[Letter from Pope Gregory I] To Virgilius, Bishop of Arles, and Theodorus, Bishop of Marseilles, in Gaul (June 591): …Very many, though indeed of the Jewish religion, resident in this province [Rome], and from time to time traveling for various matters of business to the regions of Marseilles, have apprised us that many of the Jews settled in those parts have been brought to font of baptism more by force than by preaching. Now I consider the intention in such cases to be worthy of praise, and allow that it proceed from love of the Lord. But I fear lest this same intention, unless adequate justification from Holy Scripture accompany it, should either have no profitable effect; or there will ensue further (God forbid) the loss of the very souls which we wish to save. For, when any one is brought to the font of baptism, not by the sweetness of preaching but by compulsion, he returns to his former superstition, and dies the worse from having been born again. Let, therefore, your Fraternity stir up such men by frequent preaching, to the end that through the sweetness of their teacher they may desire the more to change their old life. For so our purpose is rightly accomplished, and the mind of the convert returns not again to his former vomit. Wherefore discourse must be addressed to them, such as may burn up the thorns of error in them, and illuminate what is dark in them by preaching, so that your Fraternity may through your frequent admonition receive a reward for them, so far as God may grant it, to the regeneration of a new life.”
5. Source “Pope Gregory I, ‘Letters on the Treatment of Jews (591, 598)-excerpts.” No author, Accessed online 9/16/2011
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act May 593
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Jews are to set Christian Slaves Free” issued King Aethelberht I of Kent
3. Geography of Act England [Provisional]
4. Text of Act ““Christian slaves bought by the Jews should be set at liberty […].” .”
5. Source Jacobs, Joseph: The Jews of Angevin England: Documents and Record from Latin and Hebrew Sources; (London; 1893)
6. Researcher Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research 2016
8. Notes
Researcher
The exact date of this decree is unknown
1. Full Date of Act Sep. 593
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Order issued by Pope Gregory I
3. Geography of Act Present-day Italy [Provisional]
4. Text of Act “Gregory to Ianuarius Bishop of Cagliari [September 593]…It has also come to our attention that slaves and bondwomen of Jews who escape to a church for reason of the faith are either returned to their infidel masters, or their price is given in order that they should be returned. We exhort you, therefore, that you shall never allow that any slave of Jews who would escape to the venerable places for cause of the faith should suffer any harm; but, whether previously Christian or one to be baptized now, he should be defended in his freedom in every way by the religious protection of the ecclesiastical piety, without harming the poor…Let your Fraternity devote such ingenuity in regard to all the said items, that it shall not be found neglecting the series of our admonition nor stand guilty of diminished pastoral zeal in God’s judgment.”
5. Source Linder, Amnon: “The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages.” Page 426
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 610
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Judaism Outlawed” edicts issued by King Sisebut
3. Geography of Act Visigothic Kingdom
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) After many of his anti-Jewish edicts were ignored, King Sisebur prohibits Judaism. Avraham, Yerachmiel Ben: All in the Name of Jesus: The Murder of Millions (2016)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 612
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Anti-Jewish Policy” issued by Sisebut
3. Geography of Act Visigothic Empire
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) Between February and June 612 two laws were enacted – one was addressed specifically to certain bishops, priests and civil authorities in the south of the Peninsula (Lex Visigothorum 12, 2, 13) and another to the whole population in general (Lex Visigothorum 12, 2, 14) – that prohibited Jew having Christian slaves of maintaining patronage over those they had emancipated. It decreed that converts to Judaism must return to Christianity, and mixed marriages were prohibited, imposing the Catholic faith on the Jewish partner in existing mixed marriages and any children born of them. Jewish proselytism was punishable by death and the offender’s property confiscated, even though the death penalty had been repealed by Reccard. Such measures would have come into force by 1 July 612 and after that date any Jews that still had Christians slaves would be punished by confiscating half of their property, and the slaves would be freed. Bronisch, Alexander Pierre: Die Judengesetzgebung im katholischen Westgotenreich von Toledo (2007); (“Jewish Legislation in the Catholic Visigoth of Toledo”)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes
Researcher
According to Bronisch, the law was enacted sometime in June but would have come into effect on July 1, 612. Original Latin text could possibly be found in Lex Visigothorum 12, 2, 14
1. Full Date of Act 614
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Edict” of Sisebut
3. Geography of Act Present-day Spain; Kingdom of the Visigoths [Provisional]
4. Text of Act ““[…] that all Jews are to convert (succumb) to the Christian religion within a year, or they are to lose all of their property and be expelled from Spain.” ”
5. Source Weigl, Johann Baptist: Theologisch-Chronische Behandlung über das wahre Geburts- und Sterb-Jahr Jesu Christi von Johann Baptist Weigl. Zweiter, praktischer Theil. (Theological-chronological treatment of the real birth-year and year-of-death of Jesus Christ. Second part.); (Sulzbach; 1849);
6. Researcher Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research 2020
8. Notes
Researcher
Although the document is not signed, the historian Baronius has proven, using hand-writing analysis, that this document was indeed drafted by Sisebut.
1. Full Date of Act 615
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) “Juramentum Judaeorum” (Jewish Oath)
3. Geography of Act Present-day Italy; Lombard Kingdom
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) The earliest referral to the “Juramentum Judaeorum” (the Jewish Oath): the concept that no heretic could be believed in court against a Christian. Various methods were used to ensure that Jews would tell the truth. These included swearing on an opened Torah scroll while standing on a pig-skin or while wearing a belt of thorns, or even standing on a stool wearing a “Jews hat.” [The decree could have been issued by King of the Lombards Agilulf.] Avraham, Yerachmiel Ben: All in the Name of Jesus: The Murder of Millions (2016)
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None
1. Full Date of Act 616
2. Name of Act (or Short Description) Order issued by King Sisebut
3. Geography of Act Spain
4. Text of Act Commentary from other sources: 1) “The refusal of a majority of Jews to convert angered Sisebut, who issued a new order in 616 ordering Jews to convert or leave the kingdom; failure to make this decision was punishable by death. Large numbers of Jews, unable to afford to leave or unwilling to uproot their families, underwent the forced conversion and became Conversos, Jews converted to Christianity.” Michael C. Thomsett: “The Inquisition: A History.” (2010) p. 118 2) “When King Sisebut (or Sisibot) occupied the throne, there was a prevalence of the utmost religious fanaticism. In 616 A.D. the big shock came; the king ordered the baptism of all the Jews in his domain, under the penalty of expulsion and the loss of all their property.” Rudolph R. Windsor: “From Babylon to Timbuktu: History of Black Races Including the…” (2011) p. 86
5. Source None
6. Researcher None
7. Year of Research N/A
8. Notes None