''Caeca et Obdurata Hebraeorum perfidia'' (named for its

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

, meaning ''the blind and obdurate perfidy of the Hebrews'') was a papal bull, promulgated by

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

on February 25, 1593, which expelled the Jews from the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

, effectively revoking the bull '' Christiana pietas'' (1586) of his predecessor

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

.Krinsky, Carol Herselle. 1996. ''Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning''. Courier Dover Publications. . p. 118. Prior to 1586,

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

's bull '' Hebraeorum gens sola'' (1569) had restricted Jews in the Papal States to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

. The bull was a culmination of Clement VIII's tightening of the anti-Jewish measures of his predecessors which began with his elevation to the papacy in 1592.Toaff, Ariel. 1993. ''The Jews in Umbria, 1245-1435''. Vol. 1. E.J. Brill. p. xxxvii. The bull gave Jews three months to leave the Papal States (with the exception of Rome, Ancona, and the

Comtat Venaissin The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France. The entire region was an enclave ...

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

). The main effect of the bull was to evict Jews who had returned to areas of the Papal States (mainly

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

) after 1586 (following their expulsion in 1569) and to expel Jewish communities from cities like

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

(which had been incorporated under papal dominion since 1569).Foa, Anna, and Grover, Andrea. 2000. ''The Jews of Europe After the Black Death''. University of California Press. . p. 117. Caeca et obdurata Title

For the Jews remaining within Rome,

, or the

, the bull re-established mandatory weekly sermons.Kisch, Guido. 1949. ''Historia Judaica''. p. 139. The bull also resulted in the relocation of Jewish cemeteries to

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

and

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

. The bull alleged that Jews in the Papal States had engaged in

usury Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is ch ...

and exploited the hospitality of Clement VIII's predecessors "who, in order to lead them from their darkness to knowledge of the true faith, deemed it opportune to use the clemency of Christian piety towards them" (alluding to ''Christiana pietas'').Fragnito, Gigliota. Adrian Belton (trans.). 2001. ''Church, Censorship and Culture in Early Modern Italy''. Cambridge University Press. . p. 182-183. Three days later, on February 28, Clement VIII promulgated '' Quum Hebraeorum malitia'', decreeing that the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

should be burnt along with cabalistic works and commentaries, which gave the owners of such works 10 days to turn them over to the Universal Inquisition in Rome and subsequently two months to hand them over to local inquisitors.

Notes

{{reflist, 2 1593 in law 1593 works Early Modern Christian anti-Judaism Papal States Christianity and law in the 16th century 16th-century papal bulls Documents of Pope Clement VIII 1593 in Christianity

External Links

Caeca et Obdurata, page 23