Capitulary for the Jews
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The Capitulary for the Jews ( la, Capitula de Iudaeis, lit=chapters on the Jews) is a set of six short legal prescriptions concerning
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
in the
Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lom ...
. They were gathered together and published under the title by which they are now known by Alfred Boretius in 1883, but only the first three and possibly the fourth are derived from a single source; the fifth and sixth are from an unrelated source. In one manuscript, the sixth "chapter" (''capitulum'') is said to have been taken "from Emperor Charles' statutes" (''e decretis Karoli imperatoris''), indicating either
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
or
Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...
. Its content, however, is inconsistent with the known Jewish policies of these emperors.


Authenticity

The authenticity of the ''capitula'' is highly disputed. Boretius tentatively associated the ''capitula'' with the
Council of Meaux–Paris The Council of Meaux–Paris was a church council that first met on 17 June 845 in Meaux and finished its work at Paris on 2 February 846.Alfred Boretius and Victor Krause, eds. (1897), ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Capitularia Regum Francorum' ...
(845–46) and the antisemitism of
Agobard of Lyon Agobard of Lyon (–840) was a Spanish-born priest and archbishop of Lyon, during the Carolingian Renaissance. The author of multiple treatises, ranging in subject matter from the iconoclast controversy to Spanish Adoptionism to critiques of th ...
, because the canons of that council were sometimes inaccurately titled ''Capitula contra Iudaeos magni Karoli invictissmimi imperatoris caeterorumque regum cum consensus episcoporum'' ('Capitulary against the Jews of the most invincible emperor Charlemagne with the consent of the kings and bishop') in the manuscripts. Julius Aronius tentatively dated them to the reign of Charlemagne. Both Boretius and Aronius, however, cast doubt on their authenticity. Solomon Katz accepted the authenticity of the first five ''capitula'' and attributed the first four to Charlemagne, but the sixth he rejected as forged.
François Louis Ganshof François Louis Ganshof (14 March 1895, Bruges – 26 July 1980, Brussels) was a Belgian medievalist. After studies at the Athénée Royal, he attended the University of Ghent, where he came under the influence of Henri Pirenne. After studies wi ...
accepted the authenticity of the whole collection and tentatively connected the sixth to the reign of
Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
. Amnon Linder rejects any connection with Charlemagne and considers the whole set "probably spurious".
Michael Toch Michael Toch (born 1946) is professor of medieval history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specialises in the history of the Jews in the Middle Ages, the early modern history of Germany and Europe, the social and economic history of mediev ...
also rejects any connection with Charlemagne or any Carolingian royal policy, but accepts the connection with the "ecclesiastical polemics" of Agobard's circle. They are thus of no use as evidence for Jewish economic status. Johannes Heil writes that "there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of any of" the ''capitula'', meaning that they were actual royal law at some point and not forgeries. He hypothesizes their ultimate "elimination from the official canon of Carolingian legislation", analogizing to the case of the Council of Meaux–Paris, which, under the influence of
Amulo Amulo Lugdunensis (also known as: Amalo, Amulon, Amolo, Amularius) served as Archbishop of Lyon from 841 to 852 AD. As a Gallic prelate, Amulo is best known for his letters concerning two major themes: Christian–Jewish relations in the Frankis ...
, passed several anti-Jewish measures only to have them overturned by King Charles the Bald.


Text

The ''capitula'' circulated widely and the manuscripts have many variant readings. The original Latin with English translation can be found in Linder. The text of the first four ''capitula'', which are transmitted together, is here taken from the Mediaeval Sourcebook
Capitulary for the Jews
derived in turn from
J. P. Migne Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a u ...
, ed., ''Patrologiae Cursus Completus'' (Paris, 1862), Vol. XCVII, pp. 369–370:
1. Let no Jew presume to take in pledge or for any debt any of the goods of the Church in gold, silver, or other form, from any Christian. But if he presume to do so, which God forbid, let all his goods be seized and let his right hand be cut off.
2. Let no Jew presume to take any Christian in pledge for any Jew or Christian, nor let him do anything worse; but if he presume to do so, let him make reparation according to his law, and at the same time he shall lose both pledge and debt.
3. Let no Jew presume to have a money-changer's table in his house, nor shall he presume to sell wine, grain, or other commodities there. But if it be discovered that he has done so all his goods shall be taken away from him, and he shall be imprisoned until he is brought into our presence.
4. Concerning the oath of the Jews against the Christians. Place sorrel twice around his body from head to feet; he ought to stand when he takes his oath, and he should have in his right hand the five books of Moses according to his law, and if he cannot have them in Hebrew he shall have them in Latin. "May the God who gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai help me, and may the leprosy of Naamon the Syrian come upon me as it came upon him, and may the earth swallow me as it swallowed Dathan and Abiron, I have not committed evil against you in this cause."
The fifth ''capitulum'' is just a variant of the fourth with a different manuscript tradition:
5. Oath of the Jews: I swear to you in God the living and the true and in that holy Law which God gave unto the blessed Moses on Mount Sinai, and in Adonai the Holy, and in the alliance of Abraham that God gave to the children of Israel, and if not, the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian shall envelop my body, and if not, the earth shall swallow me alive, as it did Dathan and Abilon, and in the Ark of the Covenant, which appeared from heaven to the sons of man, and in that holy place where Moses stood, and in that holy awthat the blessed Moses received there, that I am not guilty in this case.
The text of the sixth is:
6. If a Jew has any lawsuit against another Jew he shall defend himself according to his own law. However if he case isagainst a Christian, the Christian shall exonerate himself, if necessary, with suitable witnesses. ..As for the Jew, a necklace of bramble bush shall be put round his neck, his knees shall be tight while standing, and a bramble branch five manual cubits in length well covered with thorns shall be passed forcefully between his hips while he shall terminate his oath; and he shall exonerate himself if he should come out healthy. And if a Jews should do any sorcery against the Christian law or against any Christian ..He shall either be sewn into the parricide sack and thrown into a deep abyss or burnt in fire.


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * {{refend 9th century in law Medieval legal texts Christian anti-Judaism in the Middle Ages Forgery controversies