Timeline: Anti-Semitism in Italy

Based on Cecil Roth, The History of the Jews of Italy The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1946.

The following is a timeline of anti-Semitic incidents that took place throughout the history of the Jews in Italy.

Integrated into this timeline are a few listings of important, though non-antisemitism related, facts. These were included in order to give a more complete picture of the situation in Italy. For a more on the history of the Jews in Italy, see Jewish Virtual Library- Italy and the Jews – Timeline.

19

In the year 19, the all-powerful minister Sejanus issued an edict ordering all Jews to leave Italy, unless they foreswore their religious practices, or they would be enslaved. Moreover on the pretext of submitting them to military service, 4,000 young freedmen were seized and sent to Sardinia to be employed in fighting the brigands. (P.9)

31

When the megalomaniac Gaius Caligula took office in the year 31, a serious crisis for the Jews ensued. Caligula wanted himself only worshipped by all his subjects as a god and the Jews refused. Though we know nothing of the specific repercussions in Italy, it is not unlikely that he had his own way with and victimized this impotent section of the population. If any public synagogues existed at the time, they were either destroyed or desecrated by the erection of the emperor’s statue for adoration. (P.10)

49-50

In the year 49-50, under Claudius (Caligula’s successor) Jews faced a different obstacle. Christianity had recently come into being and zealous missionaries were trying to persuade the Jews regarding Christ. The emperor was wearied by the disputes between the two and put an end to it by expelling the Jews from the city. (P.10-11) (See p.11 for a direct quote regarding this incident.)

61-103?

Slaves brought from Palestine performed menial and laborious tasks and were familiar in the cities and on the land. The contemporary poet, Juvenal, paints a satiric picture of the typical Roman Jew, whose sole furniture was the beggar’s livery — a basket and a truss of hay on which he slept at night. (P.24)

70

With the fall of the Temple in 70, the position of the Jews of Italy must have been for some time highly uncomfortable. The war proved indeed to be a turning point in their history as the number of Jews in Italy enormously increased. Vast numbers of Palestinian Jews were enslaved, the majority being brought back to Italy – 97,000 it is stated, to the capital alone. Some were sold to private owners and many others were used for public works, the Colosseum being one of the undertakings on which they were employed. (P.12-13)

70

In the years 66-70 a new tax was exacted on the Jews of Italy, the Fiscus Judaicus. This tax was the first religious disability in history and it was exacted with needless brutality. In Italy, some persons tried to evade payment by denying their Jewish origin, and were submitted to a degrading personal examination to see whether their claim was true. This tax continued to be exacted until the 4th century. (P.14-15)

132

The Emperor Hadrian categorically prohibited circumcision, deeming it a capital offense. This prohibition was likely the immediate cause of the Bar Kochba revolt in Palestine of 132-5. Such Hadrianic persecution cannot have failed to embitter the lives of those in Italy, for following it were attempts to suppress all the other outward manifestations and ceremonies of Judaism, such as the Sabbath and even the study of the Torah. (P.18)

204

In the year 204, the Emperor Septimius Severus, alarmed by the growing prevalence of succession to the monotheistic faiths, specifically forbade conversions in Italy whether to Christianity or to Judaism. (P.19)

The time of the Emperors

The Jews in the Italy of Imperial times continued to have to pay the annual tax to the Fiscus Judaicus that was initially legislated in the years 66-70. (P. 29)

313

With the Edict of Milan, Constantine the Great established equal rights for all religions. However, when authority passed into the hands of Christianity, the Jews were reduced to a position of inferiority, which extended not only to the political, but also to the economic field. In the end they were brought down to the level of social outcasts and the attempts made to redress the balance caused the reaction that led to the phenomenon of antisemitism with all its appalling results. (P. 29-30)

315

Adherents of the Jewish religion were threatened with burning if they dared to persecute those who had deserted their fold for “the faith of the true God.” The old imperial legislation against seduction to the monotheistic faiths was renewed. Even intermarriage between Jews and Christians became a capital offense. (P.30-31)

339

Jews were forbidden to convert to Judaism those who belonged to other faiths or to have Christian or pagan slaves in their possession. This signified in modern terms an embargo on the employment of any sort of non-Jewish labor, thus virtually involving exclusion from industry and even agriculture on anything but a petty scale. This also served to undermine the sense of security among the Jewish population. (P.31)

350

Over a long period of years, there was a constant sequence of violence throughout Italy, the mob, sometimes led by the bishop, attacking the synagogues and pulling them down or else re-consecrating them for Christian worship. A law that forbade new synagogues to be built placed a fresh weapon in the hands of religious fanatics. Assaults of this sort continued sporadically in Italy for 2-300 years. The earliest instance of synagogue destruction on record was in 350 when Bishop Innocentius destroyed the synagogue at Tortona and erected a chapel on the site, offering the Jews the choice of exile or baptism. (P.33)

350’s

Philaster, before his installation as bishop of Brescia, traveled throughout Italy preaching against the Jews and “disputing” them in matters of faith. (P.33)

361

Julian “the Apostate” proclaimed equal rights to all faiths, Jewish, pagan and Christian. In addition, he abolished the special taxation that had been imposed on the Jews since the days of Vespasian. (P.32)

387-8

A Roman mob systematically burned all of the synagogues in Rome to the ground. (P.33)

388, Milan

Bishop Ambrose condemned the Emperor Theodosius for ordering the restoration, at the rioter’s expense, of a synagogue illegally destroyed in Asia Minor. He himself had no higher ambition, he wrote, than to meet a martyr’s death during an assault of this sort and he regretted that through laziness hehad failed to burn down the synagogue at Milan. (P.34)

399

The emperor’s son, Honorius, forbade the collection of the aurum coronarium or “chaplet money” — annual contributions, in imitation of the half-shekel formerly devoted to the Temple, that Jews collected to send to Palestine for the support of schools and religious institutions. (P.35)

Near the end of the 4th century

Before the end of the fourth century and repeatedly afterwards, serving in the military was closed to Jews and those already enrolled were expelled. (P.31)

400’s

Due to ruthless sacking by barbaric hordes, Italy came to know the horrors on war on her own land. Her cities were sacked, her countryside wasted and her treasures – even those from the destruction of Jerusalem – were looted. The population of Rome was reduced from three-quarters of a million to fifty thousand. How the Jews suffered in this period we can imagine by implication. (P.37)

438

Thodosius II codified Roman law systematizing the anti-Jewish legislation enacted under Christian influence in the course of the past century. (P.38)

September 4, 476

Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the West, was deposed; and the Roman Empire came to an end. (P.37)

487/93-526

Theodoric the Ostrogoth, who ruled Italy from 487/93-526, confirmed the Jews ancient autonomy, but also strictly enforced the old regulations that forbade the construction of new synagogues or the embellishment of old ones. (P.39)

Early 500’s

In Milan, the rights of the Jews were threatened to such an extent that they had to appeal to the king for protection. In Rome, a riot led to an attack on Jews and the setting of a synagogue on fire. Even in Ravenna, the new capital of the country, forced baptisms took place, and when Jews expressed their contempt, the Christian mob burned down their place of worship. (P.41)

500’s

In the sixth century, Justinian, founder of the new empire in Italy, developed anti-Jewish regulations that affected every detail of Jewish religious life to a fantastic extent, loading them with intolerable burdens and excluding them from all privileges. In the year 553 he forbade the discussion of biblical lessons in synagogues in accordance with rabbinic tradition, and insisted that the discourse be carried on in the language of the country. (P.49)

590-604

Gregory the Great, founder of the modern tradition of the Papacy, was the formulator of its Jewish policy both in its favorable and its adverse aspects. In his sermons he complained bitterly of the obduracy of the Jews and their stony hearts. He took care that the canonical restrictions against them should be enforced in all their rigor. Though he strongly objected to the observance of any Jewish ceremonies, on the other hand he insisted that the Jews be treated with humanity. (P.43)

590-604, Terracina

The bishop of Terracina, where a Jewish community existed throughout the Middle Ages, not only threatened the Jews with violence if they remained deaf to his theological arguments, but ejected them from their place of worship. Pope Gregory the Great rescinded this order and reprimanded the bishop, saying, “We forbid the aforesaid Hebrews to be oppressed and vexed unreasonably.” (P.44-45)

590-604, Sicily

To try to get Jewish converts, Gregory instructed the administrators of the papal estates in Sicily to reduce by one-third the rent payable by those who got baptized. This plan was met with some success. (P.46)

598, Palermo

Without the slightest pretext, Bishop Victor of Palermo, the principal city of Sicily, seized all the Jewish places of worship and contents together with the guestchambers. Pope Gregory had the bishop pay compensation. (P.45)

600’s

The Popes, as they were termed from the 7th century – earlier, the title papa had been applied to all bishops – acquired a unique position as virtual rulers of Rome and the surrounding area, with a vast spiritual influence over all of Western Christendom. The history of the Jews in Italy thus becomes in great part a history of their relations with the papacy, which in a considerable area of the country was immediately, and in nearly the whole of it ultimately, responsible for their fate…. The record was generally speaking a humane one, despite some darker interludes. (P.42)

602, Naples

On the occasion of a violent outbreak against the Jews of Naples, Gregory ordered that the Jews not be molested in the future in the performance of their religious rites and that they had the full liberty to observe their festivals and holy days. (P.46)

614

Heraclius, Justinian’s successor, issued an edict entirely prohibiting the practice of Judaism. (P.49)

661

King Perctarit or Bertarido offered the alternative of baptism or death to the Jews. It is not known whether this order was carried out or not. (P.41)

774

The Frankish ruler Karl, known to history as Charlemagne, intervened in Italian affairs to protect the Pope from the Lombards. After a brief campaign, their power was destroyed. Charlemagne then ruled the north of Italy and in the year 800 was crowned “Emperor.” This launched the Germanic “Holy Roman” Empire, destined to continue on nominal being for a thousand years. Around Rome, the Popes were enabled by the change in circumstances to establish a claim to the direct administration of wide territories. (P.66)

End of the 8th century

At the end of the eighth century Jews were living under Lombard rule with the old imperial regulations prohibiting intermarriage and the possession or acquisition of Christian slaves by Jews. (P.41)

Ninth and tenth centuries, South Italy

It is evident that the Jewish population of the area at this time must have been, not only highly cultivated, but also numerous and influential. This period was one of rapid expansion in northern Europe—in France, Germany and ultimately England. All these lands would become seats of important Jewish communities, distributed first along the great trade routes that controlled commerce with the Mediterranean world. Where the immigrants came, we don’t know. But there is good reason to believe they belonged to families long established in Italy.(P.63)

800, Rome, Venosa

A series of Jewish tombstones – mainly by Venosa – show long and flowery inscriptions in Hebrew, displaying a wide knowledge of Jewish literature, considerable ability in manipulating the Holy Tongue, and, in some cases, a distinct poetical gift. This is evidence that in the seventh or eighth century there had been a revival among Jews of South Italy to cultivate Hebrew studies, to become passionately attached to the Hebrew language, and to develop an interest in rabbinic learning. (P.60)

800’s, Sicily

The Jews of Sicily had to pay a graduated poll tax that went by the name of gisia. This term is derived from the Arabic djizia – a development of the traditional poll tax levied by the Moslems on all unbelievers as a price of the free exercise of their religion. In addition, they had to pay a special land tax, known as the karadj. (P.56)

Last centuries of the first millennium, South Italy

The last centuries of the first millennium witnessed a great production of Jewish literary works, including a number of Midrashic works comprising rabbinic ethics and legends (possibly including the Midrash on the Song of Songs). To these works are probably to be added the mystical Alphabet of Ben-Sira and the Halakot Kezubot, one of the oldest handbooks of Jewish religious practice of the post-talmudic period. (P.60-61)

850

All was not well with the Jews in the Byzantine dominions in Italy, and persecution was constantly looming even if it was not actual. (P.51)

855

Charlemagne’s great-grandson, Louis II, issued a decree expelling the Jews from his Italian dominions. It does not appear, however, that this was carried into effect. (P.68)

866, Byzantine dominions in Italy

The attempt to secure the conversion of the Jews was allowed to lapse, and those who had succumbed during the period of persecution were allowed to return to their faith. (P.52)

873-4, Byzantine dominions in Italy

Emperor Basil embarked upon a determined campaign to break down his Jewish subjects adherence to their ancestral faith – first by persuasion, then by bribery, and finally by prohibiting the practice of Jewish ceremonies. (P.51)

887-8, Sicily

The Sicilian ruler Ibrahim first introduced the Jewish badge of shame, which afterwards became universal in the Western world, into Europe as a measure of discrimination against Christians as well as Jews. Jews had to wear and display on the doors of their houses a piece of white stuff designed like a monkey. Later on, the Jews had to wear a yellow girdle and a special turban. (P.56)

July 4, 925, Oria

The once flourishing Jewish community of Oria lost all importance after being plundered by an Arab marauder in 925. Ten learned and pious Jewish householders were slain and many others were seized and carried into captivity. Two years later, a fresh onslaught drove many refugees to Bari and Otranto, which henceforth succeeded to Oriah’s supremacy in Jewish life in South Italy. (P.53)

927, Oria

Only two years after Oria was plundered by Arab marauders, a fresh onslaught drove many refugees to Bari and Otranto, which henceforth succeeded to Oriah’s supremacy in Jewish life in South Italy. (P.53)

931, Verona

Jews lived in conspicuously friendly terms with neighbors and engaged in commerce without opposition until Rather, bishop of the see between 931 and 938 and one of the fathers of antisemitism, deliberately set himself to the task of breaking down cordial traditions. In the end, he secured the expulsion of the Jews. (P.69)

932, Northern Italy, Venice

Venice tried to exclude Jewish competitors from alternative land routes across Central Europe, appealing to the Holy Roman Emperor and the Archbishop of Mainz to take similar action in Germany, in effect attempting to halt Jews from participating in foreign trade. This economic jealousy prevented the establishment of important Jewish settlements, as might have been anticipated, in the other great Italian trading republics. (P.68)

c.932-6, Bari, Ottranto and elsewhere in the Empire

Under Romanus Lucapenus orders were again issued for the forcible conversion of the Jews of the Empire. A pogrom took place throughout the Jewish quarters of Bari and Ottranto. In Bari, so many prominent Jews were killed that it was found easier to enumerate the living than the dead. Synagogues were destroyed and sacred writings burned and Jewish life was driven underground. (P.53)

945, Northern Italy

Most Jews of this era were merchants. Their familiarity with Greek and Arabic-speaking lands gave them remarkable opportunities as trade began to open up in areas north and Western Europe. This set up rivalries between Jews and the merging Italian maritime republics. Venice was particularly antagonistic and did not admit Jewish settlers, forbade vessels sailing in Oriental waters to take Jews or any other foreign merchants aboard, and even forbade them to transport their wares from port to port. (P.67)

Second half of tenth century, Italy

From Italy, the Palestinian tradition passed along the historic trade routes and over the Alps, to France and to Germany. The differentiation long continued to make itself felt in intellectual interests, in literary style, in synagogal ritual, and more. Many standard texts circulated in the Middle Ages in two form; Spanish and Italo-French. (P.64)

952, Oria

Yet another raid by Arab marauders took place in Oria in 952. (P.53)

967, Sicily

Jews formed an entire population of a suburb outside the walls of Palermo. (P.57)

972, Bari

Four scholars set out by sea from Bari. They were captured by Andalusian corsair, Abdullah ibn Riyahin, and were sold as slaves in four different ports, thus introducing to these regions the learning of their native world. In particular, Moses ben Enoch, who was ransomed at Cordova, brought about the development of Talmudic studies in Spain, while Hushiel ben Elhanan became the greatest luminary of the rabbinic school of Kairouan. (P.63)

972, End of the first millennium, South Italy

South Italy was the pivot for the revival of Jewish learning in Europe at the end of the first millennium.

976, Imola

Legend tells of an expulsion of Jews from Imola to avenge which the men of Ravenna were incited to attack the city sometime later. (P.72)

Early 1000’s

Though there is a lack of information about the condition of the Jews in the early years of the second millennium, there emerged now and again allusions to the local suffering of the Jews. A Roman synagogal poet of the early years of the first millennium, Solomon ‘the Babylonian,’ (c. 970-1020), characterized the prevailing attitude towards Jews in one of his penitential hymns-

Destroy the Jew! despoil him! is the cry.

Thine own true servants are uprooted so.

To blot us out their aim. They vilify,

And tax, and spoil, and fleece, to bring us low.

They strip us and they scorn us, call us “hound” –

Each shaveling priest and monk and fool and knave.

We hear their taunts – unshaming-shamed, tongue-bound.

For Thy sake agonized, Thy help we crave. (P.72)

Early 1000’s, Lucca

Rabbi Meshulam ben Kalonymus of Lucca, writing to the Babylonian head of the Academy, Hai Gaon, about this time, spoke of an “upheaval” in his native town in terms such as to make one suspect either a local persecution or else sack at the hands of armed forces. (P.72)

1015 or 1020, Sicily

Sicilian Jews subscribed money for the support of Jewish schools in Palestine, but on one occasion the government levied such a heavy impost when the collection was about to be made that many persons were ruined and the pious duty had to be deferred. (P.58)

1020 or 1021, Rome

After a catastrophic earthquake in Rome in 1020 or 1021 and the consequent search for the cause that had provoked the Divine wrath, a number of Jews were savagely punished on an improbable charge of mocking a crucifix. (P.72)

c.1030, Sicily

Two Spanish Jews (a father and son) performed outstanding service to the local communities – obtaining a remission of a burdensome taxation, protecting the interests of merchants trading with Egypt, and saving a burial ground from desecration. The Jews of all of Sicily wrote to the rabbis of Kairouan, asking that the self-sacrificing account be written and shared as an example. (P.58)

c.1030, Sicily

Two Spanish Jews (a father and son) performed outstanding service to the local communities – obtaining a remission of a burdensome taxation, protecting the interests of merchants trading with Egypt, and saving a burial ground from desecration. The Jews of all of Sicily wrote to the rabbis of Kairouan, asking that the self-sacrificing account be written and shared as an example. (P.58)

1050

When the Sicilian ruler, Samsam-ad-Daulah, sent an embassy to Cairo in 1050, it was accompanied by a cultured Jew. (P.58)

Mid 1000’s

Toward the end of the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII had re-enacted, together with other provisions, the old law that Jews might in no circumstances be placed in a position of authority over Christians. P.97)

1062, Aterno

The community of Aterno (near Pescara) was accused of committing a ritual outrage on an image of Jesus in the synagogue on the eve of Good Friday. (P.72)

1065, Benevento

In 1065, the ruler of Benevento compelled many of the Jews of that city to become converted to Christianity, though this exposed him to the censure of the Pope. (P.72)

1090, Northern Italy

A tendency towards discrimination or even exclusion, partly owing to religious prejudice, and partly due to commercial jealousy, existed towards the small Jewish groups of traders, craftsmen and peasant proprietors that were found throughout Northern Italy. Expulsions, however, like the one in Verona were sporadic. There is reason to believe this became more serious with the advance of the Middle Ages and the growth of the native Christian mercantile class. But most Jews in Italy were living in the south of the country where the communities had as yet lost nothing of their importance. (P.71)

1096, Lombardy

Coincident with the savage First Crusader attacks upon Jews in the Rhineland, there is a somewhat vague mention of a persecution in “Lombardy.” Among the victims were two scholars – Moses of Pavia and Kalonymous of Rome. (P.73)

1113, Syracuse

The Jews of Syracuse had been, in 1113, preposterously accused of crucifying a ram, in mockery of the Passion. (P.83)

Mid 1100’s

Jewish technical skill and application clearly made the Jews an asset – an asset that was sought after and which could change hands. Hence the revenue derived from them – or they themselves, with all potential income – formed a convenient and lucrative gift from a ruler to a subordinate, whom it was desired to gratify. By the middle of the twelfth century a high proportion of the Jews of southern Italy had passed, for all essential purposes, under the ecclesiastical authority, which exploited them so rigidly that in some places it actually claimed the property of those who died intestate. (P.88-9)

1156, Lanciano

The Jews of Lanciano, in the Abruzzo, were driven out in 1156 by the leader of a successful revolt that the Jewish community had opposed. Eighty families were recalled under carefully regulated conditions. (P.81)

1160 and 1173, Genoa

Bejamin of Tudela, the famous Spanish-Jewish scholar, toured Italy between 1160 and 1165, on his way to Palestine, and then again upon his return in 1173. His first stop was Genoa, where, in the sixth century, there had been a flourishing Jewish community. He found only two Jews, for, thirty years earlier, the consuls had ordered all Jews, even if they came to the city only on a visit, to pay an annual tribute for the illumination of the high altar in the church of S. Lorenzo. It may also be that an edict of expulsion had been issued in the meanwhile. Towards the end of the century, it was forbidden for any Jew to remain in the city longer than three days. (P.74-5)

1171, Bologna

The Jews were temporarily expelled from Bologna in 1171 for unknown reasons. The date of the reestablishment of the community is also unknown, but from the beginning of the 14th century, the community seems to have flourished. (P.126)

1178-9

The Third Lateran Council of 1178-9, scared by the advance of Albigensianism, had again prohibited Jews to have Christians in their service or Christians to enter into the employment of Jews even as nurses or midwives. It even forbade true believers from lodging among the infidels. (P.97)

1200’s, Palermo

As early as the thirteenth century, the king exercised the prerogative of nominating the rabbi of Palermo. Even the sacristans, readers and ritual slaughterers sometimes owed their appointment to the crown, though occasionally the bishop claimed the right. (P.236)

1215

The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, despite the entreaties of a delegation of Jewish notables from southern France, reiterated all the anti-Jewish legislation of centuries before. In addition, they added as a corollary some fresh details, such as the obligation on all unbelievers to wear a distinguishing badge and to pay tithes to the Church, as Christians did, on all their property. This code was not immediately carried out, but became the basis of Jewish persecution in the later Middle Ages. (P.97)

1221, Pisa

In the thirteenth century, the Jews of Pisa were prohibited from giving evidence against Christians, were confined to a special quarter, and were compelled from as early as 1221 to wear the distinguishing Jewish badge. (P.132)

1221, Sicily

Emperor Frederick ordered all Jews of Sicily to wear the distinguishing mark in obedience to the canons of the recent Lateran Council. In addition, he fixed the communal fine payable when a Jew was found killed at only half the rate in the case of a Christian. In other areas, however, he forbade open discrimination against the Jews. (P.246)

1222

Due to accusations of heresy against him by the Pope, Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (Holy Roman Emperor 1220-1250), found it necessary to vindicate his orthodoxy in matters that were to him of minor importance; and the Jews were the victims. Though he favored them personally and was deeply interested in Jewish culture, he nevertheless enforced the new Lateran legislation in his Italian dominions. In 1222, he ordered all Jews to wear a distinguishing badge of bluish color in the shape of the Greek letter “tau” and to grow beards in order to be even more easily distinguishable from non-Jews. These enactments, though transitory, were premonitions of the more extreme reaction that was soon to follow. (P.98)

1225, Cremona, Pavia, Milan

It is probable that there were Jewish settlements at places such as Cremona, Pavia, and Milan, whence in any case they were ejected in 1225. (P.77)

1239-1242, Rome

As a result of the happenings in France, the Pope condemned the Talmud. Dirges by the poets of the Anau family reveal that many copies were seized and destroyed in Rome, if not elsewhere in the land. (P.138)

1257, The Papal States

A Bull issued by Pope Alexander IV imposed the restrictions outlined in the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 on the Jews of the Papal States. These included all of the anti-Jewish legislation of centuries before, as well as the obligation to wear a distinguishing badge and to pay tithes to the Church on all their property. (P.139)

1265, South Italy

In 1265, Pope Clement IV, wishing to rid himself of the menace of the Hohenstaufen in South Italy, induced Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX of France, to accept their dominions as a fief of the Church. From the time of the change of dynasty, there was a change, too, in the atmosphere in which the Jewish communities of the kingdom found themselves. It manifested itself first of all in a greater violence and acerbity in the agitation against Judaism. Neophytes who carried on propaganda against their former co-religionists received special rewards; converts to Christianity found their burden of taxation cancelled or diminished; and Dominican friars were subsidized to preach against the Jews in (as they claimed) the Hebrew language. (P.98-9)

1265, Trani

Manuforte, an apostate from Trani who claimed to have been a rabbi before his conversion, procured an edict menacing converts who returned to Judaism with dire penalties. He apparently put pressure on the Jewish communities to compel them to betray penitent apostates. (P.99)

1267

Clement IV’s Bull of 1267, Turbato corde, expressing his anxiety over the conversion of Christians to Judaism and ordering the newly appointed inquisitors to take steps against all who were implicated, added a fresh complication to Jewish life. (P.138)

1268

In 1268, the Inquisition was introduced into the kingdom and backsliding converts to Christianity came into its sphere of action (P.99)

1270

Inspired by the example set not long before in France, Manuforte, an apostate from Trani who claimed to have been a rabbi before his conversion, denounced the Talmud and other Jewish literature to the king on the pretext that it contained blasphemies against Jesus and the Madonna. Local authorities searched Jewish homes for copies of the Talmud, which were sent to Naples where, in all probability, they were burned. This episode was perhaps responsible in part for the decline of Jewish studies in South Italy at this period. It proved to be the prelude to more drastic action. (P.99-100)

1270, Rome

A mob desecrated the Jewish cemetery in Rome. (P.138)

1275, Ferrara

A decree was issued guaranteeing protection of the Jewish settlement on the grounds of the Jews’ utility to the city. (P.128)

1279

Nicholas III, hoping to weaken the Jews religious allegiance, instituted forced sermons the Jews were required to hear. (P.138)

1280, The Papal States

Abraham Abulafia of Saragossa, one of the more memorable characters in the history of Kabbalah, attempted present himself before Pope Nicholas III to demand the release of the Jews being held in captivity. It was ordered that he be captured and burned at the stake. Abulafia, however, was only detained and then released. (P.150)

1290, Apulia, Trani

In or about 1290, a Dominican friar, named Bartolommeo da Capua, accused the Jews of Apulia of having put a Christian child to cruel death in imitation and mockery of the Passion of Jesus. The king gave the ‘infidels’ the alternative of either embracing Christianity or death. Large numbers fled, thousands accepted baptism, and many more were dragooned into following their example in the succeeding years. The main center of the persecution was at Trani, where an outrage deliberately perpetrated on a crucifix by an unscrupulous friar led to a frenzied riot. (P.100)

1294

From the official records, it is known that in the year 1294 no fewer than 1,300 recently converted Jewish heads of family were exempted from taxation for a period of years as a reward for their apostasy. (P.100)

1298, Rome

Rabbi Elijah de’ Pomi was put to death by the Holy Office in Rome on a secret charge. This procedure opened up unlimited possibilities of blackmail. It was in consequence of this tragic episode that the ancient de’ Pomi family left Rome and settled in Umbria, where it continued to produce eminent scions for many generations. (P.139)

1300-1310, Ferrara

Several Ferrara Jews, including a physician named Bonaventura, were penalized by the Inquisition. (P.128)

1300’s

The remarkable geographical and economic expansion of Italian Jewry in the course of the 14th century entailed danger as well as prosperity, as zealous ecclesiastics saw such infidels mingling with their flock. As a result of this, the church set itself a newer and stricter standard, as evidenced in two successive General Councils. In addition, all old ecclesiastical disciplines against the Jews continued to be enforced. (P.153)

1300’s, Rome (and perhaps other cities)

During yearly mock tournaments of horseplay, in the course of the bellicose games before Lent, Jews were used as mounts and the utmost brutality was practiced against them. Something of the same sort was customary in Sicily. (P.140)

1300’s, Sicily

Royal control over the intimate affairs of Sicilian Jewry reached its climax in the fourteenth century. Among the abuses was stoning of Jewish homes on Good Friday, forced church attendance on Christmas and St Stephen’s day, with an escort home by a mob throwing stones, the use of Jews as mounts for mock tournaments on St. John’s day and being forced to remain indoors on church celebrations. Additionally, a Jewish physician who attended a Christian was liable to imprisonment on bread and water for an entire year and the forfeiture of his fee. (P.236)

1310, Sicily

King Frederick II published as series of “constitutions” at Messina that renewed the conventional canonical restrictions against Jews and Saracens. They could not own Christian slaves, hold any judicial office, give evidence against Christians in court, practice medicine except among other Jews or live on familiar terms with Christians and so on. In addition, the Jews were forced to wear a Jewish badge and ordered to isolate themselves in special areas, generally outside the city walls – the earliest instance in Europe of such segregation enforced by law. This policy remained nominally in force for upwards of a hundred years. (P.246-7)

1310, Gerace

Jews were attacked at Gerace, when in accordance with the almost universal tradition, their houses were stoned during Holy Week. (P.271)

1311, Ravenna

The Council of Ravenna repeated the injunction prescribed in the Lateran Council of 1215 of the need for all Jews to wear a distinguishing badge. (P.139)

1311, Naples

Fra Matteo da Ponsacco, inquisitor of the kingdom of Sicily, persuaded the king to order the newly converted Jews to live dispersed among the Christians, so that they should not be tempted back into Judaism, and threatened those who relapsed with drastic punishment. (P.270)

1312, Rome

The Jewish community agreed to make an annual payment (10 gold florins) to be relieved from the degradation of being brutally used as mounts during the yearly mock tournaments of horseplay that took place in the bellicose games before Lent. This afterwards became known as the Tribute of Agone and Testaccio, the earliest specific levy imposed on the Roman Jews other than the tithe and the precedent for what later became an utterly intolerable burden. (P.140)

1317, Tuscany

From 1317 there is no information to be found on the status of the Jews and it is, therefore, likely that they were expelled for a number of years. (P.132)

September 4, 1320, The Papal States

The papal decree of 1320 ordered the burning of the Talmud, which was to be coupled, according to Jewish legend, with a general expulsion from the Papal States. Expulsion was avoided thanks to enormous gifts of money, but the condemnation of the Jewish sacred writings was unaffected. (P.142)

1320, Milan

The Jews were expelled from Milan. (P.142)

1322, Rome

On the feast of the Pentecost, pyres were once more lighted in Rome, and probably elsewhere, for the destruction of copies of the Talmud and the allied literature. In the disorders that accompanied this, the father-in-law of the poet Immanuel of Rome was killed. (P.142)

1325, Brindisi

The citizens of Brandisi tried to force the Jews into baptism. When they fled for safety, they were brought back on the grounds that the city could not afford to lose them. (P.271)

1329, Naples and elsewhere

The violence begun in Apulia in 1290 spread to Naples, where a grim reminiscence of the methods followed seems to be preserved in the street name Via Scannagiudei (“Kill-the-Jews” street), first found in 1329. From coast to coast there were similar episodes, with devastating results on Jewish life. Precisely how far the persecution reached is obscure, but the places mentioned extend over the greater part of the kingdom. Everywhere, the synagogues were converted into churches, including four at Trani. As a result of these events, the old Jewish settlement of South Italy, with its history going back a thousand years and its great contributions to Jewish intellectual life, was so weakened that it ceased for a long time to play any role in history. (P.100-1)

1336, Cividale

Anti-Jewish violence broke out in Cividale after the Jews were accused of walling up images of the Madonna and crosses among the building rubble used in the construction of their new synagogue in the Zugaita, as their street was called. (P.142)

1343, Naples

When the 1311 policy of forcing newly converted Jews to live dispersed among the Christians so that they should not be tempted back into Judaism failed, the reverse policy was attempted. Neophytes were forced to live together so that they could more easily be kept under surveillance. Those who relapsed were threatened with drastic punishment. (P.270)

1347, Messina

Several Jews were put to death at Messina on a charge of ritual murder. (P.247)

1348, Parma

In Parma, in 1348, there were riots against the Jews upon the outbreak of the Black Death. It is likely that other communities suffered abuses as well. (P.131)

1348, Mantua

The Jews of Mantua were held responsible for the outbreak of the Black Death and the populace started bloody riots. It is likely that other communities suffered abuses as well. (P.130)

1360, Rome

The city statutes of Rome ordered all male Jews, except the physicians, to wear a red tabard and the women a red petticoat. Officials were designated to supervise this and the populace was enlisted as accomplices, those who denounced offenders being granted half of the fine of eleven soldi. (P.139)

1366, Sicily

In order to ensure punctilious obedience to the ordinances restricting the Jews, Fra Nicholas of Palermo was appointed to the office of “Curator” or “Revisor” of the Jewish badge, which continued to exist so long as Jews remained in the island. It was henceforth supposed to take the form of a scarlet circle of “O,” not smaller than the largest royal seal, to be worn on the right side of the outer garment over the breast, a palms-breadth below the chin. Any irregularity was punished by a fortnight’s imprisonment. Not only the Jews had to be thus distinguished, but also their butcher shops, lest a Christian commit the sin of eating Jewish meat. (P.247)

1370

Primary among the enemies of the Jews were the Observantine Franciscans, who in a frenzy attacked the Jews everywhere, at all times and on all grounds. Old canonical restrictions to cut the Jews off from the Christians were reintroduced. In addition, Jews had to live in segregated areas of town, wear a prescribed badge so as to be always recognizable and could not work for Christians or own landed property. Most importantly, Jews could no longer practice usury. Paradoxically, this increased agitation against the Jews coincided with that marvelous artistic and intellectual revival known as the Renaissance. It is important to note, however, that the Renaissance spirit was also accompanied by a mood of piety and, sometimes, religious fanaticism. So though one aspect of the Renaissance benefited the Jews, the other was a constant menace. Though there were occasional violent eruptions, they did not blaze long nor extend over a large area. Italy thus maintained its record as the only European country that never knew a general persecution of the Jews. (P.153, 156)

1373, Sicily

The Holy Office began a fresh offensive against newly constructed synagogues in defiance of the canonical regulations. The inquisitors remained intermittently active and potentially dangerous. (P.247)

1376, Ferrara

Antisemitic verses were written by the court poet Francesco di Vannozzo. (P.128)

June 6, 1391, Sicily

A wave of massacre broke out at Seville, which in the end spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula and shattered the pride of Spanish Jewry. The massacres spread into Aragon and then spread overseas. Not long after, Martin, the successor-to-be of the Aragonese ruler, arrived in Sicily as king consort and the virus of intolerance came in his train. Before long, the disorders swept the entire country. (P.247)

June 1392, Sicily

The entire community was compelled at the sword’s point to receive baptism and those who refused were brutally murdered. Before long, attacks had also taken place in Palermo, Catania, Trapani, Syracuse and elsewhere. (P.248)

1393, Tuscany

The homes of Jewish loan bankers were sacked during a riot in 1393. (P.132)

1393, Florence

An attempt to introduce Jewish money lenders met with failure owing to popular aversion. (P.134)

1393, Palermo

Up until 1393, there was a marriage tax imposed on all Jewish marriages, the amount varying according to the number of cornet-players in attendance. There was also a tax on every birth, though at a lower rate for a girl than for a boy. In time of war or emergency, obligations increased. (P.234)

1394, Venice

A badge was prescribed for all Jews in the form of a yellow “O.” (P.140)

1396, Fermo

Jewish dwellings were sacked when the Ghibellines captured Fermo in 1396. (P.142)

1396, Sicily

Amidst considerable Jewish opposition, King Martin appointed his physician, the Catalan Joseph Abenafia, as Chief Judge over all of the Jewish communities in his realm, with full authority in civil and criminal matters, as well as Jewish law. When Abenafia died, successors, equally unpalatable, were appointed. In 1447 this unpopular office was finally abolished. (P.236-9)

1402, Rome

Due to abuses by the population in denouncing offenders of the statute ordering the wearing of a red tabard for men and a red petticoat for women, fresh regulations were issued. The Jews were also absolved from this obligation of the badge while in their own quarter. (P.140)

1402

Pope Boniface IX was exceptionally tolerant and in 1402 granted a charter of protection to the Roman Jewish community in which their rights as citizens were specifically recognized. (P.156)

1403, Sicily

In the Lent of 1403, there was an attack on the Jews of Marsala. (P.248)

1406, The Florentine Dominion

All money lending in any part of the Florentine dominion was prohibited under stringent penalties. This prohibition turner out, however, to be little more than blackmail and when a liberal gist was offered, the embargo was lifted. (P.134)

1408

Bernardino of Sienna, the ascetic head of the Oberservantines, abhorred Jews, believing it to be a mortal sin to eat or drink with one. He traveled barefoot throughout Italy with his perpetual sermons to repentance and enflaming crowds with his flamboyant oratory. He was in his day one of the most influential figures in the country. (P.162-3)

1408, Umbria, Viterbo, Orvieto, Sienna, Brescia, the Kingdom of Naples

Jew-hater Bernardino of Sienna, the ascetic head of the Oberservantines and former master of Capistrano, inveighed against the Jews of Umbria, Viterbo and Orvieto, with dire results. In Sienna he secured the enactment of some galling restrictions against them and the moneylenders. Thereafter he extended his agitation as far north as Brescia and as far south as the Kingdom of Naples. (P.162-3)

1410, Sardinia

The bishop of Sorres admonished the Christians of his diocese not to enter into relations with unbelievers, whether for business of otherwise. (P.266)

1411, Taranto

A quarrel between a neophyte and a sailor led to a general onslaught on persons of Jewish stock. (P.271)

1413, Sicily

On the night of Good Friday in 1413, there was an attack on the Jews of Polizzi. (P.248)

1414, Northern Italy

The Spanish anti-Pope Benedict XIII, whose concern with the Jews was in the nature of a monomania, issued a series of regulations of fantastic severity in the hope of securing a much-needed personal triumph. In response to this danger, the communities of northern Italy summoned a conference and established a Vigilance Committee to watch over the interests of Italian Jewry for the next 10 years. (P.156)

1415, Sicily

The queen expelled the Jews from her town of Vizini, at the request of the inhabitants. (P.248)

1416, Sicily

The Jews of Mineo were thrown into prison for venturing to go about on the royal business and attend service in their moscheta at Easter, when they should have remained cooped up in their houses. (P.248)

1417

The Vigilance Committee of 1414, established to watch over the interests of Italian Jewry, decided on a number of regulations to suppress various abuses in Italian Jewry – above all, anything that might ostensibly encourage antisemitic agitators (display of prosperity, personal costume, expensive jewelry, card-playing and gambling, entertainment at celebrations, large gatherings in the streets, etc.) (P.157)

1417

The name Giovanni da Capistrano, renown as “the scourge of the Jews,” was a figure more fraught with tragedy than almost any other in the whole course of Italian Jewish history. He was a champion of uncompromising orthodoxy and wherever he went he brought disaster to heretics and unbelievers. In 1417 he was commissioned to act as special inquisitor in Mantua. From this point on his propaganda against the Jews was incessant and their position became more and more serious. (P.158-9)

1417, Bologna

S. Niccolo Albertergati, on his appointment as bishop of Bologna, had put into execution in his diocese the friar’s program, including the wearing of the Jewish badge and segregation in a separate quarter of the city. In practice, the street to which the Jews were confined was generally contiguous to that set aside for those other social pariahs such as prostitutes. (P.160-1)

1417, Ancona, Umbria

The elegant preaching of Fra Jacopa da Monteprandone resulted in the execution of the friar’s program, including the wearing of the Jewish badge and segregation in a separate quarter of the city. These measures were enforced at certain places in Umbria as well. In practice, the street to which the Jews were confined was generally contiguous to that set aside for those other social pariahs such as prostitutes. (P.161)

1419, Northern and Central Provinces

Pope Martin V issued a Bull taking under his protection the Jews of the northern and central provinces, excluding Bologna and Ancona. This expression of benevolence was intended seriously. He authorized the Roman community to distribute part of its burden of special taxation among the others of the Papal States. He also forbade the baptizing of children under the age of twelve without their parents’ permission – an abuse that was becoming widespread and abolished the prohibition against the treatment of Christian patients by Jews. (P.158)

1419, Padua

The city of Padua applied, in 1419, for permission to expel the Jews outright. Permission was denied. (P.161)

1420, Sicily

During every Christian feast day, and there were a multiplicity of these, the Jews were forced to remain within their houses, with windows and doors closed, forbidden to do any work that could be seen from the street. (P.236)

1421, Palermo

The ancient obligation of the Jewish community to furnish the banners for the royal castles and ships (presumably an outcome of the association of Jews with the silk-weaving and dying industry) was abolished. (P.234)

1422, Lucca

When the penurious Emperor Sigismund passed through Lucca in 1422, he forced the Jews to disperse 1,000 ducats to him, as heir to the Roman emperors who had subjugated their fathers. (P.133)

1423, Venetian Territories

The Venetian government prohibited the Jews to own land or real estate, which had to be disposed of within two years. This was henceforth the rule in all the wide territories subject to the Serenissima (since 1394, no Jews were to be found in Venice itself). (P.161)

1423

An edict of protection issued by Pope Martin V in 1422 outraged Giovanni da Capistrano, “the scourge of the Jews,” who induced the Pope to withdraw it barely a year later. This was considered almost a summons to an antisemitic crusade. (P.159)

1426, Savoy

In 1426, there was a general onslaught on Jewish literature, where pious owners buried their books to save them from confiscation. (P.162)

c.1427, Duchy of Milan

There was a general onslaught on Jewish literature as a result of the agitation of an apostate named Vicenzo. (P.162)

1427

In 1427, Giovanni da Capistrano, “the scourge of the Jews,” persuaded the Queen of Naples to issue an edict canceling the privileges conferred on the Jews by her predecessors and enforcing all the traditional restrictions demanded by the friars. Protests ensued and the Pope intervened and the edict was repealed.
(P.159)

March 9, 1427, Venice, Ancona, Naples

Following an exaggerated report that blamed the Jews for the seizing of a Franciscan convent in the Holy Land, the Pope forbade the seafaring republics of Venice and Ancona, under pain of excommunication, to permit Jews to be conveyed to Palestine on their vessels. Some sea captains, in excess of zeal, went so far as to fling their Jewish passengers into the sea. This interdict remained in force for over half a century. In the kingdom of Naples, Queen Joanna not only promulgated this Bull, but also imposed a poll-tax of a third of a ducat on every Jew in order to indemnify the Franciscans for their loss. (P.160)

1427, Naples

Queen Joanna II, under the influence of Fra Giovanni da Capistrano, embarked on a campaign of persecution in accordance with the program of the Observantine Franciscans. She issued an edict ordering all communities of her dominions to surrender to Capistrano for cancellation of all privileges granted to them by former monarchs and to abandon usury and conform to other canonical restrictions. In the following August the queen withdrew her edict and restored the Jews to their former position. (P.274)

1428, Sicily

In obedience to an old papal bull that had taken on a new urgency, the Jews of the realm, together with the Saracens, were ordered to attend conversionist sermons given by the fiery Fra Matteo di Girgenti, who had received an official appointment as the “Reader to the Jews.” At the same time there was a renewed attempt to enforce the confinement of the Jews to separate quarters out of all contact with Christians, as had been legally obligatory for the last 100 years. In 1430, after gifts were given, the new legislation was revoked and Jews could live where they pleased. (P.249)

1428, Florence

A third plenary conference of the Italian Jewish communities met in Florence and issued various disciplinary regulations and new fiscal measures on the Jews. The result was seen in a new Bull issued by the Pope in February 1429. (P.160)

February 1429

A new Bull issued by the Pope, the result of the third plenary conference of the Italian Jewish communities, forbade the Franciscan friars from preaching against the Jews, attempting to interrupt their normal relations with their neighbors or infringing upon their religious rights. Seldom in the history of the Holy See had so sweeping a measure of protection been known. (P.160)

1429, Naples

A levy of one-third of a ducat on every Jew was issued in order to compensate the Franciscan convent in Jerusalem for its alleged sufferings at Jewish hands. (P.275)

1430, Sardinia

The position of the Jews of Sardinia deteriorated and the current Italian anti-Jewish codes – the conversionist sermons, Jewish badge, and so on – were put into force with rigor. (P.266)

1430, Savoy

Duke Amedeo VIII of Savoy issued drastic regulations for the control of the Jewish communities under his rule. The distinguishing and offensive Jewish badge was introduced in the form of a round patch of red material sewn in front of the outer garment and another behind the left shoulder. (P.136)

1430, Palermo

The Majorcan physician Moses Rimos, who treated Christian patients, was executed after being accused of plotting their death in the course of treatment. The ethical testament he left behind is one of the exquisite gems of medieval Jewish literature. (P.239)

1431, Pesaro

There was an outbreak of violence against the Jews of Pesaro in 1431, which was not perhaps isolated. (P.162)

1430, Piedmont

Amadeo V issued a series of regulations for the Jewish communities in which the friars’ persecutory program was embodied in full – confining them in a special quarter, compelling them to wear a distinguishing badge, forbidding the erection of new synagogues, threatening the severest penalties for any offense against the Christian religion, interrupting their social relations with non-Jews and, above all, suppressing the practice of usury. After his abdication, his successor, Ludovico, cancelled this last restriction, so disastrous to the interests of the ducal treasury. But the remainder of the code continued in force uninterruptedly from that time on. (P.161)

1434

Pope Eugenius IV never lacked incitement to action against the Jews and in 1434, in response to the General Council at Basil, he issued a Bull of unusual severity. Initially it was directed against the Jews of Spain, but afterwards extended to those of Italy. They were forbidden normal intercourse with Christians, to attend on them as physicians, to employ them for domestic service or as nurses, to dwell in the same houses, to build new synagogues, to engage in handicrafts, to settle in new places without permission, to be admitted to public office, to lend money at interest and, most distressing of all, to study the Talmud and the allied literature. (P.163)

1438, Aquila

Jew-hater Bernardino of Sienna, the ascetic head of the Oberservantines and former master of Capistrano, preached a series of twelve anti-Jewish sermons at Aquila. The church there subsequently boasted a number of converts. (P.163)

1439, Sienna

The Jewish badge was introduced into Sienna, though not, preposterous though this was, for the loan-bankers, who were in fact exempted not infrequently from the consequences of the reaction of which they were the principal cause. (P.161)

1443, Venice

Jews were forbidden to engage in any other profession than money lending. In addition, the authorities at Venice ordered the close of all Jewish schools of music, singing and other accomplishments. They were stopped from teaching these subjects under pain of imprisonment and fine. Nevertheless, this provision had to be re-enacted frequently. (P.130 and 196)

June 28, 1443

In response to Pope Eugenius IV’s Bull of 1434 and its countless restrictions, the Jews of Italy sent a delegation to Rome in an appeal for help. On June 28, 1443, the marquess of Mantua issued benevolent regulations empowering the Jews to settle in his dominions with the right to observe their religion publicly, to settle internal disputes using Talmudic law and to engage in all legitimate occupations without interference. (P.164)

c.1443

Pope Eugenius IV, recognizing that his regulations imposing restrictions on the Jews, made into law in his Bull of 1434, was economically inadvisable, decided to withdraw it. (P.164)

1447, Sicily

As a result of the sermons and complaints of Fra Giovanni da Capistrano, the Jews were forbidden to hold real estate and a special papal commissioner was appointed to investigate various charges against the Jews of breaches of canon law. Though nothing was found, it cost the community 3,000 ducats to withdraw the commission. (P.250)

1447

At the outset of his pontificate, Pope Nicholas V confirmed the rights of Jews to enjoy the privileges accorded them by Canon Law and issued briefs safeguarding the position of those of Ferrara and other territories subject to the house of Este, where the inquisitors had joined the friars in attacking them. (P.164)

1447

Due to Friar Capistrano’s influence, soon after confirming the rights of the Jews, Pope Nicholas V was induced to renew his predecessor’s persecutory Bull of 1443. He allowed only 15 days for these restrictions to be put into place. (See entry for 1434 for an outline of these restrictions) Capistrano himself was commissioned to see that these measures were carried out. The results were tragic and immediate. In Rome Jews had to barricade themselves in their homes to save themselves from the violence and the disorders spread throughout the Papal States and beyond. (P.165)

1448

The duke sent a sharp reminder to local officials ordering them to enforce his father’s restrictive regulations of 1430. These included confining them in a special quarter, compelling them to wear a distinguishing badge, forbidding the erection of new synagogues, threatening the severest penalties for any offense against the Christian religion, interrupting their social relations with non-Jews and, above all, suppressing the practice of usury. (P.162)

1448, Vercelli, Novaro

Segregation of the Jews and the wearing of a distinguishing badge were enforced. (P.162)

1450, Rome

Friar Capistrano staged a religious disputation in Rome and his opponent was so intimidated that he had to confess defeat and accept baptism along with some forty others. Capistrano felt so confident of his success in purging the Eternal City of the taint of unbelief that he even offered the Pope a ship in which the remnant of the Jewish community could be transported overseas. (P.165)

1450’s, Messina

A determined effort was made to oust the Jews from the profession of brokerage. (P.250)

1451, Sicily

Among the privileges secured in 1451, in return for a gift of 10,000 florins, the practice of medicine among all classes, without religious distinction, was thrown open to all. There was, however, a renewed attempt to compel them to listen to conversionist sermons, to the accompaniment of the inevitable annoyances and disorder. (P.240 and 250)

1451, Sardinia

The archbishop of Sassari attempted to confine the local Jewish inhabitants into a segregated quarter of their own. A successful appeal reversed this decision. (P.266)

1452, Cuneo

Franciscan agitators secured the expulsion of the Jews from Cuneo, but the blunder was soon realized and, after a month, they were recalled. (P.165)

1452, Lombardy

Though there was agitation in Lombardy, in 1452 its Jewish communities obtained through their duke, in consideration of the inevitable payment, a Bull safeguarding them against further clerical onslaughts. (P.166)

1453, Padua

After threatening divine vengeance unless conditions altered, the city of Padua obtained permission to expel the loanbankers on the expiration of the condotta (the careful conditions laid down in a document ratified between the civic Jewish loan-banker and the borrower) two years later. Before long, however, they were readmitted to the city three days a week. (P.166)

1453, Marsala

As with every Easter, the Jews throughout Sicily had to be protected from violence, though in Marsala in 1453 this protection came too late to prevent a bloody assault. (P.250)

1454, Piedmont

Franciscan agitators secured the expulsion of the Jews from the whole of Piedmont, but these were soon recalled. (P.165)

1454, Reggio

Owing to the propaganda of Fra Giovanni da Prato, there was physical violence in Reggio. (P.165)

1454, Apulia

Neophytes were relieved of all disabilities in return for a written undertaking to abandon Jewish practices. The results were disappointing. (P.271)

1454, Savoy

An edict of expulsion was issued, but was never executed. (P.136)

1455, Rome

On the accession to the papal throne of Capistrano’s Spanish disciple, Calixtus III, a riot took place against the Roman Jews, whose gift of a richly decorated Scroll of the Law aroused the mobs greed on this occasion. Later on, he too annulled the privileges granted by his predecessors and confirmed the adverse legislation of Eugenius IV and Nicholas V. (P.166)

1456, Taormina

The Dominicans of the beautiful hill-town of Taormina complained to the Pope that the Jewish synagogue and cemetery were inconveniently near their conventual church and orders were issued for their transference to a more convenient site. But this also proved unsatisfactory and within a year the new place of Jewish worship also had to be abandoned. (P.250-1)

1456, Marsala

On St. Stephen’s Day, the Jews of Marsala were forced to attend church and while there fire was set to their houses. That night they were attacked by brigands. (P.251)

1457, Alessandria

In 1457, unfriendly regulations in the city of Alessandria forbade the slaughter of animals for food according to Jewish rite, in a manner anticipatory of modern antisemitism. (P.128)

1458, Rome

The German Jews from the north and the Italian Jews from the south who immigrated to Rome were not allowed to construct any public synagogues in Rome and were severely punished by the Inquisition in 1458 for doing so. (P.188)

1458, Florence

An Observantine friar, named Visconti, turned his invective against the Jews and incited the populace to pillage their houses. The archbishop himself ordered him to stop and he was escorted from the city. (P.170)

1462

A campaign was conducted up and down Italy by the Franciscans on behalf of the Monti di Pieta (“Funds of Piety” – loan banks set up at the public’s expense in order to get rid of the Jews once and for all) with renewed violence against the Jews. The livelihood of the Jews was deeply affected by this innovation. Additionally, the populace was made to think that the Jewish loan-banker, with whom they had lived in amity for years, symbolized the very power of darkness. He began to appear in their eyes as the cause of their distress and bloody riots often ensued. The friars communicated the most atrocious anti-Jewish libels, from ritual murder downwards, adding to the flames. (P.168)

1467, Sicily

Jews were compelled to listen to conversionist sermons, to the accompaniment of the inevitable annoyances and disorder. (P.250)

March 13, 1468, Naples

A remarkable charter – unique perhaps in Medieval Jewish history – was granted to