To the illustrious King of France.

The impious perfidy of the Jews, from whose hearts, because of the immensity of their crimes, our Redeemer has not removed the veil, but has allowed the blindness that has come upon part of Israel still to remain, as is fitting, does not consider that Christian piety receives them solely out of mercy and patiently tolerates their living among us. Instead, it commits enormous acts that astonish those who hear them and horrify those who recount them.

For these people, ungrateful to the Lord Jesus Christ, who patiently awaits their conversion from the abundance of his long-suffering, show no shame for their guilt and no reverence for the honor of the Christian faith. Having abandoned or despised the Mosaic law and the prophets, they follow certain traditions of their elders, about which the Lord rebukes them in the Gospel, saying: “Why do you transgress the commandment of God and make it void because of your traditions, teaching doctrines and commandments of men?”

In such traditions, which are called Talmud in Hebrew and which form a great book among them, exceeding the text of the Bible immensely, there are said to be open blasphemies against God, his Christ and the Blessed Virgin, tangled fables, erroneous abuses and unheard-of foolishness. They teach and raise their children in these things and make them entirely alien to the teaching of the law and the prophets, fearing that if the truth contained in that law and in the prophets were understood, since it openly bears witness to the only-begotten Son of God who was to come in the flesh, they would be converted to the faith and humbly return to their Redeemer.

And not content with these things, they use Christian women as nurses for their children, in contempt of the Christian faith, and with them they commit many shameful acts.

Because of these things, the faithful must fear that they will incur divine indignation if they allow them unworthily to commit acts that bring confusion upon our faith.

Although our beloved son, the Chancellor of Paris, and the doctors teaching sacred Scripture in Paris, by command of Pope Gregory, our predecessor of happy memory, read and examined in part the aforesaid book of abuse and certain other books with all their glosses, and publicly burned them before the clergy and people to the confusion of Jewish unbelief, as we have seen contained in their letters, and although you, as a Catholic king and most Christian prince, gave suitable aid and favor in this matter, for which we commend your royal excellence with worthy praises in the Lord and give thanks,

nevertheless, since the profane abuse of these Jews has not yet ceased, and since affliction has not yet given them understanding, we earnestly ask, admonish and beseech your royal highness in the Lord Jesus Christ: as you have piously begun and laudably pursued this matter, continue by causing such detestable and enormous offenses, committed in contempt of the Creator and in injury to the Christian name, to be struck with due severity.

Order throughout your kingdom that both the aforesaid books of abuse, rejected by those doctors, and in general all books with their glosses that have been examined and rejected by them, wherever they may be found, be burned with fire.

Firmly forbid them from now on to have Christian nurses or servants, lest the children of the free woman serve the children of the slave woman. Rather, like servants rejected by the Lord, against whose death they wickedly conspired, they should at least recognize by the effect of their actions that they are servants of those whom the death of Christ made free, while it made the former servants.

In this way, we will be able to commend your sincere zeal in the Lord with worthy praises.

Given at the Lateran, on the seventh day before the Ides of May, in the first year of our pontificate.