THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW, LXXX, Nos.

3-4 (January-April, 1990) 207-220

ISIDORE OF SEVILLE: HIS ATTITUDE

TOWARDS JUDAISM AND HIS IMPACT ON
EARLY MEDIEVAL CANON LAW

BAT-SHEVA ALBERT, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan

ABSTRACT

This study presents a discussion of Isidore of Seville's attitude toward

Judaism and the Jews as reflected in his works, and offers a tentative
assessment of the impact of this attitude on medieval anti-Jewish legisla-
tion as reflected in the anti-Jewish decisions of the Fourth Council of
Toledo (633), over which Isidore presided and the decisions of which he
redacted.
Isidore's views on Judaism and the Jews are stated both in his polemi-
cal (De Fide Catholica) and in his exegetical works (Allegoriae and
Quaestiones in Vetus Testamentum). They were written for the instruc-
tion of the clergy, and anti-Jewish polemic was an important feature of
this educational program. Yet the sheer number and vehemence of his
anti-Jewish exegeses reveal the extent of Isidore's anti-Jewish attitude:
the Jews were the killers of Christ and were therefore condemned to
exile and persecution. Jews who persist in their faith should be con-
demned to servitude and eventually to extermination. Isidore's theologi-
cal anti-Judaism was translated into practical measures through the
legislation of the Fourth Council of Toledo.
Although the problem of Isidore's authorship of the Hispana is still
unresolved, all citations of the anti-Jewish enactments of this council in
the canonical collections of Burchard of Worms, Yvo of Chartres, and
Gratian prove his lasting influence. Two Toledan decisions were Isidore's
original and harsh contribution: Canon 60, calling for the removal of
Jewish children from their families and their education by Christians,
and Canon 65, forbidding Jews and Christians of Jewish origin (aut his
qui ex iudaeis sunt) to hold public office. Burchard, Yvo, and Gratian
retained Canons 59, 60 and 62. Gratian alone retained the original text
of the famous Canon 65 and included seven out of ten anti-Jewish
provisions of the Fourth Council of Toledo in his Decretum. As the
Decretum became almost the only source for previous canonical deci-
sions, it was Gratian who assured Isidore's lasting influence on anti-
Jewish legislation.

Isidore of Seville (ca. 560-636), the last of the Latin Church

Fathers, the head of the Catholic Church in Visigothic Spain,

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208 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

the great agent of transmission of the classical heritage to the

Middle Ages, had a strong impact also on the formation and
evolution of Christian medieval attitudes and legislation against
the Jews.
His contribution to anti-Jewish attitudes differs from that of his
predecessors-Jerome, Augustine, and Pope Gregory the Great.
Jerome and Augustine were extremely influential in this sphere
on account of their exegetical and literary achievements. As for
Gregory, many of his letters concerning the Jews were incorpo-
rated in important collections of canon law-such as those of Bur-
chard of Worms (ca. 965-1025) and Yvo of Chartres (ca. 1040-
1115). But only Isidore of Seville left his mark on both exegetic
literature and anti-Jewish legislation.
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to present a discussion of
the Isidorian attitude towards Judaism and the Jews as reflected
in his work, and to offer a tentative assessment of the impact of
this attitude on medieval anti-Jewish legislation, the latter on the
basis of the decisions of the Fourth Council of Toledo held under
Isidore's presidency in 633. I will also try to assess the effect of
Isidore's anti-Jewish legislation on early collections of canon law.
Isidore of Seville's views on Judaism and the Jews are stated
first in his polemical work De Fide Catholica ex Veteri et Novo
Testamento contra Judaeos,' and in his exegetical writings, the
Allegoriae quaedam sacrae Scripturae' and the Mysticorum ex-
positiones Sacramentorum seu Quaestiones in Vetus Testamen-
tum.3 Although other works by Isidore also contain references to
our topic, these are the major sources of his anti-Jewish attitudes.
None of these three works, not even the De Fide Catholica
contra Judaeos, was actually written for a polemical purpose;4
they were composed for the instruction of a Christian, more
specifically an ecclesiastical, audience, in the elements of Chris-
tian theology. Anti-Jewish polemic was an essential feature of
this program. Of course his polemics and his exegesis are wanting
in originality, a quality repulsive to Isidore's nature; but this

' Patrologia latina [henceforth PL], vol. 83, col. 449-538.

2 Ibid., col. 97-130.
3 Ibid., col. 207-424.
4 Cf. B. Albert, "De Fide Catholica contra Judaeos d'Isidore de Seville: La
polemique anti-juddique dans L'Espagne du VIIe siecle." REJ 141 (1982): 289-316.

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 ISIDORE OF SEVILLE-ALBERT 209

strict conformity to patristic sources was meant to serve his

purpose of transmitting their content as truthfully as possible.
I was able to trace over ninety percent of the sources of De
Fide Catholica contra Judaeos. As for the remainder, my failure
to do so is no final proof of Isidore's originality. If Isidore lacks
originality in his polemics and exegesis, the sheer number of his
anti-Jewish references and his emphasis on this topic are charac-
teristic of his attitude: one could credibly contend that Isidore is
actually obsessed by Judaism.
In his exegesis Isidore often neglects the literal sense as well as
the moral sense of the Bible. The anti-Jewish polemical aspect is
stressed more strongly in his mystic-allegorical exegesis than in
Jerome's exegetical works. Lacking both Jerome's linguistic ex-
pertise and knowledge of Hebrew and Judaism, as well as Augus-
tine's philosophical culture and insight, Isidore does not argue
with Judaism-he attacks its beliefs and adherents. In the Alle-
goriae he supplies the allegorical meaning of prominent figures
and events in the Bible. Out of the 170 allegories, sixty-three deal
with Judaism and the Jews, always in a derogatory manner.
Nineteen allegories accuse the Jews of deicide and two link the
Jews with Antichrist.
Isidore repeats the traditional Christian arguments against
Judaism. The first book of the De Fide Catholica5 contains an
exposition of Christology and an extremely detailed description
of the Passion and its historical consequences. The second book6
is of a more polemical nature and deals with the election of the
Gentiles, the abolition of the old law, and the efficacy of the
sacraments for ensuring salvation.
The christological sections of the work are not remarkable in
any way. However, in this conventional setting, as in other Isi-
dorian writings, we find several recurring anti-Jewish themes, the
most important of which is the description of the inherent wicked-
ness of the Jews, who had frequently been condemned by the
Prophets for their sins.7 This concept of Jewish sinfulness is also
repeated in the Allegoriae. Here the Jews are identified with Cain
the murderer, who is the first to prefigure the first-born people

S PL 83: col. 449-500.

6 Ibid., col. 499-538.
7 Ibid., col. 51 2D-5 13D.

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210 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

who killed Jesus;8 with Ham, with Reuben, who sinned with his
father's concubine,9 with Miriam, who was punished with leprosy
for denigrating her brother, and with Moses, who represents the
Synagogue which had become leprous after slandering Christ. 1
Isidore's hostile attitude towards the Jews finds expression in
the derogatory, even insulting, description of Judaism and the
Jewish people. Their heart is hard,11 and their religion is a "perni-
ciosa Judaeorum perfidia." 12 Furthermore, they are impious and
unfaithful"3 and given over to carnal desires. 14 They are as sterile
as they are numerous,15 and their utter stupidity is best represented
by Abraham's ass.16
This is no arbitrary selection of Isidore's anti-Jewish utterances,
nor is it a superficial impression left by a cursory reading of his
works. This is the result of a careful and quantitative examina-
tion of his writings. Examples of the denigration of the Jews in
Isidore's writings can be easily multiplied. The main reason for
Isidore's anti-Jewish attitude is the responsibility imputed to the
Jews for the Passion of Christ. This accusation of deicide consti-
tutes the central theme of his anti-Judaism. Not only did the Jews
assemble in order to perpetrate this crime-they were unanimous
in approving of it.
The formulation of this accusation surfaces as a leitmotiv:
Isidore repeats the accusation four times in the De Fide Catho-
lica,17 and in his Allegoriae, a shorter work, he mentions it fifteen

8 Allegoriae, col. lOOB.

9 Ibid., col. 106A: "Ruben primogenitus interpretatur visionis filius; populum
figuravit qui violavit cubile Dei Patris, quando carnem quam sibi Christus de-
sponderat confixit in patibulo crucis." This allegory is most representative of
Isidore's attitude. The allegorization of Reuben's lecherous conduct as referring to
the Crucifixion is very farfetched but serves Isidore's purpose of accusing the Jews
of deicide.
'1 Ibid., col. 109A.
De Fide Catholica, col. 462B: "O duritia cordis Judaici!"
12 Ibid., col. 450B: " . . . ad quorum refellendam perfidiam"; col. 460A: "perni-
ciosa Judaeorum perfidia."
3 Ibid., col. 449B, 460C.
14 Allegoriae, col. 35D.
15 Quaestiones, col. 240C, 241A.
16 Ibid., col. 250C: "Asinus autem ille insensata est stultitia Judaeorum. Ista
insensata stultitia portabat omnia sacramenta, et quod ferebat nesciebat."
17 De Fide Catholica, col. 479B, 485B-C, 486A, 487B.

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 ISIDORE OF SEVILLE-ALBERT 211

times directly, that is to say explicitly describing the execution of

Christ.18
In Christian theology the consequences of the part which the
Jews allegedly played in the Crucifixion are well-known; they lost
their independence, they were exiled, and their descendants were
condemned to bear the burden of their rightfully incurred punish-
ment. There follows a most important thesis underlying the Isi-
dorian anti-Jewish legislation: those Jews who persist in their
faith will be condemned to long-lasting servitude to the Chris-
19 9and
tians 20 This harshto
eventually sentence was
extermination.Thsarh

18 E.g., Allegoriae, col. 122C: "Christus est, quem cr

112A: "Dalila, quae Samson verticem decalvavit Synagogam significat, quae
Christum in loco Calvariae crucifixit." Decalvatio was a severe form of punish-
ment meted out in Visigothic Spain. In 590 Duke Argimund was punished by
decalvatio and by cutting off his right hand for his plot against King Reccared
(E. A. Thompson, The Goths in Spain [Oxford, 1969], pp. 103-104). Whether this
consisted of shaving or scalping is a thorny question (ibid., p. 104, n. 1), although
P. D. King (Law and Society in the Visigothic Kingdom [Cambridge, Eng., 1971],
p. 90, n. 5) thinks that scalping is more probable. Still, Isidore could have taken
the term from Jerome, who used it in the Vulgate (1 Chron 19:4: "Hanon pueros
David decalvavit"), and for describing Samson ("Samson quoque producit in
medium, nec decalvatum quondam Nazareum a muliere considerat," Adversus
Jovinianum, 1:23; PL 23:252D-253B). Jerome obviously used the term as refer-
ring to a shameful shaving of the hair. Isidore could thus easily combine these
meanings of decalvatio. Later, under King Ervig (680-687), decalvatio was a legal
punishment, for example, for treason (King, Law and Society, p. 40, n. 3) or for
failure to serve in the army (ibid., p. 77), and was widely used against the Jews
(ibid., pp. 134, 135, 136). See the important discussion of this punishment, as
found in geonic sources of the 8th century, in A. M. Rabello, The Jews in
Visigothic Spain in the Light of the Legislation [Hebrew] (Jerusalem, 1983),
pp. 150-151. For more "indirect" Isidorian references to the deicide see, for
example, Allegoriae, col. 112B: "Saul regni Judaici insinuat repromissionem, vel
reprobationem, sive ejusdem populi aemulationem, qui David, id est, Chistum,
injusto odio invidiae conatus est occidere. David filii Dei et Salvatoris nostri
expressit imaginem, sive quod insectatione Judaeorum injustam persecutionem
sustinuit, sive quia Christus ex ejus stirpe carnem assumpsit."
" Quaestiones, col. 255Bff
20 De Fide Catholica, col. 515A-B: "Multa enim peccata prius fecerant filii
Israel, sed nunquam sic traditi sunt tam longae perditioni et captivitati; quando
autem compleverunt mensuram patrum suorum; et post prophetarum necem
Christum interfecerunt, tunc peccata peccatis cumulantes, traditi sunt in longam
exterminationem." Col. 520A: "Nam illae repromissiones reparationis, quas eorum
prophetarum sermo complectitur, illi parti promittuntur quae ex Judaeis in Deum
creditura est; nam neque omnes Judaei redimendi sunt, neque omnes salvi erunt.

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212 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

precisely what Visigothic anti-Jewish legislation attempted to

achieve, namely the subordination of the Jews to the Christian
majority, a position designed to lead to the ultimate disappear-
ance of Judaism in Spain.21
A third recurring topic in Isidore's anti-Jewish works is the
bond between the Jews and the Antichrist. His source is probably
Jerome's Commentary on Daniel,22 where Jerome describes the
Antichrist as a Jew who will usurp kingship by cunning and who
will conquer the Romans by fraud. Jerome states that no Jew will
ever reign without the Antichrist's help and that the Jewish
Antichrist will persecute the Christians.
Isidore quotes this exegesis (partially or with variations) five
times in his literary works: he accuses the Jews of being the
Synagogue of Satan, and the Antichrist himself of being a Jew by
23
birth. Moreover, the Synagogue, faithful believer in the Anti-
christ ever since the Crucifixion,24 will at his advent submit the
Christians to severe persecution.25
It is important to note the recurrence of Isidore's ideas in the
anti-Jewish decisions of the Fourth Council of Toledo over which

Sed sceleratis et peccatoribus contritis atque consumptis, hi qui fide electi fuerint
salvabuntur."
21 Cf. B. S. Albert, "Un nouvel examen de la politique anti-juive Visigothique:
A propos d'un article recent," REJ, 135 (1976): 329.
22 Jerome, De Antichristo in Danielem 4, 11:21 (Commentarium in Danielem,
Libri III-IV, ed. F. Glorie [Corpus Christianorum, Series latina, 75A] [Turnhout,
1964], p. 917).
23 Quaestiones, col. 386D-387A: "Concubinam hoc in loco (Judg 8:31: Gide-
on's concubine) Synagogam vocat. Quae in novissimis temporibus Antichristo est
creditura de qua Joannes Apostolus in Apocalypsi ait: 'Qui dicunt se Judaeos esse
et non sunt, sed sunt Synagoga Satanae' (Apoc. 2.9). De qua ultimis temporibus
nequissimus filius, id est Antichristus est generandus."
24 Allegoriae, col. 113A: "Roboam filius Salomonis Jeroboam servus, quibus
Israel in duas partes divisus est significat divisionem illam in Domini adventu
factam, in qua pars credentium ex Judaeis regnat cum Christo, qui est ex David
genere ortus; pars vero secuta Antichristum, cujus ad cultum nefandae servitutis
errore constricti sunt."
25 Sententiarum libri tres, I, PL 83, col. 593B: "Gravius sub Antichristi tempori-
bus contra Ecclesiam desaeviet Synagoga, quam in ipso adventu Salvatoris Chris-
tianos est persecuta." Cf. Jerome, De Antichristo in Danielem, (IV), XI, 25/26,
p. 918: " . . . de Antichristo, qui nasciturus est de populo Judaeorum et de Baby-
lone venturus.. ."; ibid., 28/30, p. 920. For additional references to the special
relationship between the Jewish people and Antichrist, see Allegoriae, col. 129;
Quaestiones, 388AB.

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 ISIDORE OF SEVILLE-ALBERT 213

he presided; this recurrence proves that he formulated the Coun-

cil's decisions. Canon 66, repeating the prohibition of Jewish
ownership of Christian slaves, adds what one could call a typical
Isidorian justification for this interdiction: it is evil that followers
of Christ should serve the agents of Antichrist.26 In Canon 58,
forbidding the Christians to receive presents and bribes from
Jews,27 Isidore restates the correlation previously established in
the Allegoriae between Judaism and adherence to Antichrist.28
This statement, formulated in a conciliar decision, is most signifi-
cant, as it reveals the influence of Isidore's anti-Jewish thought
on the practical steps which he took as head of the Visigothic
Church to implement his views. Jews were to be brought to
conversion by all means short of physical violence, and those who
had been forcibly compelled to receive baptism were to remain
Christians. Isidore's theological anti-Judaism was thus translated
into practical measures through conciliar legislation.
The assessment of the later impact of this Isidorian legislation
on canon law must also be dealt with; any such discussion raises
the question of the authorship of the Hispana.
The first redaction of this important Visigothic canonical col-
lection, comprising conciliar decisions up to the Fourth Council
of Toledo, has been attributed to Isidore of Seville ever since the
ninth century. The supposed Isidorian authorship of the collec-
tion is a problem much debated by historians of canon law,29 and
it has a vital bearing on the subject matter of the rest of this
study.

26 Fourth Council of Toledo, col. LXVI, Concilios visigoticos e hispano-

romanos, ed. J. Vives, T. Marin-Martinez, G. Martinez-Diez (Barcelona-Madrid,
1963), p. 214: " . . . ut iudaeis non liceat christianos servos habere nec christiana
mancipia emere nec cuiusquam consequi largitate; nefas est enim ut membra
Christi serviant Anti-Christi ministris." On the Fourth Council of Toledo see
A. M. Rabello, ibid. pp. 56-59.
27 "Concilios," p. 211: "Multi quippe hucusque ex sacerdotibus atque laicis
accipientes a iudaeis munera perfidiam eorum patrocinio suo foveant, qui non
inmerito ex corpore Anti-Christi esse noscuntur, quia contra Christum faciunt."
28 Cf. above, n. 25.

29 A very short but useful discussion of the question is to be found in the article
by A. del Val, "Isidoro de Sevilla," Diccionario de historia eclesiastica de Espafia
(Madrid, 1972), 2:1214. Although Maassen and Le Bras rejected the attribution of
the Hispana to Isidore of Seville, Sejourn6 and Madoz strongly endorsed it, and
G. Martinez Diez, in La collecion canonica hispana (Madrid, 1966), 1:322, ex-
pressed the view that one cannot exclude the possibility of a direct involvement

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214 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

One may legitimately assume that the canons of the Fourth

Council of Toledo were formulated by Isidore, its president, as a
close textual examination of these decisions will bear out.30 All
references to, or citations of, those decisions to be found in the
canonical collections of Burchard of Worms, Yvo of Chartres,
and Gratian may be taken as proof of Isidore's lasting and direct
influence on anti-Jewish legislation. Moreover, if we accept the
general agreement among students of canon law that he played a
part in the early redaction of the Hispana,31 citations of refer-
ences to this source (either directly or by means of the False
Decretals which incorporated a great part of the Hispana), namely
conciliar decisions earlier than the Fourth Council of Toledo
in the works of the eleventh- and twelfth-century canonists ex-
amined here, would point to Isidore's indirect influence. The
Fourth Council of Toledo was a turning point in the history of
anti-Jewish legislation. The Council enacted ten canons (out of
seventy-five) concerning the Jews, thus reflecting the preoccupa-
tion of Isidore and King Sisenand with the Jews and their
conversion.
I have dealt elsewhere with the theological as well as the
32
historical background of these decisions. Here I would only
stress that two of the canons are entirely original and as such are

Isidore in this redaction. See also the less outspoken opinion of A. Garcia y
Garcia, "Derecho canonico," Diccionario de historia eclesiastica, 1:734-735, who
stresses the point that Isidore exerted great influence on all aspects of Visigothic
life and culture; and also R. Naz, "Hispana," in Dictionnaire de droit canonique
(Paris, 1957), 5:col. 1159-1160.
30 P. Sejourne, Isidore de Seville, le dernier Pere de l'Englise, son role dans
l'histoire du droit canonique (Paris, 1929), pp. 133-137; J. Fontaine, Isidore de
Seville et la culture classique dans l'Espagne visigothique (Paris, 1950), 2:808,
especially n. 4. For a recent discussion of the as yet unsolved problem of the
"Isidorian" authorship of the Hispana, see J. N. Hillgarth, "The Position of
Isidorian Studies: A Critical Review of the Literature, 1950-1975," Studi Medi-
evali 24 (1983): 870.
31 F. Rodriguez, "Los antiquos concilios espafioles: la edicion critica de la
coleccion canonica Hispana," Monumenta Iuris Canonici, Series C; Subsidia
(Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law, eds. S.
Kuttner and K. Pennington; Rome, 1980), 6:10; Rodriguez points out that the
origins of the Hispana are earlier than the Fifth council of Toledo (636); this
"primitive" redaction was used by the Spanish councils up to the Twelfth Council
of Toledo (681).
32 Cf. above, n. 21.

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 ISIDORE OF SEVILLE-ALBERT 215

an important part of Isidore's program for the progressive elimina-

tion of Judaism from Spain. This objective was to be realized
through an educational process. Canon 60 calls therefore for a
removal of all Jewish children from their families so that they
might be educated in monasteries or by faithful Christians.33
These steps would as a matter of fact bring them eventually to
conversion and absorption in Christian society. Canon 65 forbids
all Jews and those "aut his qui ex iudaei(s) sunt," meaning
Christians of Jewish origin, to hold public office.34 This was to
become the ideological basis for the theory of "limpieza de sangre"
("purity of blood") which excluded all Jewish converts or de-
scendants of conversos from office in sixteenth-century Spain.35
Our main concern here is to follow the Toledan anti-Jewish
legislation in the early canonical collections, thereby tracing the
scope of Isidorian influence.

3 Fourth Council of Toledo, canon 60 (Concilios visigoticos, p. 212): "Iudaeo-

rum filios vel filias ne parentum ultra involvantur errore, ab eorum consortio
separari decernimus deputatos aut monasteriis aut christianis viris ac mulieribus
Deum timentibus, ut sub eorum conversatione cultum fidei discant atque in
melius instituti tam in moribus quam in fide proficiant." For discussion, see
below, n. 37.
34 Ibid., Canon 65 (ibid., p. 213): "Praecipiente domno atque excellentissimo
Sisenando rege id constituit sanctum concilium, ut iudaei aut his qui ex iudaei(s)
sunt officia publica nullatenus adpetant, quia sub hac occasione christianis in-
iuriam faciunt."
35 See my discussion of Canon 65 of the Fourth Council of Toledo as a legal
argument for the exclusion of conversos from public office. This argument was
used by Pero Sarmiento in his "Sentencia-Estatuto (1449) and in the Memorial
written in its defense by the Bachiller Marcos Garcia de la Mora (surnamed
Marquillos de Mozarambros). See also the replies in defense of the Conversos
made by Lope de Barrientos, bishop of Cuenca, and especially Alfonso de
Cartagena. In his Defensorium unitatis Christianae de Cartagena explained the
preposition "ex" of the sentence "hii qui ex iudaeis sunt" as meaning spiritual (as
opposed to carnal) filiation and the present tense of "(ex iudaeis) sunt" as a proof
that this refers to actually observant Jews and not to Jews by extraction who were
("fuerunt") descended from ("ex") Jews. But these interpretations could not
prevent the literal interpretation of "hii qui ex iudaeis sunt" which was to be the
legal justification for the statutes of "limpieza de sangre"; cf. B. S. Albert, "The
65th Canon of the IVth Council of Toledo (633) in Christian Legislation and its
Interpretation in the 'Converso' Polemics in XVth Century Spain," in Proceedings
of the VIIIth World Conference of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem, 1982), pp. 44-48,
and the bibliography cited there. See also E. Benito Ruano, Los origenes del
problema converso (Barcelona, 1976), pp. 22f.

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216 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

Three of the canons of the Fourth Council of Toledo are

quoted by the three canonists mentioned above. Canon 60,36
which ordered all Jewish children37 to be educated by Christians,38
and Canon 62, which strictly prohibited any further relations
between Jews and Jewish converts,39 are of greater significance.

36 Cf. above, n. 32.

37 Although there is considerable support for the view that Canon 60 should be
understood as referring to baptized children of baptized Jews, a close examination
of the text does not bear it out. W. J. Pakter, De his quiforis sunt: The Teachings
of the Medieval Canon and Civil Lawyers Concerning the Jews (Johns Hopkins
University Ph.D. diss., 1974; University Microfilms International, 291), nn. 205,
207, and the discussion there. But Pakter adds that Agobard of Lyon (ca. 769-
840) and the Council of Paris-Meaux (845-846) understood it as referring to the
unbaptized children of Jewish parents (ibid.). Burchard of Worms and Yvo of
Chartres (cf. n. 38) had the following version: "ludeorum filios vel filias bap-
tizatos," but this was discarded by Gratian who adopted the original text of the
Fourth Council of Toledo, omitting "baptizatos" (cf. n. 38). Gratian's selection of
the original Toledan text (cf. above, n. 33) was ignored by Pakter. Cf. also
B. Albert "Un nouvel examen," p. 21, n. 103. Moreover, the text of the Excerpta
canonum from the Hispana, which dates from 656-665 (thus thirty years at most
after Isidore's death), proves definitely that Canon 60 deals with children born to
Jewish, not to converted, parents: 1, IX, titulus V, 3: "de filiis iudaeorum ut a
parentibus separati christianis debeant deputari": Concilio Toletano IV, tit. 60.
Compare with ibid., Canon 4: "de filiis fidelium iudaeorum ne praevaricatis
parentibus et damnatis a rebus parentum exules fiant." It is obvious that Canon 4
deals with children from converted ("fideles") Jews who have relapsed; Canon 3
and Canon 5 (quoting Canon 65 of Toledo IV, "ne iudaei vel si qui ex iudaeis sunt)
deal with unconverted Jews.
More proof, if needed, is supplied by the text of the Hispana Sistematica
written in Spain between 675 and 681 and based on the Excerpta: Martinez-Diez,
La collecion canonica, 2:417: 1. IX, 3: "Ex concilio quo supra," IV, Canon 60: "De
filiis iudaeorum at a parentibus separati christianis debeant deputari." 4: "ex
concilio quo supra, col. 61: De filiis iudaeorum, ne praevaricatis parentibus
damnatis a rebus parentum exules fiant." The author always adds an adjective
(baptizati Iudaei, praevaricatis parentibus) when he refers to converted Jews. This
(although we do not have as yet a critical edition of the Hispana), the Excerpta,
and the Hispana Sistematica prove that in the seventh century Isidore's canon was
understood to apply to Jewish children born to Jewish parents, just as Gratian
understood it.
38 Burchard of Worms, Decretum libri XX. PL 140,1. 4, cap. 83, col. 742; Yvo
of Chartres, Decretum, PL 161 p. I., col. 124. Gratianus, Decretum Corpus Iuris
Canonici, ed. E. Friedberg, II pars, causa XXVIII, quaest. I. c. 11 (Leipzig, 1879,
reprinted Graz, 1959), p. 1087.
3 Fourth Council of Toledo, Canon 72, Concilios visigoticos, p. 212: "Saepe
malorum consortia etiam bonos corrumpunt; quanto magis eos qui ad vitia

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 ISIDORE OF SEVILLE-ALBERT 217

The third canon retained by the canonists is 59, which deals with
Jewish converts who relapse and practice circumcision. They are
to be compelled to return to Christianity; their circumcized chil-
dren are to be taken away from them; as for circumcized slaves,
they must be set free.40
Canon 65,41 which excluded both Jews and their converted
descendants from public office, is of special interest. Burchard of
Worms adopted a less severe decision concerning Jews holding a
position of authority over Christians in a canon, falsely attributed
to the Council of Paris-Meaux (845-846), according to which
42
Jews were not to act as bailiffs or tax-farmers. It does not,
however, forbid Jews to hold any kind of authority over Chris-
tians, and in no way refers to Christian officials of Jewish origin.
Yvo of Chartres reverted to the Toledan decision but seems to
have been somewhat puzzled as to what was actually intended by
it. He therefore simplified the text,43 but in doing so he only
succeeded in confusing his readers; he omitted the first part of the
original sentence ("Iudaei aut his qui ex iudaei[s] sunt"), retaining
the last part, and opening his quotation with "qui ex judaeis,
officia publica nullatenus adpetant" ("those who are [descended]
from Jews must not by any means seek public office"). Whether
this referred to the Jews, to members of their households, or to
their converted offspring is a matter of interpretation, but the
Toledan equation of Jews and converts of Jewish origin was lost.
Gratian, as usual, was very prudent with his sources; he quoted
the full text of Canon 65. Whether he was or was not aware of
the possible implications of this decision on office-holding by
Jewish converts cannot be ascertained, but the inclusion of this

sunt? Nulla igitur ultra communio sit hebraeis aut fidem christianam translatis
cum his qui adhuc in veteri ritu consistunt, ne forte eorum participio subvertantur.
Quiquumque igitur amodo ex his qui babtizati sunt infidelium consortia non
vitaverint, et hii christianis donentur, et illi publicis caedibus deputentur." Cf.
Burchard of Worms, Decret. 1. 4, Canon 84, col. 742(?); Yvo of Chartres, Decret.,
P. I. cap. 278, col. 124; Gratianus, Decret., p. II, c. 23, col. 1087.
40 Fourth Council of Toledo, Canon 57, Concilios visigoticos, pp. 211-212:
Burchard of Worms, Decret., cap. 85. col. 742-743; Yvo of Chartres, Decret.,
P. I., cap. 270, col. 124; Gratian, P. III, D. 4, c. 94, col. 1392.
41 Cf. above, n. 33.
42 Burchard of Worms, Decret., C. XV, cap. 31, col. 903.
43 Yvo of Chartres, Decret., P. XIII, cap. 97, col. 820-821.

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218 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

canon in the Decretum was of utmost importance, as Gratian was

the first canonist to do so.44
Furthermore, Gratian also adopted two other anti-Jewish
canonical decisions of the Fourth Council of Toledo which were
not quoted by earlier canonists. He selected Canon 61, which
states that the children of Jewish relapsi are not to be deprived of
their property,45 and Canon 63 ordering the conversion of Jews
married to Christian women. Children born of such marriages
were to be raised in the faith of their mother, whose social status
would also be theirs; as to children born to Jewish mothers and
Christian fathers, they would understandably be raised in their
father's faith.46 Gratian was thus the most important agent in the
transmission of the Isidorian anti-Jewish legislation, as he selected
seven out of ten anti-Jewish provisions of the Fourth Council of
Toledo for his collection.
It now remains to consider in detail the indirect Isidorian
legacy bequeathed to medieval canon law. This consists of anti-
Jewish decrees (other than those enacted by the Fourth Council
of Toledo), as exemplified in the early recension of the Hispana
collection, which is generally considered to be contemporaneous
with Isidore.
One can hardly be definitive about this legacy as Burchard of
Worms and Ivo of Chartres were acquainted with the Hispana
through the False Decretals or the Hibernensis,47 rather than with

44 Gratian, Decret., II pars, causa 17, quaest. 4, c. 31, p. 823: "Constituit

sanctum concilium ut Iudei, aut hii qui ex ludeis sunt (Tolet. IV, 65) offitia
publica nullatenus appetant . . ." Still, Pope Innocent III did not bother himself
with the interpretation of "hii qui ex Judaeis sunt," and therefore seems to have
used the appropriate decision of the Third Council of Toledo (589), Canon 13,
Concilios visigoticos, p. 219: "Nulla officia publica eos (Judaeos) opus est agere
per qua eis occasio tribuatur poenam Christianis inferre." Cf. Decretales C.V.,
c. 16, Corpus Iuris Canonici, t. II, c. 777, Concil. Lat. IV; "Quum sit nimis
absurdum, ut blasphemus Christi in Christianos vim potestatis exerceat, quod
super hoc Toletanum Concilium provide statuit nos propter transgressorum aud-
aciam in hoc generali concilio innovamus prohibentes ne Iudei publicis officiis
praeferantur, quoniam sub tali praetextu Christianis plurimum sunt infesti." For
further discussion of the question of ineligibility for office and the interpretations
of "hii qui ex ludeis sunt," cf. Pakter, De his quiforis sunt, pp. 228-229.
45 Canon 61, Concilios visigoticos, p. 212.
46 Canon 63, ibid.
47 R. Naz, "Hispana," Dict. de droit canon., 5:1159. The author of the False
Decretals used the Hispana Gallica Augustodinensis, a Gallic edition somewhat
different from the early Spanish version (ibid.).

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 ISIDORE OF SEVILLE-ALBERT 219

the Visigothic edition of the Hispana. Still, several of the non-

Spanish anti-Jewish decrees found in the Hispana were adopted
by both Burchard of Worms and Yvo of Chartres. These are two
relatively unimportant pieces of legislation. At the so-called Coun-
cil of Carthage (426), participants in "Jewish superstition and
celebrations" were to be excommunicated.48 The Council of Agde
(506?) ruled that prospective Jewish converts to Christianity were
to undergo an eight month's catechumenate before baptism.49
Yvo of Chartres, who was obviously much more interested in
the Jews and in Jewish-Christian relations than Burchard of
Worms, retained two earlier anti-Jewish canons which can be
traced to the Hispana. These enactments deal with an important
aspect of everyday Jewish-Christian relations, namely the sharing
of meals. This had already been prohibited by the famous Spanish
council of Elvira (300?-306?), which excommunicated Christians
who shared meals with Jews,50 but this was again prohibited by
the Council of Agde.5"
Turning to Gratian, we must consider whether he derived this
material from Burchard and Ivo or, as seems more likely, directly
from the Hispana via the False Decretals. In any case, he retained
only the prohibition against taking part in Jewish banquets as
enacted at Agde.52
To sum up, clearly the anti-Jewish canons of the Fourth Coun-
cil of Toledo were incorporated into the great eleventh- and
twelfth-century collections of canon law. Out of fourteen canons
concerning the Jews which appear in his collection, Burchard of
Worms selected four canons of the Fourth Council of Toledo.
Five supplementary items may be traced to the Hispana, probably
via the False Decretals. Yvo of Chartres deals with Judaism and
the Jews in thirty canons. Seven were taken from the Fourth

48 Burchard of Worms, Decret., 1. X, cap. 7, col. 834; Yvo of Chartres,

Panormia, 1. VII, cap. 72, col. 1323B. Cf. Hispana, PL 84. c. 207.
4' Burchard of Worms, Decret. 1. IV, cap. 81, col. 742; Yvo of Chartres,
Decret., P. I, cap. 275. CF. Hispana, c. 268.
50 Ivo of Chartres, Decret. XIII, cap. 117, col. 826; cf. Hispana, c. 269.
51 Yvo of Chartres, ibid., cap. 119, col. 826; cf. Hispana, c. 307. Histoire du
droit canonique, VII, c. 1087.
52 Gratian, II pars, quaest., c. 45, c. 1087. Still one should remember that
Gratian borrowed heavily from earlier canonical collections, especially from Yvo
of Chartres: J. Gaudemet, "Collections canoniques et codifications", Revue de
droit canonique, 33, 2 (1983): 83.

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220 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

Toledan Council; four others were derived from the Hispana.

Nonetheless it was Gratian who selected seven Toledan anti-
Jewish decisions, retaining the harsher enactments, namely the
forced Christian education of Jewish children (Canon 61) and the
exclusion of Jews and their baptized offspring from public office
(Canon 65). Isidore of Seville had clearly succeeded in his en-
deavor; with the assistance of Gratian, the greatest of the canon-
ists, he was to exert a strong influence on later conciliar and
papal anti-Jewish canonical legislation.
Finally, we should bear in mind that Gratian's Decretum be-
came almost the only source for previous canonical decisions. To
quote Horst Fuhrmann, "Whatever did not figure in Gratian's
Decretum was non-existent, whatever did figure in it, was de-
finitive."53

53 H. Fuhrmann (Einfluss und Verbreitung der pseudo-isidorischen Falschungen

von ihrem Auftauchen bis in die neuere Zeit [Stuttgart, 1972-74], 1:50) quotes
F. Maassen, Geschichte der Quellen und der Literatur des canonischen Rechts,
Vorrede, pp. viiif.

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