Italy.
The Ostrogoths, the new rulers in Italy, were Arians. (p. 243.) The other group of Christians—the orthodox—called themselves Roman Catholics. Catholic means universal. Christianity claimed to be a universal Church and Rome had once claimed a universal Empire. This religious monopoly, the theory that this church offered the only saving creed, did sad mischief in the coming centuries. These Arian Ostrogoths were kinder to the Jews than were the catholics. The greater tolerance of the Arians may perhaps have been due to the fact that their idea of God was a little closer to that of the Jewish. But Arian Christians, always a small minority, soon disappeared, just as in the early days of the church, Jewish Christians were absorbed by pagan Christians. But as long as these two divisions of Christendom lasted, they were very bitter against each other. When a Byzantine army threatened the Ostrogoths, the Jews loyally stood by those who, if they had not treated them generously, had treated them justly. Later we find the Jews defending the seacoast of Naples for the Ostrogoths in 536. Only when overwhelmed by superior numbers did they at last surrender. Thus Italy, once the country of which Rome was the capital, was becoming the sport of nations. From the Ostrogoths it passed to the Byzantine Empire. Then in 589 it was seized by a tribe from the Elbe called Lombards. Its later story is told in the sequel to this book (History of the Mediaeval Jews).
The Popes.
But through all these changes, the city of Rome remained the religious centre of the Church as Jerusalem had been the religious centre of Judaism.
The Roman bishop (overseer) acquired power over all bishops in other Christian centres, and became the head of the Church with the title pope (Greek-father). In the course of time these popes exercised immense power, and we shall see kings trembling before them. For they came to be regarded as the representatives of God on earth. Whoever dared oppose their will was excommunicated, i.e., cut off. Then all shrunk from the person thus put under the ban as from a person smitten with leprosy; for the superstitious age regarded him as accursed and doomed. Very terrible was it when this dangerous power was in the hands of an unscrupulous pope, which not infrequently happened. But there were many good popes, too, and the Jews found among them, as we shall see, friends as well as foes.
Gregory I, one of the earliest and also one of the greatest, would not allow his bishops to molest the Jews, "whom God had found worthy to be bearers of His truth"; though he offered the bribe of remission of taxes for their conversion!
Slavery and Trade.
Slavery was still a recognized institution of society, due in part to constant warfare, the daily business of life and to the custom of enslaving prisoners of war. So slaves were in nearly every household and in the fields, taking the place of the humble toilers of to-day.
So we find Jews holding them likewise. They often converted them to Judaism and in all cases were kinder to them than most masters. But Gregory vigorously objected—not to slavery, but to the enslaving of Christians, and particularly to the possession of Christian slaves by Jews. The Church greatly feared that by proselytizing their slaves the Jews might increase their numbers. This was to be prevented at any cost.
If the question were asked why Jews came to trade in slaves, the answer would be because they were becoming traders in general, and traffic in slaves was part of the commerce of the age. It is then part of a larger question—how came the Jews to seek trade as a means of livelihood? First, by the law of necessity. Most other avenues of activity were being closed to them. Not permitted to own lands, they could hardly be agriculturists. Gradually the army, the public service and most of the professions were forbidden to Jews.