XV. Conditions under which Jews must Make Oath, when, having been Converted, they give in their Confession of Faith.
I swear first by God the Father Omnipotent, who said, “By me shalt thou swear, and shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”; who made Heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is; who placed a boundary to the ocean, saying, “thus far shall thou come, and here shall thy swelling waves be broken.” Who also said, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool.” Who cast down the first and proudest angel from Heaven; before whose eyes the entire celestial host stood trembling; whose glance dried up the waters of the abysses, and whose wrath caused the mountains to melt away. Who placed Adam, the first man, in Paradise, and ordered him not to eat of the forbidden fruit, and who, having eaten it, He cast out of Paradise, and bound him, as well as all the human race, with the fetters of disobedience; who freely accepted the sacrifice of Abel, and worthily rejected that of Cain; who received in Paradise Enoch, together with Elias, in the flesh, before their time was accomplished upon earth; who, at the time of the flood, deigned to save Noah and his wife, and their three children and their wives, with the animals, and the birds of the air, and the reptiles, whereby the race of each was preserved; who caused Shem to be born of Noah, and from him Abraham, and from Abraham the Israelites to be derived; who chose the Patriarchs and Prophets, and blessed the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I swear by Him who made the promise to the holy Abraham, saying, “in thy seed all nations shall be blest,” and gave him the symbol of circumcision, as an eternal covenant. I swear by the God who overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and turned the wife of Lot, who looked backward, into a pillar of salt. I swear by Him who strove with Jacob, and, touching his thigh, caused him to become lame, saying, “thou shalt henceforth not be called Jacob, but Israel.” I swear by the God who liberated Joseph from the hands of his brethren, and caused him to find favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, and by whom all Israel was saved from famine. I swear by the God who rescued Moses from the waters, and appeared to him in the burning bush, and who, by his hands, brought the ten plagues upon the Egyptians; and who liberated his Jewish people from Egyptian slavery, and caused them to traverse the Red Sea with dry feet, when the waves, contrary to their nature, stood, as a solid wall, upon either side. I swear by the God who drowned Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea; and who, as a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, guided the Hebrews in the wilderness. I swear by the God who, upon Mount Sinai, gave the law to Moses written in His own hand, upon tables of stone. I swear by the God who made the mountain of Sinai to smoke in the sight of the Children of Israel. I swear by the God who chose Aaron for His first priest, and consumed the sons of the latter with fire, in the tabernacle, because they offered strange sacrifices before the Lord. I swear by the God who, by His just judgment, caused the earth to gape and swallow up alive Dathan and Abiran. I swear by the God who caused the bitter waters to become sweet by casting twigs into the same. I swear by Him who, through Moses striking the rock with his rod, caused great torrents to gush forth, to refresh the thirsty Jewish people. I swear by Him who, for forty years, fed the Israelites in the wilderness, and preserved their clothing entire, so that it did not wear with the using. I swear by Him who declared by His irrevocable mandate, that none of the Children of Israel should enter the promised land, except Joshua-Ben-Nun, and Caleb, whom he promised and predicted should enter there; for the Israelites did not believe the word of God. I swear by Him who declared to Moses that he would raise his hand, and the Jewish people would be victorious over the Malekites. I swear by Him who ordered our fathers to cross the River Jordan, and to take ten stones from that river as a testimony. I swear by Him who ordered all Israel, when they passed over the River Jordan, to be circumcised with knives of stone. I swear by Him who overthrew the walls of Jericho. I swear by Him who decorated David with the splendor of royalty, and rescued him from the hands of Saul, and of his son Absalom. I swear by Him who filled the temple with a cloud, and poured out His blessings therein. I swear by Him who carried up the prophet Elias in a whirlwind and a fiery chariot, from earth to the throne of glory; and by Him who, at the prayer of Elisha, and with a stroke of the garment of Elijah, divided the waters of the Jordan in twain. I swear by Him who preserved the three young men in the furnace of burning fire, before the eyes of a hostile king, He who holds the key of David, and who closes what no one shall open, and opens what no one shall close. I swear by Him who performed all miracles, and displayed all virtues and all signs, among the Hebrews, or among other nations. I swear by Him, and by the ten sacred commandments of the law. I swear by Jesus Christ, the Son of the Omnipotent Father, and by the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, which is one of the Trinity and the true God; and by the holy resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His ascension into Heaven, and by His glorious and terrible coming, when He shall judge the quick and the dead, showing Himself merciful to the just, and terrible to the wicked; and by the holy body and precious blood of Him who opened the eyes of the blind, and made the deaf to hear; restored paralytics to health; loosened the tongues of the dumb; healed those possessed of the devil; made the lame to run, and raised the dead; who walked upon the waters; who resurrected Lazarus, whose flesh was already decayed, restored him to life and strength, and changed sorrow into joy; who is the Creator of the world, the origin of light, the source of vigor; who illuminated the world by His birth, and redeemed it by His passion; who alone was free among the dead, and whom death could not hold; who broke into pieces the infernal gates, and, by the majesty of His presence, rescued souls from the power of hell; who, having conquered death, raised to Heaven, after His conquest of the world, that body which He had assumed upon earth; and who now sits at the right hand of the Omnipotent God, the Father, from whom He has received the eternal power of the celestial kingdom. And I swear by all the heavenly virtues, and by all the relics of the Saints and Apostles, and by the four Holy Gospels which have been placed under this my written oath upon the holy altar of Him of the sacred name, and which I touch and hold with my hands.
And all these things which I have taken care to renew in my confession, or have added thereto, which confession I have given, signed with my hand, to thee, the bishop governing this diocese, I have declared in all sincerity to have been offered, not with artifice or fraud, but in good faith, as stated in said confession. And I hereby renounce all the ceremonies of the Jewish ritual, and declare my belief in the Holy Trinity with all my heart, and promise that I will forever remain in the Faith, and will never again associate with the impious Jews; but that I will hereafter live, in all respects, according to the Christian customs, and take part in all their observances; and that I will keep, with all purity of heart, whatever concerns the practice of the Holy Faith, which has been set forth in my confession; and that I will always live according to the apostolic traditions and the canons of the Holy Church. And if I should violate the same in any respect, or dishonor the Holy Faith, or attempt to practice any Jewish rite, or deceive you, by this my confession, made under oath; or, under any pretext whatever, I should not, even unintentionally, perform the things which I have promised, as you believed, or understood that I did promise; then may there be visited upon me all the curses of the law which have been uttered by the mouth of God against those who disobey His commandments. And may there come upon me, and upon my house, and upon my children, all the plagues and afflictions of Egypt, as an example and a terror to others; and may I suffer the judgment of Dathan and Abiran, and the earth swallow me up alive. And after I have departed this life, may eternal fire receive me, delivered up to the devil and his angels; and may I, sharing the punishments of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, be given up to be burned; and when, at last, I shall come before the tribunal of the dreaded Judge and sublime King, our Lord Jesus Christ, may I be numbered among those to whom the terrible and glorious Judge shall say, “Depart from me, ye accursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” This oath was signed upon such and such a day and date.
XVI. Concerning the Christian Slaves of Jews, who have not Proclaimed Themselves Christians, and those who Expose Them.
All slaves, belonging to Hebrews, and who are members of the holy Christian communion, and who, henceforth, influenced, by their masters, do not declare themselves Christians, and remain under the yoke of their masters, for the reason that they have rejected the favor of liberty which was offered them, shall be doomed to perpetual slavery, and shall be given to whomever the king may select. Any person, by whose means this was exposed, if he should be the slave of a Jew, after having embraced the Christian faith, shall receive his freedom. If, however, the discovery was made by a Christian, he shall receive five solidi for every Christian slave, from him who is convicted of having violated this decree after its promulgation.
XVII. No Jew, under any Authority whatever, shall Dare to Oppress, Punish, or Imprison a Christian, Except by Order of the King.
No Jew shall have the power to rule, command, or restrain any Christian, except in cases where the king orders it to be done for the public benefit. If a Jew, acting under authority from any person, should presume to imprison, punish, coerce, or illtreat any Christian whomsoever, or should attempt to inflict upon him anything forbidden by law, or even what is not provided for by the laws, he shall either forfeit half of his property to the royal treasury, or, if he should not possess any property, he shall receive a hundred lashes, and have his head shaved. And where any person who is of noble rank, attempts to exercise this power over Christians, he shall be compelled to pay ten pounds of gold to the king; and where he is a person of inferior rank, he shall pay five pounds of gold. Those who have not the means wherewith to make reparation as aforesaid, shall receive a hundred lashes, and have their heads shaved.
ERVIGIUS, KING.
XVIII. If Slaves of Jews, not yet Converted, should Claim the Grace of Christ, they shall be Liberated.
The chosen apostle Paul, referring to something which happened at the time, or merely for the sake of truth, declared that Christ announced that, as we bestow liberty upon the faithful, so, also, we ought to afford infidels the opportunity to embrace eternal life. Therefore, if any slave belonging to a Jew should desire to be free from servitude, and seek the favor of Christ, no one shall retain him in bondage; no one shall oppose him in any way, or place any obstacle in his path; but, as soon as he shows himself to be a Christian, by his profession and his oath, and shall openly abandon, or reject the false doctrines of his master, he shall be at once released from slavery; and, removed, with all his property, from the control of his master, he shall fully enjoy the blessings of freedom; and the same rule which has been provided where Christian slaves have been emancipated, shall apply, in every respect, to his case.