XIX. Jews shall not Rule Christians under the Authority of Mayors of Towns, or of Superintendents of Estates; and Concerning the Penalties to be Imposed upon Such as Appoint them to Office.
Where a Jew is invested with authority or power by any member of the laity, and by its means he obtains control over a Christian family, his authority shall be at once transferred to the king, and he who accepted it shall receive a hundred lashes, have his head shaved, and forfeit half his property to the public treasury. If any bishop, priest, minister, clerk, or member of a monastic order, should invest a Jew with authority over church affairs, he shall forfeit to the public treasury as much of his own property as is equal in value to that over which he gave said Jew authority. If, however, he should have no property, he shall be sent into exile, that he may learn under the restrictions of penance, how impious it is to confer upon infidels, authority over true Christians.
XX. Where a Jew comes from Another Country into any of the Provinces of Our Kingdom, he Must, at once, Present himself before a Bishop, a Priest, or a Judge; and What shall be Done under the Circumstances.
Where a Jew, residing in a city or province of our kingdom, makes application to a bishop, priest, or judge of that diocese or district, and it appears from the testimony of ecclesiastical witnesses, that he has abandoned the observance of the Sabbath, and the practice of the rites and ceremonies usually observed by members of his sect; and that he did not make use of any of the same, while wandering hither and thither, or did not seek a hiding-place anywhere, in which to observe said rites; and that, while at home, he is known to have conferred with Christians of approved faith, partaken of food with them, and participated in the Christian communion; and that, upon such days as his ceremonies were accustomed to be practised, he resorted to the church to receive the salutary instructions of the bishops and the priests; and if said Jew asserts that he cannot remain for any length of time, on account of inevitable necessity, or press of business; then a confession of faith, to be signed by him, shall be drawn up by the priest of the parish, and the said Jew shall promise therein that, whenever, upon his journey, he finds any of his sect observing their rites or festivities, he will avoid them. And the said priest shall draw up a letter, written with his own hand, directed to those ecclesiastics, in whose jurisdiction said Jew represents that he is about to travel, in order that, all suspicion of fraud being removed, said Jew whether traveling, or remaining in one locality, may not be subjected to religious restraint and discipline. If any Jew should violate this law, authority is given to any bishop or priest of the diocese, as well as to any judge, to punish him with a hundred lashes; nor shall he be permitted to return to his home, unless he is furnished with letters from the bishop or priest of the diocese in which he was unlawfully found. In said letters the number of days shall be especially noted; that is, dating from the time when said Jew made application to the bishop aforesaid, as well as those included in his absence until the day of his return.
XXI. How Assemblies of Jews shall Visit the Bishop on Appointed Days.
Every colony of Jews, in whatever city or province they may be situated, shall visit the bishop or priest of the diocese upon the Sabbath, and upon all other festival days, when they are accustomed to celebrate their rites; they shall not be permitted to wander about on said days; and during all such festivals, when they are suspected of performing their rites, they shall under no circumstances leave their homes without the permission of the priest. Each of said Jews on every Sabbath, after having bathed, shall visit a bishop, or a priest, and receive his blessing. And in localities where there is no priest, each of them shall visit the judges, or other approved Christians, and shall associate with them openly, in such a manner that, if inquiry be made, said persons may give favorable testimony concerning their Christian behavior. Jewish women, that is to say, the wives and daughters of Jews, to the end that they may have no opportunity to commit any error or transgression upon the festival days aforesaid, when they are accustomed to practise their rites, shall act, in every respect, as may be prescribed by the bishops or the priests to their husbands when present; that, like their husbands, they may not absent themselves from ecclesiastical control, and on all the festival days observed by their sect, may associate with such respectable and devout Christian women as the priests or bishops may select. If anyone shall be proved to have violated this edict, he shall be punished with a hundred lashes, and have his head shaved. And, as priests are sometimes influenced by the execrable temptations of the flesh, it is hereby especially enjoined, that they shall not take advantage of opportunities of this kind, for the indulgence of the same. Wherefore, we decree, with all severity, that every priest shall strictly observe this law concerning Hebrew women, and shall not take advantage of any occasion by which he may be polluted with their company. And if, at any time, a priest should pervert the zeal which he should employ for the benefit of Christianity, for the purpose of indulging his licentious passions, he shall be deprived of his holy office, and be sentenced to perpetual exile.
FLAVIUS ERVIGIUS, KING.
XXII. Where Anyone has a Jew in his Service, and a Priest Demands him, the Master shall not have a Right to Retain said Jew.
Where anyone of the laity has a Hebrew man or woman in his service, or under his protection, and by the exertion of his authority deprives them of the privilege of resorting at any time, to the bishop or the priest, or prevents them from going, for the sake of instruction, to ecclesiastics, on the days appointed for that purpose, he shall be excommunicated by the bishop, and be deprived of said slave which he attempted to restrain illegally, and for every slave so restrained he shall pay three pounds of gold to the king.
XXIII. All Restraint of and Control over the Jews shall be Vested in the Priesthood.