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ER 646
The law issued by King Ervig (AD 680-687) puts priests in charge of executing the anti-Jewish law and gives them a control over Jewish communities. The codification is known as Lex Visigothorum (issued and re-edited several times between 569 and 702).
XII.3.23
 
XXIII. FLAVIUS GLORIOSUS ERVIGIUS REX.
 
Ut cura omnis distringendi Iudeos solis sacerdotibus debeatur.
 
Horum omnium preceptorum multiplicem curam et exercendam in perfidis disciplinam illos nostra gloria, ut inpleant, exhortatur, quibus id agendum divina auctoritate committitur. Ait enim Spiritus ille, cuius orbem veritas inplet: "Stabunt sacerdotes in iudiciis meis et iudicabunt leges meas et precepta mea" [Ez 44: 24]. Proinde omni sacerdote hec, que hic conplexa sunt, inplenda decernimus, ita ut nullum Iudeorum pro ritu suo patiatur a quolibet defendi, nullum tueri; sed exemptos ab eorum patrociniis, quorum favoribus tueri videntur, in potestatis sue curam redactos pro eorum salvatione, quid illis catholice agendum forte conveniat, diligenter instituant; atque in hoc illis erit sollicitior cura, ne in quibuslibet supradictis capitulis hec institutio serenitatis nostre tepescat.
 
(ed. Zeumer 1902: 451-452)
XII.3.23
 
XXIII. GLORIOUS KING FLAVIUS ERVIG
 
All restraint of and control over the Jews shall be vested in the priesthood.
 
Those who are charged with the enforcement of our laws, and the infliction of punishment upon infidels, are earnestly exhorted to fulfil the duty imposed upon them by Divine authority; for the Holy Spirit, whose truth is coextensive with the world, has said "Priests shall sit in My judgment seat, and shall judge according to My laws and precepts." [Ez 44: 24] We decree that, hereafter, priests shall observe whatever is included in our laws and that they shall not suffer a Jew to be protected by anyone in the practice of his rites, but that all such Jews shall be exempt from the favour of those by whom they are shielded; and that said priests shall diligently take measures to bring all Jews under the control of the Church, for the sake of their salvation, which is the duty of all Catholic ecclesiastics; and that it will be their earnest care not to grow lukewarm in the enforcement of any of our aforesaid laws.
 
(trans. P.S.Scott 1910: 405-406)

Discussion:

This is one of thirty four laws that are the original contribution of King Ervig to the codification revised during his reign. Twenty eigth of this laws concerned Jews (Collins 2004: 236).
 

Place of event:

Region
  • Iberian Peninsula

About the source:

Title: Lex Visigothorum, Liber iudiciorum, Liber iudiciorum sive Lex Visigothorum
Origin: Toledo (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Lex Visigothorum is a codification of law first composed during the reign of King Leovigild (569-586) on the basis of the Code of Euric, but the origin of all extant manuscripts is its revised version from the reign of King Recceswinth (649-672). The codification was also enlarged in the times of King Ervig (680-687) and Ecgica (687-702).
Edition:
K. Zeumer ed., Liber iudiciorum sive lex Visigothorum, Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Leges nationum Germanicarum 1, Hannover, Leipzig 1902, 33-456.
 
Translation:
The Visigothic Code (Forum Judicum), trans. S.P. Scott, Boston 1910
Bibliography:
R. Collins, Visigothic Spain, 409-711, Oxford 2004.
J. Juster, "The Legal Condition of the Jews Under the Visigothic Kings Part I", Israel Law Review 11 (1976), 259-287.
J. Juster, "The Legal Condition of the Jews Under the Visigothic Kings Part II", Israel Law Review 11 (1976), 391-414.
J. Juster, "The Legal Condition of the Jews Under the Visigothic Kings Part III", Israel Law Review 11 (1976), 563-590.
K. Schäferdiek, Die Kirche in den Reichen der Westgoten und Suewen bis zur Errichtung der westgotischen katholischen Staatskirche, Berlin 1967.

Categories:

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς
    Public law - Secular
      Relation with - Jew
        Administration of justice - Ecclesiastical
          Public functions and offices after ordination
            Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER646, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=646
            Record by: Marta Szada
            last edited: 2018-11-22 14:31:20
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