At this age of the world, there still existed a feeling of rivalship
between the Jew, the pagan, and the Christian; and, in truth, between
some of the different sects of the latter, as to which system of
religion should prevail. This state of facts often rendered the
condition of the slave peculiar.
The Jew and the Christian were in opposition from the very origin of
Christianity. The first persecutors of the Christians were the relatives
of the first Christians; the death of the Saviour and the martyrdom of
Stephen, the imprisonment of Peter, the mission of Saul to Damascus, and
a variety of other similar facts, exhibit in strong relief the spirit of
hatred which caused not merely separation, but enmity. The destruction
of Jerusalem, the captivity of the people who preserved the early
records of revelation, and the increase of the Christian religion, even
under the swords and the gibbets of its persecutors, only increased and
perpetuated this feeling.
The pride of the Gentile ridiculed what he denominated superstition:
while he smote the believer whom he mocked, he bowed before the idol of
paganism. The early heresies of those who professed the Christian name,
but separated from Christian unity, sprang generally from the efforts to
destroy the mysterious nature of the doctrine of the apostles, and to
explain it by the system of some Gentile philosopher, or to modify it by
superinducing some Judaic rite or principle. The Jew, the Gentile, and
the heretic equally felt elevated by his imagined superiority over the
faithful follower of the doctrine of the Galilean. Thus the sword of the
persecutor, the scoff of ridicule, and the quibbling of a false
philosophy, were all employed against the members of the church; and
among those who were by their situation the most exposed to suffering,
were the Christian slaves of the enemies of the cross. Even they who
belonged to the faithful had peculiar trials, because, frequently, in
times of persecution, masters, desirous of obtaining protection, without
actually sacrificing to idols, compelled their servants to personate
them in perpetrating the crime. They were frequently circumcised, even
against their will, by the Jewish owners. They were frequently mutilated
by the infidel master. They were also exposed to the continued hardships
and enticements of owners who desired to make them proselytes.
It was, therefore, at an early period after the conversion of
Constantine, enacted that no one who was not a Christian should hold a
Christian slave, upon that principle contained in _Lev._ xxv. 47, 48. We
find in the civil code, lib. i. tit. 10, “Judæus servum Christianum nec
comparare debebit, nec largitatis aut alio quocumque titulo
consequetur.” _A Jew shall not purchase a Christian slave, nor shall he
obtain one by title of gift, nor by any other title._
In a subsequent part of the title the penalty is recited, “non solum
mancipii damno mulctetur, verùm etiam capitali sententia punietur.” _Not
only shall he be mulcted by the loss of the slave, but he shall be
punished by a capital sentence._
By a decree of Valentinian III., found after the Theodosian code, and
entitled, “De diversis ecclesiasticis capitibus,” bearing date 425,
Aquileia, vii. of the ides of July, Jews and pagans were prohibited from
holding Christian slaves.
Thus by the laws of the empire at this period, no Jew or Gentile could
have any property in a Christian slave. This principle was not adopted
until a much later period by the Franks and other nations, and this will
account for the diversity of legislation and of judgment which the books
of the same period exhibit in various regions.
Another clause of the code was more comprehensive: “Græcus, seu paganus,
et Judæus, et Samaritanus, et alius hæreticus, id est, non existens
orthodoxus, non potest Christianum mancipium habere.” _A Greek or pagan,
a Jew, a Samaritan, and any heretic, that is, one not orthodox, cannot
hold a Christian slave._
The authority of Gregory over Sicily was not merely spiritual. He had a
temporal supervision, if not a full sovereignty, over the island.—The
document is ep. xxxvii. lib. ii. indict. xi.
* * * * *
GREGORIUS Libertino, Præfecto Siciliæ.
_De præsumptione Nasæ Judæi, qui altare nomine B. Heliæ construxerat, et
de mancipiis Christianis comparatis._
Ab ipso administrationis exordio, Deus vos in causæ suæ voluit vindicta
procedere, et hanc vobis mercedem propitius cum laude servavit. Fertur
siquidem quòd Nasas quidam sceleratissimus Judæorum, sub nomine beati
Heliæ altare puniendâ temeritate construxerit, multosque illic
Christianorum ad adorandum sacrilegâ seductione decepit. Sed et
Christiana, ut dicitur, mancipia comparavit, et suis ea obsequiis ac
utilitatibus deputavit. Dum igitur severissimè in eum pro tantis
facinoribus debuisset ulcisci, gloriosus Justinus medicamento avaritiæ,
ut nobis scriptum est, Dei distulit injuriam vindicare. Gloria autem
vestra hæc omnia districtâ examinatione perquirat: et si hujusmodi
manifestum esse repererit, ita districtissime ac corporaliter in eundem
sceleratum festinet vindicare Judæum; quatenus hâc ex causâ et gratiam
sibi Dei nomine conciliet, et his se posteris pro suâ mercede imitandum
monstret exemplis. Mancipia autem Christiana, quæcumque eum comparasse
patuerit, ad libertatem, juxta legum præcepta, sine omni ambiguitate
perducite, ne, quod absit, Christiana religio Judais subdita polluatur.
Ita ergo omnia districtissimè sub omni festinatione corrigite, ut non
solum pro hâc vobis disciplinâ gratias referamus, sed et testimonium de
bonitate vestrâ ubi necesse fuerit, præbeamus.
GREGORY to Libertinus, Prefect of Sicily:
Concerning the presumption of Nasas, a Jew, who had erected an altar in
the name of the blessed Elias; and concerning the procuring of Christian
slaves.
_God has willed that from the very beginning of your administration you
should proceed to the avenging of his cause; and he has mercifully kept
this reward for you with praise. It is indeed said that one Nasas, a
very wicked man, of the Jewish people, has, with a rashness deserving
punishment, constructed an altar under the name of the blessed Elias,
and deceitfully and sacrilegeously seduced many Christians thither for
adoration. It is also said that he has procured Christian slaves, and
put them to his service and profit. It has also been written to us that
the most glorious Justin, when he ought to have most severely punished
him for such crimes, has, through the soothing of his avarice, put off
the avenging of this injury to God._
_Do you, glorious sir, most closely examine into all the premises; and
if you shall find the allegations evidently sustained, hasten to proceed
most strictly to have bodily justice done upon this wicked Jew, so as to
procure for yourself the favour of God in this case, and to exhibit for
your reward, to those who will come after us, an example for imitation.
But, further, do you carry through, according to the prescriptions of
the laws, to their liberty, without any cavilling, every and any
Christian slaves that it may be evident he procured, lest, which God
forbid, the Christian religion should be degraded by subjection to the
Jews._
_Therefore do all this correction most exactly and quickly, that you may
not only have our thanks for preserving discipline, but that we may,
when opportunity offers, give you proof of our recognition for your
goodness._
* * * * *
Canon xxx. of the fourth council of Orleans:
Cùm prioribus canonibus jam fuerit definitum, ut de mancipiis
Christianis, quæ apud Judæos sunt, si ad ecclesiam confugerint, et
redimi se postulaverint, etiam ad quoscumque Christianos refugerint, et
servire Judæis noluerint, taxato et oblato a fidelibus justo pretio, ab
eorum dominio liberentur; ideo statuimus, ut tam justa constitutio ab
omnibus Catholicis conservetur.
_Whereas it has been decreed by former canons, respecting the Christian
slaves that are under the Jews, that if they should fly to the church,
or even to any Christians, and demand their redemption, and be unwilling
to serve the Jews, they should be freed from their owners upon a fair
price being assessed by the faithful and tendered for them: we therefore
enact that this so just a regulation shall be observed by all
Catholics._
At this period, 541, in this province and kingdom, the Jew had a good
title to his Christian slave, and could not be deprived of him except by
law, or for value tendered.
The first council of Macon was assembled at the request of King Guntram,
or Goutran, one of the sons of Clotaire I., to whom the division of
Orleans was left upon the death of his father in 561. This assembly was
held in 581. The sixteenth canon is—
Et licet quid de Christianis, qui aut captivitatis incursu, aut
quibuscumque fraudibus, Judæorum servitio implicantur, debeat observari,
non solum canonicis statutis, sed et legum beneficio pridem fuerit
constitutum: tamen quia nunc ita quorundam querela exorta est, quosdam
Judæos, per civitates aut municipia consistentes, in tantam insolentiam
et proterviam prorupisse ut nec reclamantes Christianos liceat vel
precio de eorum servitute absolvi. Idcirco præsenti concilio, Deo
auctore, sancimus, ut nullus Christianus Judæo deinceps debeat servire;
sed datis pro quolibet bono mancipio xii. solidis, ipsum mancipium
quicumque Christianus seu ad ingenuitatem, seu ad servitium, licentiam
habeat redimendi: quia nefas est, ut quos Christus Dominus sanguinis
effusione redemit persecutorum vinculis maneant irretiti. Quod si
acquiescere his quæ statuimus quicumque Judæus noluerit, quamdiu ad
pecuniam constitutam venire distulerit, liceat mancipio ipsi cum
Christianis ubicumque voluerit habitare. Illud etiam specialiter
sancientes, quod si qui Judæus Christianum mancipium ad errorem Judaicum
convictus fuerit persuasisse, ut ipso mancipio careat, et legandi
damnatione plectetur.
_And although the mode of acting in regard to Christians who have been
entangled in the service of the Jews by the invasions for making
captives, or by other frauds, has been regulated heretofore not only by
canonical enactments, but also by favour of the civil laws; yet because
now the complaint of some persons has arisen, that some Jews dwelling in
the cities and towns have grown so insolent and bold, that they will not
permit the Christians demanding it to be freed even upon the ransom of
their service; wherefore, by the authority of God, we enact by this
present act of council, that no Christian shall henceforth lawfully
continue enslaved to a Jew; but that any Christian shall have the power
of redeeming that slave either to freedom or to servitude, upon giving
for each good slave the sum of twelve shillings_ (_solidum_): _because
it is improper that they whom Christ redeemed by the shedding of his
blood, should continue bound in the chains of persecutors. But if any
Jew shall be unwilling to acquiesce in these enacted provisions, it
shall be lawful for the slave himself to dwell where he will, with
Christians, as long as the Jew shall keep from taking the stipulated
money. This also is specially enacted, that if any Jew shall be
convicted of having persuaded his Christian slave to the adoption of
Jewish error, he shall be deprived of the slave and amerced to make a
gift._
It was only at this period that we find any of the laws of the Franks
introducing the right of a Christian to refuse service to a Jew. This,
however, was not the case in all the territory, for that over which
Guntram ruled was but a fourth part of the empire.
The following is ep. xxi. lib. iii. indic. xii.
* * * * *
GREGORIUS Venantio, Episcopo Lunensi:
_Quod Judæi non possunt Christiana habere mancipia: sed coloni et
originarii pensiones illis præbere debent._
Multorum ad nos relatione pervenit, a Judæis in Lunensi civitate
degentibus in servitio Christiana detineri mancipia: quæ res nobis tanto
visa est asperior, quanto ea fraternitati tuæ patientia operabatur.
Oportebat quippe te respectu loci tui, atque Christianæ religionis
intuitu, nullam relinquere occasionem, ut superstitioni Judaicæ
simplices animæ non, tam suasionibus quam potestatis jure, quodammodo
deservirent. Quamobrem hortamur fraternitatem tuam, ut secundum
piissimarum legum tramitem, nulli Judæo liceat Christianum mancipium in
suo retinere dominio. Sed si qui penes eos inveniuntur, libertas eis
tuitionis auxilio ex legum sanctione servetur. Hi vero qui in
possessionibus eorum sunt, licet et ipsi ex legum distinctione sint
liberi; tamen quia colendis eorum terris diutius adhæserunt, utpote
conditionem loci debentes, ad colenda quæ consueverant rura permaneant,
pensionesque prædictis viris præbeant: et cuncta quæ de colonis vel
originariis jura præcipiunt, peragant, extra quod nihil eis oneris
amplius indicatur. Quodsi quisquam de his vel ad alium migrare locum,
vel in obsequio suo retinere voluerit, ipse sibi reputet, qui jus
colonarium temeritate suâ, jus vero juris dominii sui severitate
damnavit. In his ergo omnibus ita te volumus solerter impendi, ut nec
direpti gregis pastor reus existas, nec apud nos minor æmulatio
fraternitatem tuam reprehensibilem reddat.
* * * * *
GREGORY _to Venantius, Bishop of Luna_:
That Jews should not have Christian slaves, but that colonists and those
born on their lands should pay them pensions.
_We have learned by the report of many persons that Christian slaves are
kept in servitude by the Jews dwelling in the city of Luna, which is the
more grievous to us as it has been caused by the remissness of you our
brother. For it was becoming you, as well by reason of the place you
hold, as from your regard for the Christian religion, not to allow the
existence of any occasion by which simple souls may be subjected to the
Jewish superstition, not only by the force of persuasion, but by a sort
of right arising from power. Wherefore we exhort you, our brother, that,
according to the regulation of the most pious laws, it should not be
permitted to any Jew to keep a Christian slave under his dominion, and
that if any such be found under them, the liberty of such should be
secured by the process of law and the aid of protection._
_And as regards those who are on their lands, though by strict
construction of law they may be free, yet, because they have remained a
long time in the cultivation of the soil, as bound to the condition of
the place, let them remain to till the lands as they have used to do,
and pay their pension to the aforesaid men; and let them do all that the
laws require of colonists or persons of origin. Let no additional
burthen however be laid on them._
_But should any one of these desire to migrate to another place; or
should he prefer remaining in his obedience, let the consequences be
attributed to him who rashly violated the colonial rights, or who
injured himself by the severity of his conduct towards his subject._
_It is our wish that you be careful so to give your attention to all
these letters as not to be the guilty pastor of a plundered flock, nor
that your want of zeal should compel us to reprehend our brother._
* * * * *
The law of the empire in force through Italy and Sicily:
1. Slaves who were Christians could not be held by those who were not
Christians.
2. It being unlawful for others than Christians to hold them, these
others could have no property in them: the persons so held were entitled
to their freedom.
3. The church was the guardian of their right to freedom, and the church
acted through the bishop.
4. Consequently it was the duty, as it was the right, of the bishop to
vindicate that freedom for those so unjustly detained.
5. The right and duty of the pope was to see that each bishop was
careful in his charge, and this part of his charge came as much as any
other did under the supervision of his superior and immediate inspector,
and it was the duty of that superior to reprehend him for any neglect.
6. The law of each country was to regulate the duty of the master and
slave, and if that law made, as in Italy and its environs, the church
the proper tribunal for looking to the performance of those duties, any
neglect of the church in its discharge would be criminal.
7. Through the greater part of Italy and Sicily, at this period, the
pope was the sovereign, and it was only by his paramount influence that
the half-civilized Gothic and Lombard chiefs were kept in any order, and
their despotism partially restrained.
They were times of anarchy, between which and the present no analogy
exists. The Jews and separatists from the church were very numerous, and
on their side, as well as on that of their opposers, passion frequently
assumed the garb of religion, and the unfortunate slave was played upon
by each. The position of the pope was exceedingly difficult, for while
he had to restrain the enemies of the church on one side, he had to
correct the excesses of its partisans upon the other.
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