- Pablo Christiani
:"Paul Christian" redirects here. This was also a pen name of the 19th centurys occult author
Jean Baptiste Pitois ".Friar Paul Christian ("Pablo Christiani"), a figure of the thirteenth century, was born to a pious
Jewish family, with the name Saul. [Kobak, Joseph "Jeschurun" pg.21] He became a Christian convert and Dominican.He was believed to have been a student of Rabbi Eliezer of
Tarascon . [Lattes, Isaac "Kiryat Sefer" in "Medieval Hebrew Chronicles" II pg. 238] He married a Jewish woman and had children with her. Later, he converted toChristianity and took his children from his wife and made them Christians. [Kobak, Joseph "Jeschurun" pgs.21-22] He then joined theDominican Order of monks. [Ibid., pg.21] Prior to the1263 Disputation of Barcelona , he was known for followingNicholas Donin 's lead in attempting to ban theTalmud . His arguments centered on the "irrational" material within the text. [Ibid., pgs.1-15] His participation in theDisputation of Barcelona withNahmanides was to try his new missionary technique to bring Jews to Christianity.The failure in the Disputation did not, however, discourage Christiani. Provided through the agency of
Raymond de Penyafort with letters of protection from KingJames I of Aragon , he went on missionary journeys, compelling the Jews everywhere to listen to his speeches and to answer his questions, either in their synagogues or wherever else he pleased. They were even required to defray the expenses of his mission. In spite of the protection granted him by the king, Christiani did not meet with the success he had expected; he therefore went toPope Clement IV and denounced the Talmud, asserting that it contained passages derogatory to Jesus and Mary. The pope issued a bill (1264) to the Bishop of Tarragona, commanding him to submit all the copies of the Talmud to the examination of the Dominicans andFranciscans . A commission was then appointed by the king, Christiani being one of its members, to act as censors of the Talmud; and they obliterated all passages which seemed to them to be hostile to Christianity. In 1269 Christiani interceded with KingLouis IX of France and obtained from him the enforcement of the canonical edict requiring Jews to wear badges.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.