VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 37
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus
To: The Jewish Community of Milan
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic grants the Jews of Milan legal protection for their synagogue and property rights against church encroachment, while maintaining a distinctly Christian framing -- a remarkable example of Ostrogothic religious tolerance grounded in Roman law.
[1] We gladly grant what is requested without injury to the law, especially when the benefits of justice ought not to be denied even to those who are known to err in matters of faith. Let them learn the sweetest taste of good things, so that those who strive to seek human justice may begin to think more carefully about divine judgment. [2] Therefore, since you complain that you are frequently harassed by the presumption of certain people and that the legal rights belonging to your synagogue are being violated, the protection of our clemency will answer your petition. No churchman is to invade by force what lawfully belongs to your synagogue, nor to involve himself in your affairs with aggressive hostility. Rather, let them be distinct in the practice of their religion as they are in the conduct of their lives. We grant the benefit of our royal protection with this condition: that you, for your part, do not presume to meddle with what legally belongs to the aforementioned church or to persons of the religious order. [3] Furthermore, the thirty-year statute of limitation, which protects all mankind, will be preserved for you by the same right as for everyone, and we do not allow you to suffer unreasonable financial losses. With the defense of our clemency thus secured, let your petition rejoice at being freed from unlawful burdens. We grant what you have asked, as is our custom of mercy -- but why, Jew, do you seek temporal peace when you cannot find eternal rest?
XXXVII.
IUDAEIS MEDIOLANENSIBUS THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Libenter annuimus quae sine legum iniuria postulantur, maxima cum pro servanda civilitate nec illis sunt neganda beneficia iustitiae, qui adhuc in fide noscuntur errare. atque ideo discant rerum bonarum suavissimum saporem, ut, qui humanam iustitiam nituntur quaerere, sollicitius incipiant divina iudicia cogitare. [2] Proinde quoniam nonnullorum vos frequenter causamini praesumptione laceratos et quae ad synagogam vestram pertinent perhibetis iura rescindi, opitulabitur vobis mansuetudinis nostrae postulata tuitio, quatenus nullus ecclesiasticus, quae synagogae vestrae iure competunt, violentia intercedente pervadat nec vestris se causis importuna acerbitate permisceat, sed ut religionis cultu, ita et actuum sint conversatione discreti: hac tamen moderatione principalis auxilii beneficium concedentes, ut nec vos quod ad praefatae ecclesiae ius vel religiosas certe personas legibus pertinere constiterit, inciviliter attrectare temptetis. [3] Tricennalis autem humano generi patrona praescriptio eo, quo cunctis, vobis iure servabitur nec commodalia vos irrationabiliter praecipimus sustinere dispendia, ut hac pietatis nostrae defensione muniti petitio vestra ab illicitis se liberatam gratuletur incommodis. concedimus quidem clementiae nostrae consuetudine quae rogastis: sed quid, Iudaee, supplicans temporalem quietem quaeris, si aeternam requiem invenire non possis?
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VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 37
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus To: The Jewish Community of Milan Date: ~522 AD Context: Theoderic grants the Jews of Milan legal protection for their synagogue and property rights against church encroachment, while maintaining a distinctly Christian framing -- a remarkable example of Ostrogothic religious tolerance grounded in Roman law.
[1] We gladly grant what is requested without injury to the law, especially when the benefits of justice ought not to be denied even to those who are known to err in matters of faith. Let them learn the sweetest taste of good things, so that those who strive to seek human justice may begin to think more carefully about divine judgment. [2] Therefore, since you complain that you are frequently harassed by the presumption of certain people and that the legal rights belonging to your synagogue are being violated, the protection of our clemency will answer your petition. No churchman is to invade by force what lawfully belongs to your synagogue, nor to involve himself in your affairs with aggressive hostility. Rather, let them be distinct in the practice of their religion as they are in the conduct of their lives. We grant the benefit of our royal protection with this condition: that you, for your part, do not presume to meddle with what legally belongs to the aforementioned church or to persons of the religious order. [3] Furthermore, the thirty-year statute of limitation, which protects all mankind, will be preserved for you by the same right as for everyone, and we do not allow you to suffer unreasonable financial losses. With the defense of our clemency thus secured, let your petition rejoice at being freed from unlawful burdens. We grant what you have asked, as is our custom of mercy -- but why, Jew, do you seek temporal peace when you cannot find eternal rest?
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.