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Nicholas Donin (French:Nicolas Donin) ofLa Rochelle,[1] a Jewish convert to Christianity in early thirteenth-centuryParis, is known for his role in the 1240Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the publicburning of all available manuscripts of the Talmud.[2] Latin sources referred to him as "Rupellus," referring to his native La Rochelle.[3]
In 1225, Donin was excommunicated[4] from theghetto of Paris by RabbiYechiel of Paris. While the precise reason for his excommunication is not known, Yechiel himself claims that it was because Donin had become aKaraite, rejecting the authority of the Talmud along with the Rabbinic tradition of biblicalexegesis.[5] After ten years of living in excommunication, Donin was baptized into theRoman Catholic Church and joined theFranciscan Order. Other sources, however, claim that he converted well before meeting Rabbi Yechiel of Paris.[6]
In 1238 Donin went toRome, presented himself beforePope Gregory IX, and denounced the Talmud. Thirty-five articles against the Talmud were drawn up, which Donin charged with making virulent attacks on the Virginity ofMary and the divinity ofJesus.
The Pope was persuaded that the accusations were true and dispatched to the authorities of the Church transcripts of the charges formulated by Donin, accompanied by an order to seize all copies of the Talmud and deposit them with the Dominicans and Franciscans. If an examination corroborated the charges of Donin, the scrolls were to be burned, as they were an "insult to Christianity".
This order was generally ignored, except inFrance, where the Jews were compelled under pain of death to surrender their Talmuds (March, 1240).Louis IX ordered four of the most distinguished rabbis of France—Yechiel of Paris,Moses of Coucy,Judah of Melun, andSamuel ben Solomon of Château-Thierry—to answer Donin in a public debate. The rabbis were forbidden from denying the holiness of Jesus or Mary, as well as disputing any other central Christian doctrine, and Donin was declared victorious by the Christian officials presiding. Following the disputation, Louis IX condemned the Talmud to be burned. In 1242, fire was set accordingly to twenty-four carriage loads (ten to twelve-thousand volumes) of written works.
Kaufmann Kohler; Isaac Broydé (1901–1906)."Donin, Nicholas, Of La Rochelle". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.| International | |
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