Persecution of Jews in Italy

Roman and Eastern Roman emperors
Under Christian emperors, Jews were persecuted in the Roman and Eastern Roman Empires, which include forbidding Jews from marrying Christians and restricting Jewish ownership of slaves by Emperors Constantine I, Constantius II, and Theodosius I in the fourth century, prohibiting Jews from bearing witness against orthodox Christians in court by Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century, and forcing conversions of Jews to Christianity by Emperors Phocas, Heraclius, Leo III, Basil I, and Romanos I Lekapenos between the seventh and tenth centuries.

Ambrose of Milan
During the fourth century, Bishop Ambrose of Milan was hateful toward Jews. Ambrose defended a bishop involved in the destruction of a synagogue and expressed that he wanted to have burned down a synagogue with his own hands. He also blamed Jews for the death of Jesus Christ.

Philaster of Brescia
In 388, Bishop Philaster of Brescia encouraged the populace of Rome to set fire to a synagogue.

Ostrogothic Ravenna
After being incited by clergy, a Christian mob burned down synagogues in the Ostrogoth capital city, Ravenna, in 519.

Papacy
During his years as the Pope from 590 to 604, Gregory I complained of Jews being stubborn and considered Judaism as Jewish superstition, depravity, and faithlessness and was disgusted with converts that “return to their vomit.” Gregory also opposed Jews having ownership of Christian slaves and described Jews as “preachers of Antichrist”. Popes Stephen III in the eighth century, Leo VII in the mid-tenth century, and Gregory VII in the 11th century referred to Jews as being the enemies of God or Jesus Christ.

The popes of the papacy have made laws restricting Jewish people, which include Jews being prohibited from holding public office (1078, 1215, and 1442), prohibited from the construction of synagogues (1442 and 1555), prohibited from testifying against Christians (1442), forced to live in ghettos (1442, 1555, 1775, 1823, and 1850), forced to wear a Jewish badge and hat (1215, 1218, and 1555), and expelled from the Papal States (1569 and 1593). Pope Benedict VIII (1012-1024) ordered the execution of a number of Jews for alleged blasphemy against Jesus Christ.

The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical tribunal that was used to persecute heretics. It was initiated by the Catholic Church and established by Pope Gregory IX in the 13th century and lasted centuries. Officials of the Inquisition or inquisitors targeted suspected Jewish converts of Christianity that relapsed to Judaism and Christians that converted to Judaism. They were tortured and punished with death. Pope Julius III allowed the Franciscan Cornelio de Montalcino, who converted to Judaism, to be burned at the stake in Rome in 1554 and Pope Paul IV (1555-1559) had ordered over 20 Marranos (Spanish Jews that converted to Christianity that were secretly practicing Judaism) to be burned in Ancona.

Victor of Palermo
In 598, Bishop Victor of Palermo confiscated synagogues and converted them to churches.

Landolfo VI
Landolfo VI, prince of Benevento, forced a number of Jews into converting to Christianity in 1065.

Frederick II
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II required Jews in Naples and Sicily to wear a badge.

Blood libels
Jews were forcibly converted and killed in Trani in the 1290s after a blood libel, which falsely accuses Jews of having killed a Christian child for a ritual. In 1475, Jews were falsely accused of a blood libel for the death of Simon of Trent and over a dozen Jews were killed. Accusations of blood libel also occurred in Ancona in 1456, Bassano in 1485, Fano in 1492, and Asti in 1553.

Frederick III
King Frederick III of Sicily in 1310 prohibited Jewish doctors from attending to Christian patients in Sicily and in 1312 ordered Jews to live outside the city wall of Palermo in a ghetto.

Jewish ghettos
Ghettos were established for Jews in many locations in Italy between the 14th and 18th centuries. They were established in Palermo in 1312, Venice in around 1325 and again in 1516, Ancona, Bologna, and Rome in the 1550s, Florence and Siena in the 1570s, Mirandola, Padua, and Verona in the first decade of the 1600s, Mantua and Rovigo in the 1610s, Ferrara in 1624, Cento, Lugo, Modena, Pesaro, Senigallia, and Urbino in the 1630s, Conegliano Veneto, Este, Genoa, Reggio Emilia, and Turin between the 1660s and 1670s, Gorizia in 1696, Casale Monferrato and Vercelli in the 1720s, Acqui, Finale, and Moncalvo in the 1730s, and Correggio in 1779.

Modica massacre
In 1474, hundreds of Jews were killed by a Christian mob in Modica.

Bernardine of Feltre
Antisemitic sermons preached by the Franciscan Bernardine of Feltre in the late 15th century led to the expulsion of Jews from Bergamo, Brescia, Gubbio, Perugia, and Vicenza.

Expulsions by monarchs
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V expelled Jews from Naples in 1541, his successor Ferdinand I expelled Jews from Gorizia, and Duke Philip I of Milan expelled Jews from the Duchy of Milan in the late 16th century.