Agobard of Lyon was a ninth century Christian bishop well-known to students of early medieval jewish history in part because he was involved in encouraging the active prosecution of the jews in Frankish kingdom under Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious. He wrote several treatises against the jews none of which are more than a few pages long, which are filled with information about them and scholars agree (often grudgingly) that Agobard was well-acquainted with jewish culture and Judaism (although as far as we know he himself wasn't of jewish origin) in spite of being a fanatical opponent of both. 'On the Prevention of Socializing with the Jews' (my sense translation rather than a literal one) is one of Agobard's later writings against the jews appearing in 827 AD.
As no English translation I know of has appeared of these texts I have decided to translate the Latin original into modern English as these texts are not well-known but are of inherent value to anti-jewish thought precisely because they are rich in contextual information as well as highlighting a period of time when Christianity was a major force against Judaism as opposed to trying to placate it as is common now. (1)
To do this I have taken the text of Agobard's work from the 'Patrologia Latina' (Vol. 104, Col. 107-114) and translated it in relation to the meaning of text as to translate much of what Agobard says literally would be largely meaningless to most readers. I have also taken the liberty here and there of inserting qualifying words and phrases as to make the meaning clear without resorting to footnotes and thus hopefully making Agobard's text less stilted than it originally was.
On the Prevention of Socializing with the Jews
To the most blessed Father, from Agobardus, eternal greetings in God the Father and the Lord Jesus.
If the proximity of the places and the tranquility of things would permit, I would indeed like to speak more frequently with you face to face father, and whether in private or in more public necessities, I always consult your holiness. But since the distance between us prevent me from doing what I cannot do in person in words, I endeavor to accomplish by letters; bringing to your notice not my needs but those of the Church of God - and in because I do not find myself to be very strong in faith – I desire to be united with and protected by your virtue which would be a most strong and impregnable wall.
I write to let you know that during the present year - while I was going around our parishes with due solicitude and correcting those who seemed to be depraved and according to the strength that the grace of God bestowed - I denounced all who were in error and commanded them to conduct themselves according to the law of God and the institutions of the holy canons so that they - as true worshippers of the Christian faith - should with immediately separate themselves from the company of infidels. Certainly not of the gentiles - who do not dwell among us at all - but of the Jews, who are found to be widespread in our city and in some other neighboring cities.
Because it seemed both quite unworthy and unbecoming of our faith that the children of light should be darkened by the children of darkness, and that the Church of Christ - which was fittingly prepared without spot or wrinkle by the embraces of the heavenly Bridegroom - should be discolored by the company of the stained, wicked and evil Synagogue.
It is truly absurd for a chaste virgin - espoused to one husband Christ - to seek the food of a harlot, and through the communal eating of food [with the Jews] alone to fall into diverse crimes, but also in so doing endanger the faith. Since from familiarity and assiduous cohabitation some of the Christian flock indeed keep the Sabbath with the Jews but also violate the Lord's Day with unlawful conduct; nor do they observe the fasts [of the Church] and many women - even maidservants - are kept by the Jews as if they were their wives and some are even corrupted by them. Since they [the Jews] enjoy dominating them, lusting after them and deceiving them, because being children of the devil are just this: hateful, deceitful and full of deceptive flattery. All while they proudly proclaim themselves to be "the offspring of the patriarchs, the offspring of the just generation of prophets".
Those who say this are miserably ignorant that their own prophets themselves call them [the Jews] a sinful nation, a people heavy in iniquity, the seed of wickedness, the children of wickedness, the father of the Amorites, the princes of Sodom, and the people of Gomorrah.
But even those who do not know that the forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist, called them the offspring of vipers, and Saint Paul himself, who had once been one of them, now called them serpents as well as called them a wicked, perverse and evil generation. Hence some [non-Jewish] people from the villages and isolated rustics are led into such a sea of error so that they are led away from people of God by the observance of religion - and by no less certainty than ours - by the Jews and are to be suspected trying to seduce their peers with their impious mouths.
For when we saw the evil in the people entrusted to us increasing - and even spreading day by day - we endeavored to extend the hand of faith for the sake of those who had to fallen and to recall the hearts of those who were dying to the truth. For believing that just as the law of God formerly commanded them not to associate with uncircumcised men nor to hold a feast with them lest they deviate from the divine worship by marriage and socializing [with the Jews] and incline to the yoke of idolatry.
So now our people are forbidden and shall not have any part in eating, drinking, or dwelling with the unbelievers. Lest under the pretext of socialising they should be exhorted against believing the simple truths of the Christian faith and while listening to Jewish fables; they should be entangled in the inextricable snares of error.
And since we are unable to bring any of them to our spiritual path by virtue of our humanity and kindness, while they freely share their carnal vices; we are taken with spiritual feasts. For the divine law is provided by the Fathers in their canonical writings on the world; whose precepts - as far as we could - we have devoutly obeyed knowing the danger to the souls entrusted to us and fearing the loss of precious souls from our hands in the search for the divine.
Furthermore, certain envoys - and especially Evrardis, who is now the judge of the Jews - attempted to destroy our religious good work here by trying to undermine it under the pretext of imperial edicts. We have not yielded to him for a moment so that the true divine laws - and the venerable counsel of the holy Fathers - may continue to guide us - immovable and unwavering - in our observance. Nor have we dared to acquiesce to such dangerous orders - or to believe that a most religious and God-worthy prince may prescribe something contrary to the divine law or contrary to the sacred canons, which would put the safety of the Church in jeopardy. The Church whose faithful industry and admirable piety always watches over us so that the law of God may be observed everywhere and so that the canonical injunctions may be perpetually enforced so that the health and virtue of the Church may grow stronger and stronger every day.
Wherefore also thou, most blessed Father, who art the pillar and foundation of the house of God, stand upon the rock of the Church's observance. Immovable, fearless, unshaken, enduring the winds, rains, and floods of the storm, which foundation they can shake but cannot overthrow for they cannot prevail against it. Knowing, therefore, venerable Father, that all who are under the [Jewish] law, he hath placed under a curse, as the eyes are in their midst, and as the thorn in their bones, cursed also in the city, and cursed in the field, cursed in going in, and cursed in going out, cursed in the fruit of the womb and in the ground. He cursed their cattle, their barns, their storehouses, their lice and the remains of their lice, and none of them could be rescued from this so terrible and horrible evil and injury, except by him who died for us.
Knowing also that in those who do not wish to engage in the apostolic preaching not only should not undertake it, but also shake off the dust of secular society from their feet, and be forgiven on the day of judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah; the future for them is in the observance of the divine law, adherence to the canonical injunctions, to hold to those who are strong, to not refuse the divine law and to know that the faithful are also cursed with curses and damnations by the profane consortium of cursers and scoffers [the Jews].
Rather – as it should be with the neighbouring fellow bishops and brothers – we must fortify our unity so that by common consent and labor of all this evil may be removed from the Churches of Christ. Let us fulfill the joy of Mother Church - all speaking together, all knowing and all feeling - that is struggling to win souls for Christ, because we know that this is also the desire of our most gracious Redeemer. According to which he prays to the Father for us, saying: I do not ask for this one thing alone, but for all who will believe through their word in you, that all may be one, as the Father is in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us. So much is your confidence in us - that we may believe that your hopes and efforts will be fulfilled - or that you will be forgiven. Give us patience and solace, that we may be wise in all things, according to Jesus Christ, that with one accord we may praise God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
References
(1) For my other English translations of Agobard’s anti-jewish works see: https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/an-english-translation-of-agobard and https://karlradl14.substack.com/p/an-english-translation-of-agobard-a22