Nicolas Donin, the Talmud Trial of 1240, and the Struggles Between Church and State in Medieval Europe

Ricostruzione della vita, della biografia intellettuale e dell'opera di Nicolas Donin, ebreo convertito al cristianesimo, polemista antiebraico e antitalmudico, e promotore del primo processo pubblico contro il Talmud, tenuto presso la corte capetingia a Parigi nel 1240 e conclusosi con il primo rogo istituzionale di libri ebraici nell'Europa medievale.

Some of the historical questions surrounding the Paris trial of 1240 against the Talmud still await deeper understanding. Which institutions were involved in the event? What were their respective agendas as represented not just in the trial but in the intense succession of events involving the French and German Jewish communities in the 1230s and 1240s? And what was the role of Nicolas Donin, the convert from Judaism who prompted the trial, not only in the trial itself but in the other events of his time— particularly the struggles between the church and the state? In this essay I focus on Nicolas Donin, highlighting his background and his connection to contemporary events, in order to understand the role of a convert who became a central figure in the changing relations between Jews and Christians in the 13th century.