THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS

NOTES ET MÉLANGES

Rau l GONZÁLEZ - SALINERO* University of Salamanca

THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS IN THE VANDAL AND CATHOLIC CONTEXT OF THE 5TH CENTURY IN NORTH .

Quodvultdeus was deacon of the Church of when toward 428 he wrote to , his master and friend, asking him for a heresies catalogue. After some years, in July of the year 437, he was elected bishop of the same city, while the invading were seizing the north of Africa. His episcopate was brusquely interrupted when banished Quodvultdeus and all his clergy after the conquest of Carthage in October 19th of 4391. So, firstly, the Carthage bishop constituted a direct connection with the moment immediately prior to the Vandal invasion, when the Afri- can had become strongly consolidated in North Africa, above all after its victory against Donatism. And, secondly, he represented the Catholic attitude and reaction to the religious consequences brought by such invasion. With respect to the topic of the Jews, Quodvultdeus reflects in his writings what we could designate the “official” anti-Jewish attitude of the Catholic of North Africa, as well as the unfavourable situation in which the Jews were as compared to the Catholic Church, in contrast with what was going to happen in the Vandal period.

* Researcher of Junta de Castilla y León in the Dept. of Ancient History (University of Salamanca). 1. U. Moricca, Storia della letteratura latina cristiana. III: La letteratura dei secoli V e VI da Agostino a Gregorio Magno, parte I, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1932, p. 707; P.D. Franses, Die Werke des hl. Quodvultdeus, Bischof von Karthago gestorben um 453 (Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Lud- wig-Maximilians-Universität zu München), J.J. Lentnerschen, München, 1920, p. 50.

Revue des Études Juives, 155 (3-4), juillet-décembre 1996, pp. 447-459 448 THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS

The Jews had been present in the North of Africa from immemorial time. According to Jerome2, a continuous chain of Jewish settlements extended in that time (toward 420), from Mauritania in the West through Magreb, Egypt and Palestine, to India in the East3. Special mention should be made of the Jewish communities situated in port cities, such as, for example, Carthage and Hippo Regius4. Though they are not abundant, there are sufficient archaeologic and epigraphic testimonies exist referring to synagogues to prove this wide extension of Judaism in North Africa: in Carthage, Naro, Utica, , Sifitis, Cesarea, , , &c5. This Jewish presence in the society of North Africa entailed a religious and social threat for the Christians, since, with their influence, the Jews could also deprive the Church of some of its staunch supporters. To judge by the measures adopted against the Jews of Africa6, it is possible to sup- pose that at the beginning of the 5th century Jewish influence had not been reduced at all7. Even though their peculiarities were maintained, Jewish integration in Roman Society seems to be unquestionable8. To some extent, this would be reflected in the perfect linguistic assimilation of observed in the Jews of Africa9. Only two or three registrations in Hebrew exist, while most of them are written in Latin or in Latin characters and, in some cases, in

2. Epistulae, 129, 4. 3. Vid. H.Z. Hirschberg, A History of the Jews in North Africa. Vol. 1: From Antiquity to the Sixteenth Century, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1974, p. 55; W.H.C. Frend, The Donatist Church. A Movement of Protest in Roman North Africa, Oxford University Press-At the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1952, pp. 250, 267 and 308-309. 4. H.M. Dennis, from the Earliest Times to the Arab Conquest, Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1970 (=1924), p. 16. 5. S. Krauss, Synagogale Altertümer, Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, Hildesheim, 1966, pp. 266-267; Y. Le Bohec, “Les sources archéologiques du judaïsme africain sous l'Empire romain”, C. Iancu et J.-M. Lassere (Dirs.), Juifs et judaïsme en Afrique du Nord dans l'Antiquité et le haut Moyen-Âge. Actes du Colloque international du centre de recherches et d'études juives et hébraiques et du groupe de recherches sur l'Afrique antique (26-27 Septembre 1983), Université Paul Valéry U.E.R. IV, Montpellier, 1985, pp. 13-31. Outstanding among all the archaeologic remains are those of the synagogue of Naro (3th-4th centuries), near Tunisia, where a with several symbols and three valuable Latin in- scriptions was discovered in 1881 (vid. H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., pp. 50-51). 6. Vid. notes 21 and 22. 7. B. Blumenkranz, “Die christlich-jüdische Missionskonkurrenz (3. bis 6. Jahrhndert)”, Klio. Beiträgezuralten Geschichte, 39, 1961, p. 227; M. Simon, Verus Israel. A Study of the Relations between Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire, trasl. by H. McKeating, The Littman Library-Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1986 (= Paris, 1964), p. 289. 8. F. Millar, “The Jews of the Graeco-Roman Diaspora between Paganism and Christian- ity, AD 312-438”, J. Lieu; J. North; T. Rajak (Ed.), The Jews among Pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire, Routledge, London-New York, 19942, p. 103. 9. Ibidem, p. 99. THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS 449

Greek; and it is still more evident in the onomastics10. Thus, this linguistic assimilation constituted a feature which defines the adjustment of the Jews to the African-Latin Society, with Latin as an essential vehicle for their influence. The presence of the Jews introduced, then, certain “Judaizing” influ- ences in the Christian religion itself, since in daily life there was conflu- ence, for example, between the Christian paschal celebration and Jewish Passover11. Some Christians still observed the Sabbath or certain Jewish prescriptions on food, which involved the imminent danger of conversion to Judaism12. The infiltrations of concepts, beliefs and Jewish mores, among the pagan population, as well as among the Christian one, became conven- tional and even the use of talismans, amulets and “magic names” of a Judaic nature was generalized13. For this reason, the preoccupation of the Church with “Judaizing” is constant, considering it, as Augustine does, harmful for the Christian faithful14. Ire was specially unleashed against the “Heaven-Worshippers” (caelicolae), a Judaizing sect of Africa of the 4th and 5th centuries, of which no clear or sure evidence has reached us, ex- cepting the news that Augustine provides15. This also mentions a certain Aptus who belonged to one of those Christian groups affected by certain Judaizing influences16, groups which, though they did not ever manage to constitute a movement of serious proportions, did however have entity enough to disturb the authorities of the Church17. Augustine18 reflects this problem insisting on the mistake entailed in the fact that these groups desig- nated themselves with the term “Jews”, warning, as the rest of the Chris- tian literature does, that even though the Christians are the real Jews19, this appellative should never be used to refer to Christians20. The threat of the Jewish problem became so serious that the Church in- cited the Imperial power to take measures in order to stop Jewish influ-

10. H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., pp. 67-69. 11. A.-G. Hamman, La vie quotidienne en Afrique du Nord au temps de Saint Augustine, Hachette, Paris, 1979, p. 196; M. Simon, op. cit., p. 332. 12. H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., p. 54. 13. Ibidem, pp. 83 ff. 14. Vid. C. Aziza, “Quelques aspects de la polemique judéo-chretienne dans l'Afrique romaine (IIe-VIe siècles)”, C. Iancu et J.-M. Lassere (Dirs.), op. cit., pp. 51-52; M. Simon, op. cit., p. 332; B. Blumenkranz: “Die christlich-jüdische…”, p. 230. 15. Epistulae, 44, 6, 13. Vid. H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., p. 54; A. Chouraqui, La saga des Juifs en Afrique du Nord, Hachette, Paris, 1972, p. 53. 16. Augustine, Epistulae, 196, 16. 17. M. Simon, op. cit., p. 332. 18. Epistulae, 196, passim. 19. Vid., for example, Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, 75, 1; Epistulae, 82, 18. 20. L.H. Feldman, Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World. Attitudes and Interactions from Alexander to Justinian, Pricenton University Press, Pricenton (New Jersey), 1993, p. 407. 450 THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS ence21 and introduced anti-Jewish precepts in the canons of the African Councils22. Also, the Fathers of the African Church, among whom we can find Quodvultdeus, tried to face this problem in their public disputes and in their proclamations, from which numerous accusations and sharp anti-Jew- ish insults emerged23. When the Church consolidated its dominant position in Africa at the be- ginning of the 5th century, its relationship with the State came to constitute a perfect symbiosis. The Church used it as an instrument of religious coer- cion exercised against Heretics, Pagans and Jews, all of whom were an ob- stacle to religious unity around the Catholic creed24. To judge by the references that Augustine had made to the Jews, the co- existence of the two religions could not be peaceful and he recommended that the catechists take into account the objections regarding the Jews in order to expound them to the catechumens25. In this way, following Augus- tine, the Christians accused the Jews of being avaricious, despicable and of maintaining bygone customs (such as, for example, that of the Sabbath or the circumcision), in addition to having persecuted the Christians, together with the Pagans26. Augustine endeavoured to explain the Christian rejection of the Sabbath, the circumcision, &c. in order to confute their influence on the Church followers27. In his discussion with the Jews and in his argumen- tation addressed to the Pagans, he used the fulfillment of the biblical quota- tions as authority, though, contrary to other Christian authors, he showed his concern about eliminating all Jewish influence within them, introducing, necessarily, interpretations that made it possible to overcome his aversion for the language and content of the Judaeo-Christian Scriptures28. His idea of the Jewish diaspora in the Roman Empire is of special interest; accord-

21. Codex Theodosianus, XVI, 5, 44 (year 408) and 46 (409); and XVI, 8, 19 (409). 22. Council of Carthage (419), c. 196; Council of Hippo (427), c. 6. Vid. J. Parkes, The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue. A Study in the Origins of Antisemitism, Soncino, London, 1934, pp. 176 ff.; A.M. Rabello, Giustiniano, ebrei e samaritani alla luce delle fonti storico-letterarie, ecclesiastiche e giuridiche, Dott. A. Giuffrè, Milano, 1988, II, pp. 537- 539; A. Chouraqui, La saga…, p. 52; B. Blumenkranz “Die christlich-jüdische…”, p. 229. 23. H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., p. 54. 24. P. Brown: “Religious Coercion in the Later Roman Empire; The Case of North Af- rica”, P. Brown, Religion and Society in the Age of Saint Augustine, Faber and Faber, Lon- don, 1972, p. 303. 25. A.-G. Hamman, op. cit., p. 200. 26. Augustine, Sermo, 62, 18; Tractatus in Ioannis Evangelium, 38, 5; De unico Baptismo: contra Petilianum liber I, 3, 4; Enarrationes in Psalmos, 118, 7, 1; Epistulae, 36, 24; &c. Vid. A.-G. Hamman, op. cit., p. 199. 27. D. Rokeah, Jews, Pagans and Christians in Conflict, The Magnes Press-The Hebrew University-E.J. Brill, Jerusalem-Leiden, 1982, p. 67. 28. Ibidem, p. 92. THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS 451 ing to this, the Jews, as a deserved punishment, would wander through the world, without a nation of their own, as “witnesses” of the confirmation of the Christian truth29. In fact, Augustine's attack on the Jews tries to incite conversions to Christianity among those that were approaching Judaism and tries to pre- vent the influence that this exercised on the Catholic faithful30, which is a vive reflection of the existence of a religious conflict between both faiths. In this sense, there seems to be no doubt that the Jews were in confronta- tion with the Christians in the commercial and maritime city of Hippo, the same as in all the port cities. The two groups met each other and had rela- tionships, but no marriages were established between them, in spite of the fact that they mingled in daily life31. In this atmosphere of aggressiveness towards the Jews, Quodvultdeus re- ceived his training. His thought is impregnated with anti-Jewish influences from Augustine and, in general, from all the previous Patristic tradition. In this way, and through his pastoral action, Quodvultdeus developed an anti- Jewish attitude in order to contain and confute the influence deployed by the Jews, among other opponent groups32. The Church, having been estranged from Judaism a long time before, tried to define not only its doctrine, but the action to take against Jews and Heretics33. To underline and to spread its doctrine it had to deny that of the

29. De Civitate Dei, 4, 34; Sermones 201, 3 and 374, 2; Epistulae 137, 16; De fide rerum, 6, 9; Contra Faustum Manichaeum, 12, 12, &c. Among the considerable bibliography existing on the topic of the Jewish controversy in Augustine, the following different sign projects can be mentioned: A.J. Springer, Agustine's use of Scripture in His Anti-Jewish Polemic, Theological Seminary, Louisville, 1989; J. Ál- varez, “El antisemitismo de San Agustín”, Augustinus, XXVI, 1981, pp. 5*-16*; B. Blu- menkranz, Die Judenpredigt Augustins. Ein Beitrag zur Heschichte der jüdich-christlichen Beziehungen in den ersten Jahrhunderten, Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, 1946; Idem, “Augustin et les Juifs. Augustin et le Judaïsme”, Recherches Augustiniennes, I, 1958, pp. 225- 241; R. Kirschner, “Two Responses to Epochal Chance: Augustine and the Rabis on Ps. 137 (136)”, Vigiliae Christianae, XLIV, 1990, pp. 242-262; T. Raveaux, “Augustinus über den jüdichen Sabbat seiner Zeit”, Revue des Études Augustiniennes, XXVIII, 1982, pp. 213-224; P.C. Bori, “The Church's Attitude towards the Jews: an analysis of Augustine's Adversus Iudaeos”, Miscellanea Historiae Ecclesiasticae, VI. Congrès de Varsovie, I: Les transforma- tions dans la société chrétienne au IV siècle, Nauwelaerts, Bruxelles, 1983, pp. 301-311; S. Cohen, “The Jews as Killers of Christ in the Latin Tradition, from Augustine to the Friars”, Traditio, XXXIX, 1983, pp. 1-17; P. Fredriksen, “Excaecati occulta Justitia Dei: Augustine on Jews and Judaism”, Journal of Early Christian Studies, 3, 1995, pp. 299-324. 30. Augustine, Sermo, 300, 5. Vid. M. Simon, op. cit., p. 366. 31. A.-G. Hamman, op. cit., p. 118. 32. B. BLumenkranz, Les auteurs chrétiens du Moyen Âge sur les Juifs et le judaïsme, Mouton & Co, Paris-La Haye, p. 20. 33. E.L. Abel, The Roots of Anti-Semitism, Associated University Press-Fairleigh Dic- kinson University Press, New Jersey, 1975, p. 177: “Occasionally the Jews foolishly partici- 452 THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS

Jews, for which, an essential point was the use of the Ancient Testament34. Thus, a search for textual links began with the idea of redemption that the Catholic Church supported. For this, biblical quotation indices directed to catechizing emerged from the beginning of Christian literature. These col- lections, testimonia, were used from early times, the Ad Quirinum Testi- moniorum libri III of Ciprian of Carthage perhaps being outstanding. Many others continued this line, for example Lactantius, Commodianus, Firmicus Maternus, Lucifer of , Jerome, Pelagius, Augustine, &c. and, now, Quodvultdeus with his work Liber Promissionum et Praedictorum Dei35. Quodvultdeus, according to the Adversus quinque Haereses and the Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, associates Judaism (and Paganism) with the heresies, as was customary in the Patristic tradition (Hippolytus, Epiphanius, Filastrius, &c.) and even in the imperial legislation36, which was greatly influenced by that tradition37. And, in this sense, his attitude was only that which was often shown to Arians or Pelagians. In fact, these sermons would be the last copies of texts intended for rebutting several Church “adversaries”38, among which the Jews are inevitably found39. It seems that the sermon Adversus quinque Haereses in particular was intended for the final instruction of the catechumens before their baptism40, in which the attitude that had to be maintained with Heretics, Pagan and Jews was taught in detail. Regarding the latter, the sermons of Quod- vultdeus reflect an indisputable and aggressive rejection41. The author en- pated in the struggle between Christian orthodoxy and heresy. During the time of Augustine, they chose the side of the Donatists who opposed the Catholic Church on account of its affili- ation with the State. Perhaps they hope to weaken the power of the Church by supporting its enemies but instead they only served to incur the hatred of the Catholic leaders because of their opposition”. Cfr. M. Simon, op. cit., p. 304. 34. B. Blumenkranz, Les auteurs…, p. 21. 35. R.J. De Simone, “The Baptismal and Christiological Catechesis of Quodvultdeus”, Augustinianum. Miscellanea di Studi Agostiniani (In onore di P. Agostino Trapè), XXV, 1-2, 1985, p. 265. 36. In the Codex Theodosianus (XVI, 8, 1) the Jews already are considered as feralis or nefarias sect. 37. A.D. Nock, “Two Notes: I The Asclepius and Quodvultdeus”, Vigiliae Christianae, III, 1949, pp. 53-54. 38. The treaty De virginitate perpetua beatae Mariae of Ildefonso of Toledo (mid of VII century) makes reference to several fictitious adversaries. Vid. B. Blumenkranz, Les au- teurs…, p. 20. 39. Vid. specially the works of B. Blumenkranz, Juifs et Chrétiens dans le monde occidental 430-1096, Mouton & Co, La Haye, 1960, p. 80 and Idem “Vie et survie de la polémique antijuive”, Studia Patristica (Ed. by K. Aland and F.L. Cross), Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1957, I, pp. 461-462. 40. B. Blumenkranz, Les auteurs…, p. 20. 41. B. Blumenkranz, Juifs…, p. 81. THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS 453 deavours to make the Christians see the Jewish mistake of considering Je- sus to be only a man, denying him all divinity42. On an opposition plane, rather than one of continuity, Quodvultdeus considers the Jews to be the direct enemies of Christ and, at the same time, enemies of the Christians43, and he even recognizes that the Jews themselves considered Christ to be their enemy44. So mutual hatred was the fundamental characteristic that de- fined the atmosphere in which the relationships between Jews and Chris- tians at the time of Quodvultdeus were developed. In the same way, he reproaches them for the crucifixion of Christ45 and the wound that one of the soldiers inflicted on Christ on the cross46, through which ingressus est latro mutatus, poenitens Iudaeus, conversus omnis paganus, while the malus haereticus arrianus is excluded47. He points out that as a punishment the Jews were dispersed throughout the world, giving testimony of the Christian truth through their misfortunes, and that with their influence they only manage to carry to the Gentiles the knowledge of the fulfillment of all the prophecies in favor of the Christians, revealing themselves as direct witnesses of the Christian truth48. In this argument, as in others, there is evidence of the influence of Augustine, who incites in some moments to “charity” with respect to “evil-doing people”49 and shows himself respectful with their worship, because it represents, in its own way, a valuable testimony of iniquity50. Thus, admitting this Augustinian view, the purpose of this existence of the Jewish creed is conceived acceptable, though, as Quodvultdeus observes, emphasizing that the role performed by 42. Quodvultdeus, Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 11, 1; Liber, I, 25. 43. Quodvultdeus uses the word enemici to refer to the Jews in numerous places. Vid., for example, Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos: 12, 1; 14, 11; 16, 2; 17, 1; 18, 10; De Symbolo I: 6, 9; De accedentibus ad gratiam I, 10, 6 and II, 8, 7; Liber, II, 54. Augustine had already insisted in this idea of the “Jewish enemy”: Enarrationes in Psalmos, 75, 1; Tractatus in Ioannis Evangelium, 35, 4; Sermones, 80, 5 and 201, 3. 44. Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 10, 12. 45. Vid. De cantico novo, 6, 3; De symbolo I, 10, 5 and 13, 9-10; De Symbolo II, 5, 4; De quattuor uirtutibus caritatis, 12, 4; De tempore barbarico I, 8, 2. 46. De tempore barbarico I, 8, 1. 47. De tempore barbarico I, 8, 4. Vid. A. Isola, I cristiani dell´Africa vandalica nei Sermones del tempo (429-534), Jaca Books (Edizioni Universitarie), Milano, 1990, p. 79, n. 61. 48. Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 18, 7-8: […] Dispersit uos per uniuersas terras, ut ubique prophetias de eius natiuitate, passione, resurrectione, ascensione, quaecumque dicta sunt, uos perferatis atque lucernan legis, tanquam lignea candelabra sensu carentia, gentibus ministretis. Quod propterea factum esse cognoscite ne gentes haec omnia quae aguntur, dum praedicantur, a nobis dicerent fuisse conficta […] (I use the edi- tion of R. Braun, in Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina LX, Brepols Editores Pontificii, Turnholti, 1976). 49. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, 84, 11; Tractatus adversus Iudaeos, 10, 15. 50. De civitate Dei, 18, 46. 454 THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS the Jews is not the one designed for being in command (reserved for the Catholics), but rather that of serving51, since the verus Israel is the Christian people, the one which “has taken possession of the grace of God”52. In this sense, he compares Cain to the Jewish people, open to criminal and earthly desires, and Abel to Christ, shepherd and murdered by that people53, a people that stands out, according to Quodvultdeus, for its lies, its persecutions and its falsehood54 and whose synagogue is only the figura Michol sterilis55. The aggressiveness of the bishop of Carthage reaches a climax when he resorts to contemptuous comparisons to define the mien which character- izes the Jews. Thus, sometimes he was able to raise the anti-Jewish indigna- tion of his audience by affirming that the Jews were possessed by the devil and that they were his slaves56. Moreover, Quodvultdeus claimed that the end of the world was at hand, this certainty could have come from his personal experience. His millenarist perspective of History57, in which he considers the link of the Arian Van- dals as an announcement of the Antichrist, allows him to conceive two an- tagonistic groups. On the one hand the Church and Rome and, on the other hand, the Jews and Persia. The former defend God and the latter are the political and religious enemies58. If Arians inaugurate the time of the announcement of the Antichrist, the Jews, who are still waiting for the arrival of Christ, appear in the sermons as destined, according to the bishop of Carthage, to believe in the Antichrist59. And he even warns that the Antichrist would come from the Jews them- selves60.

51. Vid. J. Gaudemet, L'Église dans l'Empire Romain (IVe-Ve siècles) (Histoire du Droit et des Institutions de l'Église en Occident, III, Sirey, Paris, 1958, p. 625. 52. Liber, I, 33. In this sense, Quodvultdeus quotes a judgment of Virgil (Buc., IV, 7, 6) referring to the fact that a new race (the Christian) has been sent to Heaven (cfr. Liber, III, 5 and Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 15, 4). 53. Liber, I, 9; De ultima quarta feria, 3, 2 (cfr. Augustine, De civitate Dei, 15, 7; Contra Faustum Manichaeum,12, 10, &c.). 54. Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 10, 7; Adversus quinque haereses, 7, 26. 55. De accedentibus ad gratiam II, 8, 1. 56. Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 17, 10: Nec tamen in his tantis aperti sunt oculi cordis uestri. O Iudaei, daemones qui uestra corda possederunt, dixerunt: “Scimus qui sis; quid uenisti ante tempus punire nos?” et uos dixistis: “Tu [Christus] de te ipso testimonium dicis, testimonium tuum non est uerum!”. And also vid. De ultima quarta feria, 3, 2. 57. Vid. H. Inglebert, “Un exemple historiographique au Ve siècle: La conception de l'histoire chez Quodvultdeus de Carthage et ses relations avec la Cité de Dieu”, Revue des Études Augustiniennes, 37, 1991, specialy p. 318. 58. Quodvultdeus, Dimidium temporis, 17. Vid. Inglebert, art. cit., p. 318. 59. Liber, II, 78. 60. Dimidium temporis, 17: Hic ostenditur quod ex Iudaeis, de tribu Dan quae hodieque in Perside est, ueniat Antichristus […]. THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS 455

Sometimes, this threatening tone is also addressed to Christians. After having adequately lectured the audience in order to remove the faithful from the Jewish influence, the bishop insists on warning that every Catholic who has the temptation of separating from the “true doctrine” to embrace the Judaic or Arian error, will find relentless eternal condemnation61, since God will come to judge the Jews, considering them in animis mortuos62 and He will know all those who stand in synagoga deorum63. Futhermore he recriminates the heretics in relation to the anti-Jewish controversy. He asks how the Manichaean heretic considers himself to be Christian when he is only excusing the “Jewish enemy” with his fallacies64. However, after rebuking Judaism, which is considered to be a serious ad- versary of the Church, Quodvultdeus turns to look at the other rivals; and no sooner does he stop saying unfavourable words about the Jews, than he considers the Heretics to be worse than them, because, if the Jews killed Christ, piercing his side when he was on the cross, every day the Heretics make plans against all the members of the Church of Christ65. Though Quodvultdeus supports these anti-Jewish ideas and accusations in close sources such as Augustine or Capreolus66 (his antecedent in the See of Carthage), he knows how to develop the argumentation to seek a com- mon thread in the development of the struggle against Jewish influence, looking in the genre of the testimonia for proof that fits the direct contro- versy with Judaism. In this way, in the very sermon of Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos the so-called dramatic genre of the Ordo Prophetarum or Ludus Prophetarum is born and will have much influence on the anti- Jewish polemics of the intellectual Christians during the Middle Ages67. The text is addressed to the Jews (vos, inquam, conuenio, o Iudaei), putting forward the prophets of the Old Testament who announced the coming of

61. Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 20, 1; Adversus quinque haereses, 4, 42. 62. De symbolo III, 8, 4. 63. De tempore barbarico II, 10, 7. 64. De accedentibus ad gratiam I, 10, 6: Quomodo te, manichaee, asseris tenere ueri- tatem, cum ipsam ueritatem dicas esse mendacem? Aut quomodo profiteris te christianum, cum fallaciis tuis inimicum excuses iudaeum, qui ipsum ueraciter crucifixerit Christum?. 65. De symbolo I, 13, 9-10: Peiora, haeretice, facis quam quae fecit Iudaeus. Ecce, enim Iudaeus etsi praemio comparauit Christum occidendum, semel latus in cruce pendentis pupugit, sed totum eius corpus integrum reseruauit: tu uero ad hoc eum quotidie comparas pecunia, ut sedentis in caelo diuersa laceres membra. Cfr. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, 50, 1 and 85, 19. 66. Epistula II, 7-9 (PL 53, 854-856). 67. About this particular, vid. G. Dahan, Les intellectuels chrétiens et les juifs au Moyen Âge, Les Éditions du Cerf (Patrimonius: judaïsme), Paris, 1990, pp. 367 and 409; B. Blu- menkranz, Les auteurs…, pp. 21-22; K. Strecker, “Jam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto”, Studi Medievali, 5, 1932, p. 170. 456 THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS

Christ, for which, he finds in the testimonia the most used and adequate quotations68. However, he does not scorn the mention of certain Jewish fig- ures in the New Testament, such as the high priest Simeon, the relatives of John the Baptist and John himself69, as well as some reference to the Pagan authority of the poeta facundissimus, that is, Virgil70. The final purpose would be none other than to discrediting Judaism and, therefore, ideologi- cally disarm its influence. Quodvultdeus, last bishop of Carthage before the Vandal invasion, gives a clear outline of the Catholic vision of the Jews, as well as the relation- ships of rivalry that such communities maintained. Catholic Christians suf- fered a great reverse with the Vandals, because the religious policy of Gaiseric was very aggressive, the large properties were confiscated (among which those of the Church appeared in the foreground) and the Catholic clergy were exiled from their Sees, which were gradually occupied by the Arian clergy71. In this context, it seems to be evident that the Catholic anti- Jewish controversy ceased suddenly, and the Jews themselves had to adapt to a new situation. About the Jews under the Vandals we have very little information72. In general it seems that the invasions of the Vandals, like those of other Ger- man peoples, though they were in a way catastrophic, did not affect the Jews as such, but only as members of the conquered society. It seems, then, at first glance that the invaders did not alter the position of the Jews with respect to the other members of the same society73. It could be thought that the Jews themselves did not see the Arians as the ferocious enemy which the Catholic Christians had wanted to show in the publication of their protests and threats. It is even possible that the Jews

68. Is. 7, 14; Ba. 3, 36-38; Dn. 9, 24-27; Dt. 18, 15 and 19; Ps. 71, 11; Ps. 109, 1; Ha. 3, 2. Vid., for example, Contra Iudaeos, Paganos et Arrianos, 11-13 and B. Blumenkranz, Les auteurs…, p. 21. 69. Lc. 2, 29-30; Lc. 1, 43-44 and 76; Lc. 3, 16 and Jn. 1, 29, respectively. 70. Vid. G. Dahan, op. cit., p. 377; K. Strecker, art. cit., pp. 167 ff; A.V. Nazzaro, “Quodvultdeus”, F. Serpa (Dir.), Enciclopedia virgiliana, IV, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma, 1988, pp. 383 ff. 71. Vid. A. Isola, op. cit., pp. 49-50; S. Raven, Rome in Africa, Routledge, London and New York, 19933, p. 197; L. Schmidt, Hitoire des vandales, Payot, Paris, 1953, p. 226; A.H.M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602. A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1992 (=1964) I, p. 263; P. Romanelli, Storia delle province romane dell'Africa, L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma, 1959, p. 658; A. Georger, “La antigua Iglesia del África del norte”, H. Teissier; R. Lourido Díaz (Coords.), El cristianismo en el norte de África, Mapfre, Madrid, 1993, pp. 33-34. 72. J. Parkes, op. cit., p. 311. 73. Vid. E. Davies, “Barbarians”, Encyclopedia judaica, 4, Keter Publishing House, Jeru- salem, 1971, col. 206; J. Parkes, op. cit., p. 311. THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS 457 saw as a return to strict monotheism, like that based on the Jewish creed74. However, it seems that Gaiseric knew how to capitalize politically on Christian and non-Christian religious ideas, converting the struggle against Rome into a struggle of Arianism against the persecuting Catholicism. He thus obtained the support of the African Arians75, the Manichees76 and the Donatists, as well as other groups who were unwilling to accept Catholic domination, among which the Jews were found. In this way, it is not strange to think that the Vandals could completely abolish the previous re- strictive laws and offer the Jews total religious freedom77 and that the Jews could see the anti-Catholic action of the Vandals favorably and perhaps could have given the invaders effective help78. Without doubt it could be rightfully thought that during the Vandal do- minion, the oppression of the Jews by the Catholic Christians experienced a long break79. And only when at the end of the reign of the Vandals, they were more tolerant with the Catholics, allowing them the return of their priests, of the metropolitan of Carthage, as well as the election of their new bishops, did the Catholics attack both Arians and Jews again80, though it is true that this time they were devoid of the coercive force which they had had in the pre-Vandalic period. 74. M. Simon, op. cit., p. 289; D. Judant, Judaïsme et christianisme. Dossier patristique, Les Éditions du Cèdre, Paris, 1969, p. 69. Could a similar idea be observed in the association that Quodvultdeus makes of the Arians and the Jews with respect to the objections that both oppose Christ?: Audiat adhuc Iudaeus quid per prophetam dominus dicat, audiat Arrianus, audiant et omnes qui filium dei aut non esse aut esse minorem dicunt […] (Adversus quinque haereses, 4, 39). Cfr. Hilary of Poitiers, De Trinitate, VII, 50. 75. Arianism in Africa had never had great success, but it seems that in the first years of the 5th century some Arrians existed in Hippo as well as in Carthage (Possidius of , Vita Augustini, 17 and Augustine, Epistulae, 238). Vid. B.H. Warmington, The North African Provinces from Diocletian to the Vandal Conques, Greenwood Press, Westport (Cunnecticut), 1971 (= 1954) p. 111. 76. G. Bonner, St. Augustine of Hippo. Life and Controversies, The Canterbury Press, Norwich, 1986, p. 190. 77. Vid. A. Chouraqui, La saga…, p. 57; Idem, Marche vers l'Occident. Les Juifs d'Afrique du Nord, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1952, p. 41; P. Sebag, Histoire des Juifs de Tunisie des origines a nos jours, Éditions L'Harmattan, Paris, 1991, p. 33. Of course, we should be very wary at this point. The Vandal attitude with respect to the Jews would be considered to be a simple religious tolerance and not a commendable feature of a hypothetical policy in favor of Jews. In this sense, we must not forget that in the Arian literature there also existed a certain anti-Judaism: vid. M. Meslin, Les ariens d'Occident, 335-430, Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 1967, pp. 375-376. 78. H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., p. 55; A.M. Rabello, op. cit., II, p. 78. 79. A. Chouraqui, La saga…, p. 57. 80. H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., p. 55; M. Rachmuth, “Die Juden in Nordafrika bis zur Inva- sion der Araber”, Monatsschriff für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums, 50, 1906, pp. 42 ff. 458 THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS

Nevertheless, it seems that the Jews got on quite well during the Vandal period and, in fact, in the commercial life of Carthage, the most important port of Africa, they went on freely operating as merchants, together with Syrians and Greeks81, perhaps with even greater tranquillity than before. When the north of Africa was reconquered by the at the beginning of the 6th century and Catholic Christianity once again be- came the dominant religion, not only Pagans and Heretics were outlawed, but also, and especially, the Jews, who had to undergo a mandatory conver- sion to Catholicism82. The Jews were now, in 535, expelled from their syna- gogues and, through legal stipulations, these were confiscated and trans- formed into churches83, a specific prohibition of the building of new syna- gogues being declared84. All this was understood as a punishment to the Jews for their support of the Vandals and, in fact, they went on operating against the Byzantine Empire even after the imperial conquest of the north of Africa had been completed85. In contrast with the measures taken by the Empire against the Jews, it could be deduced, indeed, that the Vandals did not have any anti-Jewish law and, therefore, it does not seem that unfavourable measures against the Jews were taken during their domination. Hence the Byzantines created or recovered concrete stipulations that made the situation of the Jews be the same as that existing before the Vandal invasion and even worse.

RÉSUMÉ

Quodvultdeus de Carthage, le dernier évêque catholique antérieur à l'invasion vandale du nord de l'Afrique, continua une tradition anti-juive qui étail très étendue au nord de l'Afrique. Cette tradition se devait à l'existence d'un conflit religieux où

81. S. Raven, op. cit., p. 289. 82. Vid. C. Diehl, Justinien et la Civilisation byzantine au VIe siècle, Burt Franklin, New York, 1969 (=1901) II, pp. 329-330; A.M. Rabello, op. cit., II, pp. 78-79. 83. Procopius, De Aedificiis, 6, 2: oï dè ˆIouda⁄oi æçkßnto êk palaioÕ aût¬n ãgxista· oœ d® kaì neÑv ¥n ârxa⁄ov aûto⁄v, ºnper êsébontó te kaì êteqßpesan málista, deimaménou toÕto Solom¬nov, ¿sper fasí, basileúontov ¨Ebraíwn toÕ ∂qnouv. âllà kaì aûtoùv †pantav ˆIoustinianòv basileùv metagn¬naí te tà pátria ≠qj, kaì Xristianoùv gegonénai diaprazámenov, toÕton d® tòn neÑn êv êkkljsíav meqj- rmósato sx±ma. I use the edition of H.B. Dewing, Procopius in Seven Volumes, vol. VII: Buildings, William Heinemann and Harvard University Press (The Loeb Classical Library), London and Cambridge, 1961, p. 370. About this vid. S. Raven, op. cit., p. 216; B.S. Bach- rach, Early Medieval Jewish Policy in Western Europe, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1977, p. 34; P. Sebag, op. cit., p. 34. 84. Codex Iustinianus, I, 9, 18; Novella, 37, 8 and 12. Vid. J. Parkes, op. cit., p. 250; H.Z. Hirschberg, op. cit., p. 56; A. Chouraqui, La saga…, pp. 58-59. 85. B.S. Bachrach, op. cit., p. 33. THE ANTI-JUDAISM OF QUODVULTDEUS 459 les catholiques tentèrent d'annuler l'influence juive sur les chrétiens. On comprend donc pourquoi les juifs, durant l'époque de prédominance catholique, furent en état d'infériorité jusqu'au moment où les vandales firent preuve d'une certaine tolérance envers eux. Sous la domination des vandales les juifs semblent avoir eu une évidente liberté religieuse qui allait cesser avec la conquête bizantine du nord de l'Afrique. On remarque que les mesures qui furent alors prises contre les juifs furent plus drastiques qu'à l'époque antérieure.

ABSTRACT

Quodvultdeus of Carthage, last Catholic bishop prior to the Vandal invasion of the north of Africa, continued an anti-Jewish tradition that was widely extended in the north of Africa. This tradition answered to the existence of a religious conflict in which the Catholics tried to annul the influence that the Jews exercised even among the Christians. The Jews during the Catholic period suffered an unfavour- able situation, until the Vandals showed toward them a tolerant attitude. Under the Vandals, the Jews seem to have enjoyed an evident religious freedom, which ended with the Byzantine conquest of the north of Africa. Then the measures taken against the Jews returned to appear with even greater force.