In medival
Christendom, Jews generally lived outside the feudal system, being regarded as
the personal property of their sovereigns. The Church allowed them only certain
professions, notably money lending and the rag-and-bone trade. It limited their
rights, disqualifying them from universities, from marying Christians, from employing
Christians, from possessing Hebrew scriptures, and so on. Many Crusades started
by a massacre of local Jews, usually encouraged by priests, friars or monks.
The position in the territories of the Counts of Toulous was very different. Important
and powerful Jewish communities flourished in
Saint-Gilles, Toulouse, Verdun, Nîmes,
Lunel and Posquières.
Saint-Gilles even supported a rabinical school. Discrimination
against Jews, encouraged by the Roman Church, was less widespread than elsewhere
in western Christendom. Abrahan ben Jehuda held the high office of Baile (governor)
of
Saint-Gilles in 1143 under Count Alphonse. Rabi Abba Mari ben Isaac held the office
of Intendant at
Saint-Gilles around 1165. That Jews should hold such high office
was not uncommon. Other examples can be cited: Isaac Baile of the County of Magio
in 1175, Bonjuda Baile of Montferrand in 1190, Pierre-Durant under-Viguier at
Nimes in 1194 and Baile at Vallbregues in 1202, Bonad Baile of Pont-Saint-Esprit
in 1202, and so on.
The Counts of Toulouse took pains
to protect the Jews in their territories. The Easter tradition called "Strike
the Jew", popular throughout western Christendom, had been aboloshed in Toulouse
in the middle of the twelfth century despite the protests of the clergy. Similar
toleration was exercizes by the Kings of Aragon and the Trencavels. Ramon-Roger
Trencavel, Viscount of Beziers, had evacuated all Jews from Beziers in 1209, knowing
that the Catholic Crusaders would murder them if they fell into their hands.
The toleration and favour shown to the Jews was one of the main complaints of
the Roman Church against the Counts of Toulouse. click on the following link for
more about the
Counts
of Toulouse and their Jewish subjects
Click on the following link to read a more detailed
article about
Christian
Church and its promotion of anti-Semitism
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to: The Counts of Toulouse and their People 
