The Subordinate that Subordinates. Jewish Holders of Christian Slaves in Gregory the Great’s "Registrum Epistularum"

Abstract

The Registrum epistularum, the compendium that collects the epistles written by Gregory the Great during his Papacy (590-604 A.D.) is a fundamental source to approach various issues of the period. Among more than 860 letters sent by the papal scrinium, 26 refer to Jews. They are, as the majority of scholars asserts, a material of great value to reconstruct the relationship between Jews and Christians. In this paper I will center the analysis on the epistles alluding to Jewish holders of slaves in order to apprehend not only the situation of the Jews mentioned in those communications, but also to understand the positions of Gregory the Great and of others Churchmen on the problem. I seek to demonstrate that although there were symbolic imperatives that compelled both lay legislators and Churchmen to avoid Jewish control over Christians, the principal reason for this attitude was the tendency of the part of the Jews to convert their slaves, not for proselytizing purposes but rather, principally, mainly for practical motives.