ABSTRACT
Royal policy concerning Jews – and the regulation of their conversion to Christianity – was subject to a number of strong and conflicting pressures in thirteenth-century Europe. Church policy, as expressed in increasingly frequent papal bulls and conciliar canons, was to restrict contact between Jews and Christians: Jews were prohibited from having Christian servants, were required to wear distinctive clothing, were permitted to charge Christians only a specific rate of interest, and so on. At the same time, popes and councils took measures to encourage Jews (and Muslims) to convert to Christianity, allowing Christian preachers access to them and protecting the well-being and property of converts.
