ABSTRACT
In May 1326, when Pope John XXII gave orders from Avignon to prosecute the jurist Rizzardo Malombra for being a rebel and a heretic to the Catholic Church, the Pope’s order was not based on theological or doctrinal issues; the issues at stake concerned trade and general relations with the Muslim Levant. This affair is interesting because it shows how far states, keen on maintaining trade with the Orient, particularly Venice, would go in their struggle with the Church to keep the old channels open.
