The Trial of 1240 against the Talmud: A Reassessment of the Christian Account plus a New Edition*

Abstract

We are in a position to consult two reports regarding the trial against the Talmud that took place in Paris during the year 1240, a trial which led to the burning of several Talmudic manuscripts. One such report is in Latin, while the other is in Hebrew. The former, namely, the Depositiones or Confessiones, presents itself as a record detailing the interrogation of two rabbis by an assortment of high-ranking ecclesiastics; the Hebrew Vikkuah, on the other hand, describes a public dispute held at the French royal court between the Jewish convert Nicholas Donin and a group of rabbis. In this article, alongside a critical edition of the Depositiones, I provide a reassessment of the relation-ship between the above two documents and their divergent description of events.