The Milton & Shirley G. Salasky Lecture: “A Source of Shame and Horror: Discovering, Translating, and Burning the Talmud in Medieval Christian Europe”
Piero Capelli, Professor of Hebrew in the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, visited William & Mary to deliver the annual Milton & Shirley G. Salasky Lecture on April 23, 2024. A scholar of late antique and medieval Judaism, Professor Capelli is the author of two significant Italian monographs on Rabbinic Judaism: Rabbinic Literature from the Time of Jesus to the Closing of the Talmud (1996) and Evil: The History of an Idea in Judaism from the Bible to Qabbalah (2012). The title of his talk was "A Source of Shame and Horror: Discovering, Translating, and Burning the Talmud in Medieval Christian Europe."
In 1240, a public trial of the Babylonian Talmud in Paris marked a pivotal moment in Jewish, Christian, and European history. This event led to the first translation of the Talmud into a non-Jewish language (Latin) and witnessed the first recorded burning of Jewish books. Capelli argued that the trial in Paris was not an isolated incident but was part of a series of events and controversies escalating throughout the early Middle Ages. By 1239, Pope Gregory IX had urged Christians across Western Europe to investigate the Talmud, culminating in the landmark 1240 Paris trial. This act inaugurated a long-standing tradition of Christian censorship and persecution against Rabbinic teachings and lore.
In his lecture and subsequent Q&A, Capelli argued that the trial and its aftermath underscore the enduring significance of understanding historical contexts and the complex dynamics that contribute to religious and cultural tensions. More information about Capelli and his research can be found here.
