Conflicts of Norms in Scholastic Debates on Forced Baptism of Jewish Children (Thirteenth-Fourteenth Century)

Between 1269 and 1340, Thomas Aquinas, Richard of Mediavilla, John Duns Scotus, Durandus of Saint-Pourcain, Pierre de la Palud, and Guido Terreni successively dealt with the question of the forced baptism of Jewish children, which shows the relevance and the productivity of conflicts of norms in the field of theological debate. The discussion has not been brought to the “legal” ground of the opposition between Christianity and Judaism, but to the political and juridical ground of a conflict between the rights of the Christian ruler and those of the Jews as parents, as subjects, and as slaves. This is in a context in which the conversionist policies contributed to the definition of Western monarchies as Christian monarchies, and in which the royal claim to an exclusive jurisdiction over the Jews participates in the global affirmation of sovereignty. Thus, the links of natural filiation are put to the test within the frame of a larger reflection about the extension and the limits of Christian rulership.