Gli epitaffi del cimitero ebraico di Ancona accusati di eresia nel 1625 dall'inquisizione romana presieduta da Urbano VIII (original) (raw)
2022, Materia giudaica XXVII
The above study illustrates for the first time the content of the heresies considered to be expressed in the epitaphs at the Jewish cemetery of Ancona, located on Monte Cardeto. A converted Jew of the Christian name of Giovan Giorgio Aldobrandini was at the origin of this unprecedented accusation. The dispute about the texts engraved in the funerary epigraphs arose in 1624, based on a complaint put in front of Agostino da Reggio, the city’s Inquisitor. While the Inquisitor turned a blind eye to the accusation, the bishop of Ancona took a more zealous approach and called the matter serious, which led to the involvement of Pope Urban VIII, who brought the matter in front of the Holy Office in Rome, which he presided. In this study, 23 epitaphs said to contain heresies, copied, duplicated, and translated by two converted Jews, are examined to give an insight into reasons for which they were categorized as heresies, thus completing numerous previous studies. The trial of the Inquisition did indeed confirm that the epitaphs contained heresies, and, on October 23, 1625, the Pope ordered the epitaphs to be erased, leaving solely name and date of death, followed by a decree that forbade Jews to place neither a stele nor a stone on the graves of their dead. In the territories of the Papal State, existing tombstones were removed and destroyed. This evidences another method of censorship, which was carried out with quill and ink for books, and in the case of the maxevot of the Ancona Jewish cemetery, by hammer and chisel. I believe that the case illustrated in this study is unique in the history of the Church’s persecution of the Jews and that, in addition to this primacy, it also marks the peak of religious violence against the Jewish faith, with such absurd and violent topics that are truly upsetting.