–who adopts a “moderate” policy towards the Jews. He condemns forced conversions, but approved of conversions attached by material inducements; he first formulates the principle which was reiterated from the twelfth century onwards in all papal bulls ‘benign’ to the Jews that “and one should not accord the Jews in their synagogues any liberty beyond what is fixed by law, thus they should not suffer, within what they were accorded, any infringement of their rights.”

Rosemary Ruether writes:
“Gregory the Great, reigning as Roman pontiff at the end of the sixth century, represents a perfect model of the anti–Judaic theory, as this had been embodied in Christian Roman law and carried on by the Church through Roman law. In contrast to the view of medieval Christians and even medieval popes, Gregory the Great is often cited as a “friend” of the Jews, but this is a misunderstanding of the context in which he himself worked. It is true that Gregory opposed forced baptism and synagogue burning, but he did so as an executor of Roman law which protected Jewish religious institutions and forbade violence.*” (Ruether, Faith and Fratricide, p. 199).

* Solomon Katz, “Pope Gregory The Great and the Jews,” JQR
600 CE: The KHAZARS

Establish a Jewish kingdom in the seventh century.

The Khazars, a semi–nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia founded an independent Khaganate in the Northern Caucasus along the Caspian Sea