Disputation of Paris
Disputation over the Talmud at the court of French King Louis IX (1240)
The Disputation of Paris (Hebrew: משפט פריז, romanized: Mishpat Pariz; French: disputation de Paris), also known as the Trial of the Talmud (French: procès du Talmud), took place in 1240 at the court of King Louis IX of France. It followed the work of Nicholas Donin, a Jewish convert to Christianity who translated the Talmud and pressed 35 charges against it to Pope Gregory IX by quoting a series of blasphemous passages about Jesus, Mary, or Christianity. Four rabbis defended the Talmud against Donin's accusations.
Background
Since the times of the Apostles, but with renewed effort in the Lower Middle Ages, the Catholic Church sought to convert Jews to Christianity through debate. Western Christianity in the 13th century had accumulated centuries of experience in Biblical hermeneutics and apologetic techniques, leading Christians to engage with Jews or Muslims in debate in hopes of demonstrating the superiority of their religion.
Strong differences between the two sides of the debate were present: Christianity had developed a detailed theological system, a precise list of authoritative books, and clear teachings grounded in a central authority in Rome. Judaism had a relative absence of dogmatic theology, focusing more on opposing idolatry. Paul Johnson comments: "The Jews had a way of concentrating on life and pushing death—and its dogmas—into the background."
The Catholic Church had shown little interest in the Talmud until 1238, when a Jewish convert, Nicholas Donin, presented 35 charges against it to Pope Gregory IX. Donin claimed that the Talmud contained blasphemous passages about Christianity. The Pope was surprised that Jews relied on texts other than the Torah, and that those other texts contained alleged blasphemies. This lack of interest also characterized the French monarchy which, before 1230, chiefly primarily considered the Jews from the point of view of them being a potential source of income.
“Disputation of Paris” enters the record as disputation over the Talmud at the court of French King Louis IX (1240). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Disputation, Paris and over can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q647782. The Library of Congress control number is sh94003450. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1240, 1238 and 1230.
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