1. The Jews‘ Badge and the Idols of Party Faction
Source: English 2, Sermon XVII — Once More of Party Feeling (§2)
I said of whosoever bore devices belonging to the parties of the Guelfs and the Ghibellines in any way whatsoever, that this was naught else than adoring the devil. … Oh! is there any Jew here present? I know not whether or not there be one; — if he wore an [badge] on his breast, then should I know him. Read thou, from the time of the Apostles to this present time, and then after Christ was crucified, and after he sent the Holy Ghost, — not then nor even in the Old Testament did the devils ever do so much as they do now while all the world doth follow their wish. … I believe there are not more idols adored in all the rest of the world together than are adored in this part, — where you are almost all Guelfs and Ghibellines, who do adore nothing less than idols.
Translator’s footnote (Milanesi): Most severe laws against the Jews were enacted at different times by popes, communes, and princes of Italy, the motive for these being political rather than moral or religious. What prompted these laws was the practice of usury, which, forbidden among the Christians by civil as well as by canon law, was, it may be said, carried on exclusively by the Jews. Among the laws of the Sienese Republic may be cited one enacted in 1439, which required the Jews, both men and women, to wear on the outer garment, over the breast, to the right, a badge about three and a half inches high, made of yellow cloth.
2. The Jews and the Name of Jesus — “Accursed and Most Wicked of Men”
Source: English 2, Sermon XVIII — Of the Name of Jesus (§4)
Thy opinion is like unto that of the Jews, accursed and most wicked of men, for they said of the miracles that Christ performed that this was because once he went into the temple, wherein there was written a name which could neither be named nor known; and surrounding this name they kept many dogs who should guard that place in order that it might not be learned, or read, or written, or taken away in any manner whatsoever; and they said that whosoever had it, he would be able to perform any marvellous deed. And they said that Christ entered into that place by craftiness and that he took this name, and that he cleft his thigh and put it therein; and then being returned home he drew it forth, and that by means of it he did all those great marvels which he performed. Oh, what vain fancy was this! Oh, cursed madness! The belief in this was it not of the devil? And so do I say likewise of thee who dost believe in such follies.
(Context: Bernardino is refuting those who claim that the name “Jesus” is only a code-name for some hidden, more powerful divine name, and compares this belief to the Jewish slander that Christ’s miracles were performed by means of a stolen secret name from the Temple.)
3. Jews as Moneylenders — Excommunication for Permitting Jewish Usury
Source: English 2, Sermon XXV — How God Is to Be Feared (§8)
And moreover I wish to add this for thee: I say this not out of hate, nor out of ill will towards anyone whatsoever, and I say it not to anyone by name; I tell you of the matter only as it stands. If you have participated in this so that through you or by your aid a Jew doth practice usury here in Siena, he who hath assented thereto by means of his vote hath incurred major excommunication. Hast thou understood me? Yes! Now I would have thee know what will come of suffering a Jew to remain in your city. Two disasters will come of it: first, it is the ruin of your city, and second, there is the excommunication of the Pope, and with this upon thee thou canst not be saved.
First: why is it the ruin of thy city? I ask thee before all else, dost thou believe in the law of God? Yes. Next I say to thee, that if thou dost depart from this faith thou art a heretic. God hath commanded that thou shalt not practise usury. … Seest thou not that he hath given many negative commandments, among which thou seest this one: Non furaberis — Thou shalt not steal? Lending at usury, what thinkest thou that this is? It is theft, and worse besides. … Consent not ever that usury be practised, whether by Jew or Christian; and if thou hast consented thereto, thou art in the clutches of the devil.
Translator’s footnote: Jews might not come to Siena to practise usury there without the consent and approval of the Council of the Republic. The Saint here alludes to some recent decision in regard to this. In Siena in the Common Council a law was passed by white ballots and defeated by black ones.
4. Pledges with the Jew — Usury Draining the Poor
Source: English 2, Sermon XXVII (§13)
Tell me, moreover, thou hast pledges with the Jew, which cost so much monthly, — oh, how much couldst thou lessen the cost of these if thou didst but know how to keep thyself within bounds! Thou hast pledges with the Jew, and thou wilt keep thy chests full of garments, of which thou dost make no use, and continually doth usury gnaw thy bones. When I regard thy children, forsooth, how much gold, how much silver, how many pearls, how many embroidered garments thou dost make them to wear! All these things do you keep lying there, and you might fill your shops and your warehouses with merchandise, and do good to the city and to yourselves as well.
(Context: Bernardino is denouncing the sin of luxury and wasteful dress, arguing that Sienese citizens impoverish themselves by keeping goods locked away in chests while simultaneously paying interest on pledged items to Jewish moneylenders.)
5. The Jews Who Came to Take Christ — Peter’s Zeal
Source: English 2, Sermon XXIX — Of Compassion for Sinners (§4)
Peter was most zealous; even if we had no other proof you might be assured of it by this, that when the Jews came to take him [Christ], he drew his knife to defend his master, and cut off the ear of one of them. He thought he could save himself and all his companions as well, but his legs did not avail; and therefore the Lord more willingly left the faith to him than to John, or to any one of the others, so that he might have compassion on those who should fall into sin.
(Context: This passage uses the Gospel scene of the arrest of Jesus — in which Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant — as a typological example of zealous but imperfect faith, which God nevertheless chooses as the vessel of mercy for sinners.)
6. The Jewish Moneylender with the Red Veil
Source: Italian — Prediche Volgari (from a report by Vespasiano da Bisticci)
Santo Bernardino provò per potentissime ragioni questo contratto essere illecitissimo. Dipoi disse che questo contratto delle dote delle fanciulle, dove il capitale istà fermo, era più cattivo contratto, che non era quello di giudeo che prestava colla veletta rossa.
(St. Bernardino proved by most powerful arguments that this contract was utterly illicit. He then said that this contract relating to the dowries of young girls, in which the capital remained fixed, was a worse contract than that of a Jew who lent money wearing the red veil.)
(Context: Bernardino is adjudicating a dispute over dowry contracts at the request of learned men including Giannozzo Manetti. The “red veil” was the distinguishing mark worn by Jewish moneylenders. Bernardino argues that certain Christian dowry contracts are even more usurious — and therefore more morally reprehensible — than the openly marked usury of Jewish lenders.)
7. The Preaching Campaign Against Jewish Usurers (Biographical Context)
Source: English 1 — Saint Bernardine of Siena by Paul Thureau-Dangin (pp. 88–90)
The biographer describes Bernardino’s campaign in Orvieto and Viterbo in early 1427:
His main topic seems to have been the practice of usury in vogue in that part, and which he attacks with the greatest vehemence, urging the executive everywhere to take stringent steps against all such as were addicted to this business, of whom the majority were Jews.
Further, among the records of the General Council of Orvieto (16 February 1427), mention is made of “the venerable Father, Friar Bernardine,” who in the course of one of his sermons had, among other injunctions:
insisted on the duty of abstaining from blasphemy and from games of hazard, of observing the feast-days and of suppressing usury, facilitated by the concessions formerly granted to the Jews.
8. Paul’s Conversion of the Hebrews
Source: Italian — Prediche Volgari, Predica Terza (§ near line 3964)
Tu sai ch’elli convertì li Romani; elli convertì quelli di Galaazia; elli convertì delli Ebrei, e a quello tempo per le predicazioni le quali si facevano da tanti apostoli e discepoli di Iesu Cristo…
(Thou knowest that he [Paul] converted the Romans; he converted those of Galatia; he converted some of the Hebrews, and at that time through the preachings which were performed by so many apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ…)
(Context: This is a relatively neutral passage praising the missionary reach of the Apostle Paul; the mention of “Hebrews” here is historical and not directly polemical, though it is part of the supersessionist theology underlying the sermons.)
9. Christ Judged by the Son of Man — Rhetorical Address to a Jew
Source: Italian — Prediche Volgari (near line 14936)
Come si può intendere, se non figlio di Dio? Yuolo vedere? Ecci niuno giudeo? Che vuol dire Figlio dell’uomo? Non vuole dire se non Figlio di Dio.
(How can it be understood, except as Son of God? Wouldst thou see? Is there any Jew here? What does “Son of Man” mean? It means nothing other than Son of God.)
(Context: Bernardino is expounding on Christ’s authority to judge mankind, and uses the phrase “Son of Man” as scriptural proof of Christ’s divinity. His rhetorical aside — “Is there any Jew here?” — is a debating device directed at those who would not accept the Christian interpretation of the title.)
Notes on the Adversus Judaeos Tradition in These Sermons
The passages above reflect several standard topoi of the medieval adversus Judaeos literary tradition as deployed in popular vernacular preaching:
- The Charge of Usury: The most extensive and practically consequential anti-Jewish theme in Bernardino’s Siena sermons is the association of Jews with usury. Bernardino calls for Christians to refuse to vote in favour of permitting Jewish moneylending, threatens excommunication, and warns of civic ruin. This preaching contributed directly to later Franciscan campaigns to establish Monti di Pietà (charitable pawnbroking institutions) as Christian alternatives to Jewish lending.
- The Blasphemy Against Christ’s Miracles: The charge that Jews explained away Christ’s miracles by claiming he had stolen a secret divine Name from the Temple (a tradition traceable to the Toledoth Yeshu) is deployed by Bernardino as an example of diabolic stupidity, used to rebuke Christians who believe in magical amulets and secret names.
- The Yellow/Red Badge as Identifier: The rhetorical aside in Sermon XVII — “Is there any Jew here? If he wore his badge on his breast, I should know him” — takes for granted the existence of the Jewish badge law, and uses its logic to compare Christian party devices (Guelf and Ghibelline insignia) to marks of diabolical allegiance.
- Supersessionist Typology: The reference to Peter’s attack on the Jews who came to arrest Christ (Sermon XXIX) is typological rather than directly polemical, but fits within a broader narrative in which Jews are instrumentalized as agents of the Passion narrative.
Source. The above passages are drawn from three source texts:
- English 1: Saint Bernardine of Siena by Paul Thureau-Dangin, trans. Baroness G. von Hügel (London: J. M. Dent & Co., 1906) — a biography that quotes and discusses the sermons
- English 2: Sermons, selected and edited by Don Nazareno Orlandi, trans. Helen Josephine Robins (Siena: Tipografia Sociale, 1920) — translated sermons from the Siena Campo series (August–September 1427)
- Italian: Prediche Volgari — the original Italian vernacular text of the sermons