Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
576 · less than 1 year · show in timeline

Clermont 576: after the synagogue was destroyed, Bishop Avitus gave the Jews the choice between baptism and expulsion

Bishop Avitus of Clermont repeatedly urged the Jews of the city to be baptised. After one of them was baptised in 576, the crowd following the bishop in the Ascension Day procession destroyed the synagogue down to its foundations. Avitus then sent word to the Jews: whoever does not want to believe as he does should leave the city. After attacks on their houses, in which according to the Jewish Encyclopedia and Graetz Jews were killed, more than 500 were baptised; the rest went to Marseilles.

Period
576 (less than 1 year)
Country
France
Institutions
Bishop Avitus of Clermont
Diocese of Clermont
Category
Anti-Judaism, Violence, Persecution
Level of evidence
B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?
Persons
Avitus of Clermont (Bishop of Clermont, gave the Jews the choice between baptism and expulsion)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. On Ascension Day (according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, 14 May 576) the bishop went in procession, singing psalms, from the church to the basilica. The whole crowd following him fell upon the synagogue of the Jews and destroyed it down to its foundations, so that the site resembled a level field (Gregory of Tours). Graetz writes that Avitus incited the mob to attack the synagogue.
    Evidence: The Latin Library (lateinischer Text), Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11
    „cum sacerdos de aeclesiam ad basilicam psallendo procederet, inruit super sinagogae Iudaeorum multitudo tota sequentium, distructamque a fundamentis, campi planitiae locus adsimilatur“
    Gregor von Tours, Historiarum libri decem, Buch 5, Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902), Artikel Avitus of Auvergne
    „On Ascension Day, May 14, however, the mob demolished the synagogue.“
    Avitus of Auvergne, Artikel Avitus of Auvergne. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Heinrich Graetz, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1894, Bd. 3, S. 38
    „he incited the mob to attack the synagogues, and raze them to the ground“
    History of the Jews, Bd. 3, Bd. 3, S. 38. Original

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. The next day the bishop sent word to the Jews that he did not compel them by force to confess the Son of God. But if they did not want to believe as he did, they should leave the place. The Jewish Encyclopedia and Graetz call this a choice between baptism and banishment.
    Evidence: The Latin Library (lateinischer Text), Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11
    „Vi ego vos confiteri Dei Filium non inpello“
    Gregor von Tours, Historiarum libri decem, Buch 5, Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Latin Library (lateinischer Text), Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11
    „Ideoque si vultis credere ut ego, estote unus grex, costodi me posito; sin vero aliud, abscedite a loco“
    Gregor von Tours, Historiarum libri decem, Buch 5, Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902), Artikel Avitus of Auvergne
    „On the following day the bishop gave the Jews a choice between baptism and banishment.“
    Avitus of Auvergne, Artikel Avitus of Auvergne. Original · Archive copy

What happened to those affected?

  1. The Jews hesitated for three days. During this time, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, many were attacked in their houses and some killed; according to Graetz, many were killed. Thereupon more than five hundred asked for baptism and were baptised on the night of Pentecost (according to the Jewish Encyclopedia on 18 May 576). The others left the city and went to Marseilles. Gregory of Tours does not mention any dead.
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902), Artikel Avitus of Auvergne
    „After hesitating and delaying for three days, during which time many were attacked in their houses and some killed, over five hundred asked to be baptized (May 18, 576). Those who remained true to their religion emigrated to Marseilles.“
    Avitus of Auvergne, Artikel Avitus of Auvergne. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Heinrich Graetz, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1894, Bd. 3, S. 38
    „The latter retreated to their houses, where they were attacked, and many of them killed.“
    History of the Jews, Bd. 3, Bd. 3, S. 38. Original
    Evidence: The Latin Library (lateinischer Text), Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11
    „Fuerunt autem qui baptizati sunt amplius quingenti. Hii vero qui baptismum noluerunt discedentes ab illa urbe, Massiliae redditi sunt.“
    Gregor von Tours, Historiarum libri decem, Buch 5, Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11. Original · Archive copy
  2. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Gregory's letters to Bishops Virgilius of Arles and Theodore of Marseilles show that the Jews who had fled to Marseilles were later also forced to adopt Christianity.
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902), Artikel Avitus of Auvergne
    „From Gregory's letters to Virgilius of Arles and to Theodore of Marseilles, it appears that the Jews who escaped to Marseilles were later also forced to adopt Christianity.“
    Avitus of Auvergne, Artikel Avitus of Auvergne. Original · Archive copy

Witness accounts and records

Witness Gregory of Tours, Ten Books of Histories, Book 5, ch. 11: the bishop's message to the Jews

Vi ego vos confiteri Dei Filium non inpello, sed tamen praedico et salem scientiae vestris pectoribus trado. Pastor sum enim dominicis ovibus superpositus; et de vobis ille verus Pastor, qui pro nobis passus est, dixit, habere se alias oves quae non sunt ex ovili suo, quas eum oporteat adducere, ut fiat unus grex et unus pastor. Ideoque si vultis credere ut ego, estote unus grex, costodi me posito; sin vero aliud, abscedite a loco

Translation (unofficial)

I do not compel you by force to confess the Son of God, but I preach him and place the salt of knowledge in your hearts. For I am set as shepherd over the Lord's sheep; and of you that true Shepherd who suffered for us said that he has other sheep which are not of his fold, which he must bring, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore, if you want to believe as I do, be one flock, with me as guardian; but if not, leave this place.

The Latin Library (lateinischer Text): Gregor von Tours, Historiarum libri decem, Buch 5, Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11. Original · Archive copy

Background

Course of events

  1. Avitus, Bishop of Clermont (Arverna) in the Auvergne, repeatedly exhorted the Jews of the city to become Christians, without success. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, one of them was finally baptised on Easter Day, 5 April 576. When the new convert went through the streets in his white baptismal robe, another Jew poured rancid oil over his head. The mob wanted to stone him; the bishop prevented it. Graetz places the incident at Pentecost.
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902), Artikel Avitus of Auvergne
    „He repeatedly exhorted the Jews of Clermont to embrace Christianity, but met with no response.“
    Avitus of Auvergne, Artikel Avitus of Auvergne. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902), Artikel Avitus of Auvergne
    „at last had succeeded in converting one Jew, who was baptized on Easter Day, April 5, 576. When the new convert went in a procession through the streets in his white baptismal robe, he was sprinkled with rancid oil by a Jew. This act so aroused the mob that they attempted to stone the Jew, but were prevented from doing so by the bishop.“
    Avitus of Auvergne, Artikel Avitus of Auvergne. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Heinrich Graetz, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1894, Bd. 3, S. 38
    „As he was going through the streets at Pentecost in his white baptismal robe, he was sprinkled with rancid oil by a Jew.“
    History of the Jews, Bd. 3, Bd. 3, S. 38. Original

Response of the Church

  1. Bishop Gregory of Tours described the baptism as a joyful festival; the city, he wrote, had no less joy than Jerusalem once had at the descent of the Holy Spirit. At his request the poet Venantius Fortunatus wrote a poem in honour of Avitus. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the poem hints that the Jews only decided to be baptised when they found that resistance by arms was impossible; according to Graetz, it shows that they converted out of sheer desperation.
    Evidence: The Latin Library (lateinischer Text), Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11
    „nec minor fuit urbi gaudium, quam quondam, Spiritu sancto discendente super apostulos, Hierusalem videre promeruit“
    Gregor von Tours, Historiarum libri decem, Buch 5, Historiae, Buch 5, Kap. 11. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902), Artikel Avitus of Auvergne
    „hints atthe fact that the Jews only concluded to be baptized when they found out that resistance by arms was impossible“
    Avitus of Auvergne, Artikel Avitus of Auvergne. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Heinrich Graetz, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1894, Bd. 3, S. 39
    „They indicate quite clearly that the Jews of Clermont suffered innocently, and became converts to Christianity out of sheer desperation.“
    History of the Jews, Bd. 3, Bd. 3, S. 39. Original

See also

Original documents to read

  1. Historical source (contemporary text)
    The Latin Library (lateinischer Text): Gregor von Tours, Historiarum libri decem, Buch 5. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 23 Oct 2026)

Scholarly literature and reference works

  1. Reference work
    The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 2 (1902): Avitus of Auvergne, 1 January 1902. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 23 Oct 2026)
  2. Scholarly literature
    Heinrich Graetz, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1894: History of the Jews, Bd. 3, 1 January 1894. Original (retrieved 23 Oct 2026)
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