Clement’s successor, John XXII. (A.D. 1316), adopted a different policy towards the Jews, having been incited to it, it is said, by his sister, who accused them of having insulted a cross which was being carried in a procession in which she herself, in company with some bishops, was taking part. He straightway published an edict banishing all Jews from the territories of the Church; but the edict was revoked soon afterwards, Robert of Jerusalem having interceded in their behalf, and a bribe of one hundred thousand florins paid to the pope’s sister. Clement VI. (A.D. 1342) bears a character in history for luxury and dissipation which is hardly surpassed by the vilest of the occupants of the papal chair; but his single good point—kindness of heart—was exhibited in his endeavours to suppress the persecution of the Jews, and the friendly shelter which he afforded to such of the unhappy race as sought refuge in his dominions. The absence from Rome of the popes during the seventy years which elapsed between the settlement of Clement V. at Avignon, and the appointment, in 1378, of an antipope in the person of Urban VI., renders the history of the Jews during this century unusually meagre. But they appear to have lived unmolested in the various Italian towns. They must have been on good terms with the pope’s legate at Bologna, where they presented him with a copy of the Old Testament Scriptures, said to have been written by Ezra himself. This is still preserved, we are told, in the library of the Dominicans in that city. They were protected also by the Venetian government, which allowed them to settle as bankers in their city. They were careful, however, to maintain a strict supervision over them, and in 1385 obliged them to live within the Ghetto, as the Jewish quarter in an Italian city is usually styled. Learning flourished in Italy among the Jews during this century. The recently founded universities were thronged with Jewish students, and classical literature was especially studied. There were several scholars among them of great repute. Pre-eminently conspicuous are Immanuel ben Solomon and Moses Rieti. The former of these, regarded by the Jews as the greatest of their poets, and said to have been the friend of Dante, wrote a work on Paradise and Hell which is an imitation of the _Divina Commedia_ of the great Italian. He wrote also religious poetry and several commentaries on the Old Testament Scriptures. FOOTNOTES: [135] In the Norman kingdom of Naples, where the feudal system had a firmer hold than in any other part of Italy, the Jews were more severely treated; but even there, as we shall see, persecution was promptly and firmly checked.