Early in the seventh century Clotaire II. issued a decree forbidding Jews to hold any military or civil office. Dagobert, who reigned from 628 to 638, enacted still more sternly, that the whole of his Jewish subjects should forswear their faith or depart from his dominions. It is said that he too acted under the influence of the Emperor Heraclius.[83] But of this there is no evidence, and it has been urged that the royal order, if issued, was but little observed, since the Jews, in the southern parts of his kingdom at least, continued to be a numerous and wealthy body throughout his reign. Wamba, the Gothic king of Languedoc, however, certainly took the step in question, and banished them from his kingdom. FOOTNOTES: [78] One would suspect the genuineness of this story, but that historians accept it apparently without doubt. [79] The Jews took the opportunity of the popular outbreak against Martina and Heracleonas, to desecrate the church of St. Sophia with every kind of outrage, and apparently with impunity. [80] Beyond doubt they were charged with having incited it. [81] I do not desire to imply that the concord between the Arians and Jews, as contrasted with the disagreements between the Catholics and Jews, is any ground for commending the one or blaming the other. It may not unreasonably be argued that it is the indifference of the Arians to our Lord’s honour, and the zeal of the Catholics for its maintenance, which occasion both the concord and the strife. I only record the fact. [82] The commonly received story—that Count Julian persuaded Muza to invade Spain, in order to avenge the violation of his daughter Florinda—is in all likelihood mere fiction. It is not mentioned by any historian for nearly 500 years after Roderic’s death, and then only as a legend. Considering the manners of the time and the unbounded licence of the Gothic kings, it is most unlikely that such an act, if perpetrated, would have been so furiously resented: and the invasion of Spain is to be accounted for in a more simple way, viz., the carrying out of Mahomet’s plan of progressive conquest. [83] Rabbi Joseph, i. p. 2. CHAPTER XI. A.D. 740-980. THE JEWS UNDER THE CALIPHS IN THE EAST.