Nevertheless, priests, judges or other officials who have been invested with authority, shall not be liable to the aforesaid penalties, if they can prove that they were prevented, by command of the king, from proceeding against the Jews. =ERVIGIUS, KING.= =XXV. No Judge shall Presume to Investigate the Offences of the Jews without the Knowledge of an Ecclesiastic.= No judge shall decide a cause involving the transgressions of the perfidious Jews, unless an ecclesiastic be present, lest, by the acceptance of a bribe, the Holy Faith of the Church be stained by avarice; but, as is frequently the case, where no ecclesiastic is present, the judge is authorized to proceed without him. If, however, the bishop should be absent, whether near at hand, or at a distance, he may leave a priest to act in his stead, who will co-operate with the judge in the enforcement of these laws, without any remuneration whatever. =XXVI. Bishops shall be Immune from Punishment, when their Priests do not Inform them of Such Things as Should be Corrected.= As soon as the priests, deacons, or other members of the clerical order, and all judges, vested with authority, throughout the different provinces of the kingdom, ascertain that a body of Jews is within their jurisdiction, they must not delay to place said Jews under coercion and restraint, as required by our laws; and all errors which said Jews are unwilling to renounce, shall be brought to the knowledge of the king and the bishop, in order that they may be corrected; and if a Jew should give information of the same to the bishop, he shall not be subject to punishment for any similar offence of which he may be guilty. No bishop shall be liable to discipline for neglect, when notice of the offence was not given him by his subordinates. =ERVIGIUS, KING.= =XXVII. Concerning the Mercy to be Shown by Princes towards Those who have been Truly Converted to the Christian Faith.=