JOHN XXII° (Jacques Duèse; b. c. 1245), pope at Avignon,
1316–34. Pragmatically adapting his attitude to suit the current
situation, John XXII could be called neither benevolent nor
severe in his dealings with the Jews. He wished to encourage the
conversion of the Jews and advised employing a convert with a
perfect knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic to teach these languages
to Christians (1319); he also allowed converts to keep their
possessions (1320). In 1320 he intervened on at least five
occasions to protect the Jews from the *Pastoureaux. However, in
this same year, he once more determined to seize the Talmud and
other Jewish books and considered expelling the Jews from Church
lands. Although the expulsion order was revoked on the payment
of large sums by a delegation of Jews from Rome, John XXII
nevertheless proceeded to burn the Talmud in 1322, at the same
time instituting local expulsion orders. He confirmed the
jurisdiction of the Inquisition over converts who, suspected of
Judaizing practices, had foun