The Disputation of Paris (; ), also known as the Trial of the Talmud (), took place in 1240 at the court of King Louis IX of France. It followed the work of Nicholas Donin, a Jewish convert to Christianity who translated the Talmud and pressed 35 charges against it to Pope Gregory IX by quoting a series of allegedly blasphemous passages about Jesus, Mary, or Christianity. Four rabbis defended the Talmud against Donin's accusations. Background As part of its evangelistic efforts, the Catholic Church sought to win the beliefs of the Jews through debate. Western Christianity in the 13th century was developing its intellectual acumen and had assimilated the challenges of Aristotle through the works of Thomas Aquinas. In order to flex its intellectual muscle, the Church sought to engage the Jews in debate, hoping that the Jews would see what they considered the intellectual superiority of Christianity. Paul Johnson cites a significant difference between the Jewish and Christian sides of the debate. Christianity had developed a detailed theological system; the teachings were clear and therefore vulnerable to attack. Judaism had a relative absence of dogmatic theology; it did have many negative dogmas to combat idolatry but did not have a developed positive theology. "The Jews had a way of concentrating on life and pushing death—and its dogmas—into the background." Disputers The debate started on 12 June 1240. Nicholas Donin, a member of the Franciscan Order and a Jewish convert to Christianity, represented the Christian side. He had translated statements by Talmudic sages and pressed 35 charges against the Talmud as a whole to Pope Gregory IX by quoting a series of allegedly blasphemous passages about Christianity. He also selected what he said were injunctions of Talmudic sages permitting Jews to kill non-Jews, to deceive Christians, and to break promises made to them without scruples. The Catholic Church had shown little interest in the Talmud until Donin presented his translation to Gregory IX. The Pope was surprised that the Jews relied on texts other than the Torah, and that those other texts contained alleged blasphemies against Christianity. This lack of interest also characterized the French monarchy which chiefly considered the Jews as a potential source of income before 1230. Rabbis Yechiel of Paris, Moses of Coucy, Judah of Melun, and Samuel ben Solomon of Château-Thierry—four of the most distinguished rabbis of France—represented the Jewish side of the debate. Trial