ALPHONSE OF POITIERS°

ALPHONSE OF POITIERS° (1220–1271), brother of Louis IX (Saint Louis) of France. His jurisdiction extended over poitou , Saintonge, and Auvergne, and areas including Agenais, Quercy, and the comtat-venaissin , i.e., almost one-third of present-day France. Alphonse treated the Jewish inhabitants in his domains with arbitrary harshness. In July 1249, he decreed the expulsion of the Jews of Poitou. The order was apparently not implemented, unless for a short period. In October 1268 he ordered the wholesale arrest of the Jews in his territories, and seizure of their movable property to finance his departure on a crusade. He subsequently fixed the tax liability of the Jews in his domain at 8,000 livres for the communities in Poitou, 6,000 for Saintonge, 2,000 for Auvergne, and 3,500 for Toulouse. In July 1269 Alphonse compelled the Jews to wear the jewish badge ; those who failed to comply had to pay the heavy fine of ten livres. In July 1271, during Alphonse's absence, his "vice administrators" (vices gerentes), claiming his authorization, expelled the Jews of Moissac. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Molinier (ed.), Alfonse de Poitiers, Correspondance Administrative, 2 vols. (1894–1900); P.F. Fournier and P. Guébin (eds.), Alfonse de Poitiers, Enquêtes Administratives (1959), includes bibliography; Nahon, in: REJ, 125 (1966), 167–211. (Bernhard Blumenkranz)