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232 ;

AReda

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ai^es of If an

Leagues from Biula, tdExaiiiini' tlic SfripturesConChrisl, on the Twclflli of OclotuT, IGoO," Ldiidon, 16.")"), a certain Samuel Hrett gives a full re|iiirt of a tictilious .Icwisli eonference. sjiiil to have

(•i-rniii!;

been

lielil

at Ageila. Ilunirarv, in

October, lOoO,

It

was attended by three hundred ral)bis and tliree thousiind persons, who had come together from all parts of the world to consider their attitude toward Oidy those .lews were admitted, he Christianity. states, who understood Hebrew and were able to Six Cathtrace their pedigree toihe Twelve Tribes. olic friars, specially delegated by the |)o|)e,were also The discussion, carried on in pure Ilebn'W, present. The doctrines of the Church, lasted for eight days. as expounded by the Roman friars, were rejected as idolatrous; and" the Jews fell back to their former Some of them, liowcver, expressed a fa[losition. vorable opinion of Protestantism, and especially of the r.,ondon clergy. This report found its way to Germany and Ilungarv, where it was variously reproduced {".Sulamith," II. i. 233-^4:5; " Allg." Zeit. d. Jud."ls3.S; Fenyes, " JIagyaroszagnak Sat. Mostani Allapot.ia," iii. 27. and in many geographical and historical

works: compare Leojiold Lijw, "Gesammelte SchrifIt is still found liere and there in 41!)). pamphlets of the Jewish missions in England, Ger-

ten," iv.

many, and Austria. However, on critical examination, the story shows There is no all the marks of a fictitious creation. idace in all Hungary known as Ageda: the rcMiuircment of a pedigree was foreign to Jews of that ])eriod and the statement that the discu.ssions were Furcarried on in Hebrew is also very suspicious. thermore, an event of such :iia,gnitide would have create<l the deepest commotion in Israel, and would have given rise to lieatcd polemics and much wri;

ting of responsii; whereas there is not the slightest evidence in Jewish literature to corroborate Uretl's account. Manasseh ben Israel in his "Vindicite Jud;eorum" speaks of "the fabulous narrative" of the proceedings of this cotincil. It is probable that Brett wrote his apocryphal account with a twofold purpose; (1) to demonstrate the incapacity of Catholicism to fulfil its mis.siou and (2) to spur English Christendom to financial contributions for the Jewish missions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Sutamith. II. i.233-21.3 Ang.Zcit. d, Jud. 1838 Li')W, Gesammelte Sehrifteii, iv. 418 et «»(•; Selig Cassel, Vehcr die Rabhincrvcriiammhina dcs Jahrea lOoo. Berlin,



181J.

M. B.

AGEN

A

town

department of Lot-ct(iniomii'. France, on the banks of the Garonne, Some Jews settled herein southiast of Bordeau.x. The records the beginning of the twelfth century. show that the Jews of Agen were the first victims of the persecutions by the fanatical "Shepherds" (P.vsTOUKE.wx), abody of wandering friars, who, headed by a Hungarian monk, under the pretense of delivering Saint Louis, the king of France, then a prisoner in the hands of Saracens, committed barbarous ravages before they could be siip|iresse(l. From .Vgen, the Ijloody persecutions spread through more than 120 communities in Guienne and Gascony. The unfortunate Jews sent delegates to the king of France imploring Ids protection. That Jews were still in Agen and its environs in 12.')0 is proved by the fact that the seneschal there was ordered to find all prohibited Hebrew books, and that the Dominicans,



who aided

In the

the authorities, threatened with

excommunication all Christians who hid these books, or sympathized with the Jews.

232

There was a Immlet, also inhabited by Jews, Agen.

calleil

Ageiiais, near Iliiu.iofiKAi'iIv

Shiliil l'i;ii«l<i)i,ed. WleniT, p. 4; ShiiMit-



lia-liililiuliih.

III

Jwtaicn,

eil'.

.iiistercliim, p. HI



H.

(iross,

Uallia

p. 44.

M.

AGENCY.

S.

LAW OF:

The Law of Agency deals person (known as the agent)

with the sialus of a acting by direition of another (the ]iriiiciiial), and thereby legally binding the iiriucipal in his connection with a third iieison. The person who binds a ])rincipal in this manner is his agent, known in Jewish law as xluluiih or Kluliit/i (one that is sent): the relation of the former to the latter is known as agency is/itlihu/). The general principle is enunciated thus: A man'sagent is like himself Kid. 41i). 1. Under the Jewish hiw an agent may lie appointed without the formality of writing, that is, by spoken words; and witnes.ses are not needed to give ellect to these words, except to prove, in case of dis])iite. that authority li:id been Appoint- given, and the extent of such :iuthorment. ity. The standard authorities draw this conclusion from the remark in Kiddusliin, (W/. that witnesses are needed only to (

meet

denials.

A woman

as well as a man, and even a maror bondor the "Caniuinite bondman woman of an Israelite, may be an agent and bind the principal, .(/("/('(/( (sciuh'r), or //ni/nUin Imi/il (maadeaf-nuite, a person of unter of the hou.se). sound mind, or an infant (a boy under thirteen or a girl under twelve years of a.ge) can not be an agent, being deemed deficient in reason (based on Mishnah 15. K. vi. 4); but such a one may act as messenger to carry money or goods to the partv in In no case is a interest by his express con.sent. (r<'ntile recogni/ed as the agent of an Israelite, either to bind him or to aciiuire anything for his benefit; anoint an agent, even for acts for which he would be competent in person; thus, an infant wife can not depute one to reccivi' her liill of divorce ((Jit. vi. 3». paid agent that is, a factor or broker (sininr) does not differ from the un])aid agent in the relations which he can establish between liis principal and a third jierson. ried

woman,

''

A

—

—

A

One who wishes action for

him

to authorize another to bring an to recover money, land, or goods

must make out a writing known as n{<L""in (letter of attorney), which in form is a transfer of th<' claim or of the thing to be sued for. It must contain such words as: "Go to law, win, and .eet for thyself" K. TO(ir); otherwise the defendant need not recognize the attorney as a proper party to the litiga(B.

tion.

only

The Talmud in

cases

refers to these letters of attorney is to be

where the return of a deposit

demanded.
 * Maiinonides ("Hilkot Sheluhiu," iii. 2, ba.scd on

B. K. 70<n holds that the transfer of an aliipiot part of the claim is enough to .give to the attorney a standing in court for a |)art owner may sue on beThis view is achalf of himself and companions.

cepted by later casuists. An agent may appoint a subagent (Kid. 41fl); but under the Roman, as well as under the EnglishAmerican law, he can do so only by special authorization. Probably this would also have been the ruling under the rabbinic law; but both the Talmud and the standard authorities are silent as to the conditions allowing the appointment of a subagent.