Modernity, Legal Integration, and the Confessional State: The Jews of the Papal State

The early modern Papal State modernized by insisting that its Jews (principally in Rome) live entirely by ius commune and desist from self-governance. Yet, as a confessional state, it also insisted on religious amalgamation. By contrast, the French Revolution insisted on legal and institutional unity, but not religious. By examining the policies of the popes, one can see the role of confessionalism as a brake on modern state-formation.