The Maimonides and Controversy

Rabbinic judge in Barcelona imposed a ban on the study of philosophy. Solomon ibn Adret and his French allies hoped this would set a good example for southern France too. Not only did this fail to occur, but other Jews in France excommunicated anyone who tried to stop people from studying philosophy. Members of the pro-philosophy camp were duly targeted with a counter-excommunication amidst confusion about which decision carried legal force. The whole sorry event ended when the very ironically named French king Philip the Fair decided to exile all the Jews from his realm in southern France.