When Ferrara passed under the rule of the Church in 1598, the condition of the Jews grew much worse. In the same year the Jewish badge was introduced. In the following year all real estate had to be sold, synagogues were limited to three, one for each rite, and the loan banks were closed; however this last decree was repealed a short time later, the banks being finally closed only in 1683. In 1624 the construction of a ghetto was decreed and two years later the Jews were confined to it. The Jews were forced to be present at conversionist sermons and Jewish physicians were forbidden to attend on Christians. A similar state of affairs persisted throughout the 17th and 18th centuries; from time to time the situation was exacerbated by mob attacks on the ghetto (1648, 1651, 1705, 1747, 1754) and by a blood libel charge in 1721.

Title: Regola per ricavarsi gl' Annuni aggravj per le Spese, che occorono all' Universita degl' ebrei di Ferrara et altre Provisioni.