Medieval England and the Jews - BrLi > .
The Statute of the Jewry was a statute issued by Edward I of England in 1275. It placed a number of restrictions on Jews of England, most notably outlawing the practice of usury.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_the_Jewry .
Lending money has long been regarded as a moral matter. Hundreds of years ago, when modern finance arose in Europe, moneylenders moderated their behaviour in response to debates among the clergy about how to apply the Bible’s teachings to an increasingly complex economy.
The Edict of Expulsion was a royal decree issued by King Edward I of England on 18 July 1290, expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England. The expulsion edict remained in force for the rest of the Middle Ages. The edict was not an isolated incident, but the culmination of over 200 years of increased persecution. The edict was overturned during the Protectorate more than three centuries later, when Oliver Cromwell permitted Jews to return to England in 1657.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Expulsion .
The Jews in England - 1066 to 1290
http://www.wildolive.co.uk/england_history.htm .
Medieval Antisemitism in Jewish History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5qLnsEER4c .
How did usury stop being a sin and become respectable finance? | Aeon Essays
The Statute of the Jewry was a statute issued by Edward I of England in 1275. It placed a number of restrictions on Jews of England, most notably outlawing the practice of usury.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_the_Jewry .
Lending money has long been regarded as a moral matter. Hundreds of years ago, when modern finance arose in Europe, moneylenders moderated their behaviour in response to debates among the clergy about how to apply the Bible’s teachings to an increasingly complex economy.
The Edict of Expulsion was a royal decree issued by King Edward I of England on 18 July 1290, expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England. The expulsion edict remained in force for the rest of the Middle Ages. The edict was not an isolated incident, but the culmination of over 200 years of increased persecution. The edict was overturned during the Protectorate more than three centuries later, when Oliver Cromwell permitted Jews to return to England in 1657.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Expulsion .
The Jews in England - 1066 to 1290
http://www.wildolive.co.uk/england_history.htm .
Medieval Antisemitism in Jewish History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5qLnsEER4c .
In 1190, the Jewish population of York, England, fled to Clifford’s Tower where dozens of people killed their own families and themselves rather than suffer the wrath of the people outside. In the later Middle Ages, the Spanish Inquisition was responsible for large-scale persecution, torture, and execution in the name of the “greater good”. The Crusades were a long, drawn-out nightmare all their own, and later centuries saw neighbour turn against neighbour with accusations of witchcraft (although not the famous Salem witch trials, which occurred in the Early Modern Period)."
http://www.medievalists.net/2016/11/nothing-fear-fear/
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ephr-bonn1.asp
1348-51 Europe | The Black Death and the Burning of Jews
http://www.medievalists.net/2011/01/25/the-black-death-and-the-burning-of-jews/
Persecution of Jews
Throughout the Middle Ages the Jews became increasingly marginalized because of political and economic disadvantages. For example, in Roman times Jews were citizens, but in the later Middle Ages they were treated under the law as resident foreigners. They lived under the protection of the King, yet this also meant that they were vulnerable to his whims. Jews were also unable to own Christian slaves, or take Christian oaths, thus excluding them from the feudal and manorial systems. Thus, the only occupations available to them were those of artisans, traders, or money lenders.
Persecution of Jewish communities began with the massacres in the Rhineland by Crusaders. In the twelfth century, the increasing centralization of states allowed for the existence of more uniform law, and urbanization expanded the role of money in society. The rise of guilds excluded Jewish artisans. These changes meant that Jewish traders and money lenders began to hold more important positions in society. And it was at this time -- when Jews' religious differences were compounded with growing social and economic influence -- that they began to be seriously persecuted.
In the twelfth century, Jews were accused of murdering Christian children in order to make matzoh for Passover. Although the Church denounced this libel, in 1204 the papacy required Jews to segregate themselves from Christians and to wear distinctive clothing. It was alleged that the Talmud contained material offensive to Christians, and many Talmuds were publically burned. In the fourteenth century, Jews were accused of causing the Black Plague by poisoning wells. Jewish communities were expelled from England, France, and, finally, Spain.
http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/margin/jew.htm .
To see the antisemitism of medieval bestiaries, look for the owl .
Modern bigots
http://theconversation.com/antisemitism-how-the-origins-of-historys-oldest-hatred-still-hold-sway-today-87878 .
http://www.medievalists.net/2016/11/nothing-fear-fear/
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ephr-bonn1.asp
1348-51 Europe | The Black Death and the Burning of Jews
http://www.medievalists.net/2011/01/25/the-black-death-and-the-burning-of-jews/
Expulsion of Jews from England
The first Jewish communities of significant size came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. On the conquest of England, William instituted a feudal system in the country, whereby all estates formally belonged to the Crown; the king then appointed lords over these vast estates, but they were subject to duties and obligations (financial and military) to the king. Under the lords were further subjects such as serfs, who were bound and obliged to their lords, and their lords' obligations. Merchants had a special status in the system, as did Jews. Jews were declared to be direct subjects of the king, unlike the rest of the population. That was an ambivalent legal position for the Jewish population, in that they were not tied to any particular lord but were subject to the whims of the king. That could be either advantageous or disadvantageous. Every successive king formally reviewed a royal charter, granting Jews the right to remain in England. Jews did not enjoy any of the guarantees of the Magna Carta of 1215.
Economically, Jews played a key role in the country. The Church then strictly forbade the lending of money for profit. That created a vacuum in the economy of Europe that Jews filled because of extreme discrimination in every other economic area. Canon law was not considered applicable to Jews, and Judaism does not forbid loans with interest between Jews and non-Jews. In consequence, some Jews made large amounts of money. Taking advantage of their unique status as his direct subjects, the King could appropriate Jewish assets in the form of taxation. He levied heavy taxes on Jews at will, without having to summon Parliament.
Jews acquired a reputation as extortionate moneylenders, which made them extremely unpopular with both the Church and the general public. While an anti-Jewish attitude was widespread in Europe, medieval England was particularly anti-Jewish. An image of the Jew as a diabolical figure who hated Christ started to become widespread, and myths such as the tale of the Wandering Jew and allegations of ritual murders originated and spread throughout England as well as in Scotland and Wales.
In frequent cases of blood libel, Jews were said to hunt for children to murder before Passover so that they could use their blood to make the unleavened matzah. Anti-Jewish attitudes sparked numerous riots in which many Jews were murdered, most notably in 1190, when over 100 Jews were massacred in York.
The situation only got worse for Jews as the 13th century progressed. In 1218, Henry III of England proclaimed the Edict of the Badge requiring Jews to wear a marking badge. Taxation grew increasingly intense. Between 1219-72, 49 levies were imposed on Jews for a total of 200,000 marks, a vast sum of money. The first major step towards expulsion took place in 1275, with the Statute of the Jewry. The statute outlawed all lending at interest and gave Jews fifteen years to readjust.
In the duchy of Gascony in 1287, King Edward ordered the local Jews expelled. All their property was seized by the crown and all outstanding debts payable to Jews were transferred to the King’s name. By the time he returned to England in 1289, King Edward was deeply in debt. The next summer he summoned his knights to impose a steep tax. To make the tax more palatable, Edward, in exchange, essentially offered to expel all Jews. The heavy tax was passed, and three days later, on 18 July,[14] the Edict of Expulsion was issued. One official reason for the expulsion was that Jews had declined to follow the Statute of Jewry. The edict of expulsion was widely popular and met with little resistance, and the expulsion was quickly carried out.[citation needed]
The Jewish population in England at the time was relatively small, perhaps 2,000 people, although estimates vary. The expulsion process appears to have been relatively non-violent, although there were some accounts to the contrary. One perhaps apocryphal story told of a captain taking a ship full of Jews to the Thames, en route to France, while the tide was low, and convincing them to go out for a walk with him. He then lost them and made it back to his ship quickly before the tide came back in, leaving them all to drown.
Many Jews emigrated, to Scotland, France and the Netherlands, and as far as Poland, which, at that time, protected them (see Statute of Kalisz).
Between the expulsion of Jews in 1290 and their formal return in 1655, there is no official trace of Jews as such on English soil except in connection with the Domus Conversorum, which kept a number of them within its precincts up to 1551 and even later. An attempt was made to obtain a revocation of the edict of expulsion as early as 1310, but in vain. Notwithstanding, a certain number of Jews appeared to have returned; for complaints were made to the king in 1376 that some of those trading as Lombards were actually Jews ("Rot. Parl." ii. 332a).
Occasionally permits were given to individuals to visit England, as in the case of Dr Elias Sabot (an eminent physician from Bologna summoned to attend Henry IV) in 1410, but it was not until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497 that any considerable number of Sephardic Jews found refuge in England. One of these as early as 1493 attempted to recover no less a sum than 428,000 maravedis which the refugees from Spain had entrusted to Diego de Soria. In 1542 many were arrested on the suspicion of being Jews, and throughout the sixteenth century a number of persons named Lopez, possibly all of the same family, took refuge in England, the best known of them being Rodrigo López, physician to Queen Elizabeth I, and who is said to have been the origin of Shylock.
Aside from certain distinguished converts like Immanuel Tremellius and Philip Ferdinand, the most remarkable visitor was Joachim Gaunse, who introduced new methods of mining into England. Occasional visitors, like Alonzo de Herrera and Simon Palache in 1614, are recorded. The writings of John Weemes provided a positive view of the resettlement of Jews in England.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Expulsion .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_the_Jewry .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domus_Conversorum .
The first Jewish communities of significant size came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. On the conquest of England, William instituted a feudal system in the country, whereby all estates formally belonged to the Crown; the king then appointed lords over these vast estates, but they were subject to duties and obligations (financial and military) to the king. Under the lords were further subjects such as serfs, who were bound and obliged to their lords, and their lords' obligations. Merchants had a special status in the system, as did Jews. Jews were declared to be direct subjects of the king, unlike the rest of the population. That was an ambivalent legal position for the Jewish population, in that they were not tied to any particular lord but were subject to the whims of the king. That could be either advantageous or disadvantageous. Every successive king formally reviewed a royal charter, granting Jews the right to remain in England. Jews did not enjoy any of the guarantees of the Magna Carta of 1215.
Economically, Jews played a key role in the country. The Church then strictly forbade the lending of money for profit. That created a vacuum in the economy of Europe that Jews filled because of extreme discrimination in every other economic area. Canon law was not considered applicable to Jews, and Judaism does not forbid loans with interest between Jews and non-Jews. In consequence, some Jews made large amounts of money. Taking advantage of their unique status as his direct subjects, the King could appropriate Jewish assets in the form of taxation. He levied heavy taxes on Jews at will, without having to summon Parliament.
Jews acquired a reputation as extortionate moneylenders, which made them extremely unpopular with both the Church and the general public. While an anti-Jewish attitude was widespread in Europe, medieval England was particularly anti-Jewish. An image of the Jew as a diabolical figure who hated Christ started to become widespread, and myths such as the tale of the Wandering Jew and allegations of ritual murders originated and spread throughout England as well as in Scotland and Wales.
In frequent cases of blood libel, Jews were said to hunt for children to murder before Passover so that they could use their blood to make the unleavened matzah. Anti-Jewish attitudes sparked numerous riots in which many Jews were murdered, most notably in 1190, when over 100 Jews were massacred in York.
The situation only got worse for Jews as the 13th century progressed. In 1218, Henry III of England proclaimed the Edict of the Badge requiring Jews to wear a marking badge. Taxation grew increasingly intense. Between 1219-72, 49 levies were imposed on Jews for a total of 200,000 marks, a vast sum of money. The first major step towards expulsion took place in 1275, with the Statute of the Jewry. The statute outlawed all lending at interest and gave Jews fifteen years to readjust.
In the duchy of Gascony in 1287, King Edward ordered the local Jews expelled. All their property was seized by the crown and all outstanding debts payable to Jews were transferred to the King’s name. By the time he returned to England in 1289, King Edward was deeply in debt. The next summer he summoned his knights to impose a steep tax. To make the tax more palatable, Edward, in exchange, essentially offered to expel all Jews. The heavy tax was passed, and three days later, on 18 July,[14] the Edict of Expulsion was issued. One official reason for the expulsion was that Jews had declined to follow the Statute of Jewry. The edict of expulsion was widely popular and met with little resistance, and the expulsion was quickly carried out.[citation needed]
The Jewish population in England at the time was relatively small, perhaps 2,000 people, although estimates vary. The expulsion process appears to have been relatively non-violent, although there were some accounts to the contrary. One perhaps apocryphal story told of a captain taking a ship full of Jews to the Thames, en route to France, while the tide was low, and convincing them to go out for a walk with him. He then lost them and made it back to his ship quickly before the tide came back in, leaving them all to drown.
Many Jews emigrated, to Scotland, France and the Netherlands, and as far as Poland, which, at that time, protected them (see Statute of Kalisz).
Between the expulsion of Jews in 1290 and their formal return in 1655, there is no official trace of Jews as such on English soil except in connection with the Domus Conversorum, which kept a number of them within its precincts up to 1551 and even later. An attempt was made to obtain a revocation of the edict of expulsion as early as 1310, but in vain. Notwithstanding, a certain number of Jews appeared to have returned; for complaints were made to the king in 1376 that some of those trading as Lombards were actually Jews ("Rot. Parl." ii. 332a).
Occasionally permits were given to individuals to visit England, as in the case of Dr Elias Sabot (an eminent physician from Bologna summoned to attend Henry IV) in 1410, but it was not until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497 that any considerable number of Sephardic Jews found refuge in England. One of these as early as 1493 attempted to recover no less a sum than 428,000 maravedis which the refugees from Spain had entrusted to Diego de Soria. In 1542 many were arrested on the suspicion of being Jews, and throughout the sixteenth century a number of persons named Lopez, possibly all of the same family, took refuge in England, the best known of them being Rodrigo López, physician to Queen Elizabeth I, and who is said to have been the origin of Shylock.
Aside from certain distinguished converts like Immanuel Tremellius and Philip Ferdinand, the most remarkable visitor was Joachim Gaunse, who introduced new methods of mining into England. Occasional visitors, like Alonzo de Herrera and Simon Palache in 1614, are recorded. The writings of John Weemes provided a positive view of the resettlement of Jews in England.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Expulsion .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_the_Jewry .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domus_Conversorum .
Persecution of Jews
Throughout the Middle Ages the Jews became increasingly marginalized because of political and economic disadvantages. For example, in Roman times Jews were citizens, but in the later Middle Ages they were treated under the law as resident foreigners. They lived under the protection of the King, yet this also meant that they were vulnerable to his whims. Jews were also unable to own Christian slaves, or take Christian oaths, thus excluding them from the feudal and manorial systems. Thus, the only occupations available to them were those of artisans, traders, or money lenders.
Persecution of Jewish communities began with the massacres in the Rhineland by Crusaders. In the twelfth century, the increasing centralization of states allowed for the existence of more uniform law, and urbanization expanded the role of money in society. The rise of guilds excluded Jewish artisans. These changes meant that Jewish traders and money lenders began to hold more important positions in society. And it was at this time -- when Jews' religious differences were compounded with growing social and economic influence -- that they began to be seriously persecuted.
In the twelfth century, Jews were accused of murdering Christian children in order to make matzoh for Passover. Although the Church denounced this libel, in 1204 the papacy required Jews to segregate themselves from Christians and to wear distinctive clothing. It was alleged that the Talmud contained material offensive to Christians, and many Talmuds were publically burned. In the fourteenth century, Jews were accused of causing the Black Plague by poisoning wells. Jewish communities were expelled from England, France, and, finally, Spain.
http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/margin/jew.htm .
To see the antisemitism of medieval bestiaries, look for the owl .
Modern bigots
http://theconversation.com/antisemitism-how-the-origins-of-historys-oldest-hatred-still-hold-sway-today-87878 .
How did usury stop being a sin and become respectable finance? | Aeon Essays
