7.13. F. The Jews in England

Chapter 3 A Summary of Jewish History F. The Jews in England

Even in dear old England, where in more recent times a limited number of Jews have found a home and have attained to a position of importance and prosperity, how terrible was their lot in the Dark Ages! When exactly the Jews first found their way to Britain cannot be positively stated. It is certain that they were in these islands before the Norman Conquest; and already in the eighth century we read of repressive laws which were promulgated against them. Hatred of them broke out into a terrible flame at the coronation of Richard Cœur de Lion. “As Richard was returning to his palace from the coronation in the church, there entered onto the state-room, among others who came to do homage to the King, a deputation of the richest and most prominent members of the whole Jewish community of England, to hand in their presents. On their appearance, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, a fanatical church dignitary, remarked darkly that no presents might be accepted from the Jews; and that they must be dismissed from the palace, as through their religion they had forfeited the privilege to rank among other nations. Richard, who did not think to what evil consequences the expulsion of Jews would give occasion, innocently followed the instruction of the Archbishop. The palace menials, who showed the Jews out of the palace, thought to gain the approval of their masters by abusing them. The gaping crowd like-wise fell to, and pursued the Jewish deputies with blows of the fist, with stones and clubs. Soon there spread about in all parts of London the false report that the King desired to humble and massacre the Jews, and immediately the mob and the crusading rabble trooped together to enrich themselves with the possessions of the Jews. The pillagers made an attack upon the houses in which the Jews had fortified themselves, and set fire to them. Meanwhile night had come, and covered with her shadows the ghastly butchery of the Jews. It was in vain that the newly-crowned King sent one of his courtiers, Randulph de Granville, to make inquiries about the uproar, and put a stop to it. At first he could not make himself heard, and was moreover, assailed with jeers by the raging mob. Thus many Jews perished; others killed themselves rather than submit to baptism. Most of the Jewish houses were burnt, and the synagogues destroyed.”^{1 1} Graetz, History of the Jews.

Richard did his best to put an end to the excesses committed at the time of his coronation by punishing the ringleaders; but on his leaving England on the Third Crusade (1190) the massacres again began, Stamford, Lincoln, and Norwich being scenes of the worst examples of this mania for blood and plunder. In York the Jews fled for refuge to the Castle, defending themselves for a while under the lead of two brave men, and then by sword and fire took their own lives rather than submit to be baptized. Rich old Joceus, an inhabitant of York, who had suffered severely at the time of the Coronation massacre, was the first to kill his wife, and to fall by the hand of the Rabbi; of a community of nearly 500 not one remained alive.

All Jews, with their property, were owned by the King, who had an exact inventory of the Jews, and their means, taken throughout his kingdom in order to know how much they were worth to him in realisable wealth. A Court of Exchequer of the Jews exercised control over all Jewish matters, with which in this land the Church had no voice at all; but this was in order that the King himself should have complete cognisance of all their means and the opportunities by which he could express them to his own ends. No Jew could leave the land without permission of the Court of Exchequer of the Jews; incredible sums were reaped by the King’s purse for such permission. For the confirmation of a decree of Henry, John Lackland extorted the sum of 4,000 marks; again in 1210 he obtained 60,000 marks. A Jew of Bristol was tortured by the cruel extraction of tooth after tooth, until the miserable man paid down the sum of 10,000 marks in silver. Under the regency of Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Jews were compelled to pay tithes to support the Church, and to wear the prescribed badge of shame; they were forbidden to build synagogues, or to protect their property when spoliation was threatened by depositing it in the churches. Henry III. and Edward I. in a period of nine years extorted the sum of 8,400,000 marks (£420,000) from them; Henry III. in person forcing from Aaron of York the sum of four gold marks and 4,000 silver marks. Edward I. forbade the Jews to be usurers; and since this was the only means of livelihood left them, their case was evil indeed, and their Rabbis implored permission for them to quit the land. Blood accusations were trumped up against them, and in Easter week, 1264, some hundreds of Jews were massacred. In 1278 the Jews were accused of falsifying the coins; all the Jews were imprisoned on one day and their houses searched; two hundred and ninety-three Jews were hung on this occasion. Next year a blood accusation occurred in Northampton, and some Jews in London were first hanged and then quartered. And thus the record of oppression and suffering continues till 1290, when Edward I. issued his final Act of banishment against them. On October 9th of that year the remnant of 16,000 Jews left the British shores, where they had lived for many generations, to begin a wandering life in other, not more hospitable, lands; and from that day till the time of Cromwell (about three hundred and seventy years) the English law, and fear, prevented single Jew from landing on these shored.