Edict of Expulsion facts for kids

The Edict of Expulsion was a royal order from Edward I of England. He issued it on July 18, 1290. This order forced all Jews to leave the Kingdom of England. Edward told local officials that all Jews must be gone by November 1 of that year. This expulsion order stayed in place for over 365 years. It was finally ended in 1657. At that time, Oliver Cromwell allowed Jews to return to England. This edict was not a sudden event. It was the result of more than 200 years of growing antisemitism (hatred of Jews) in England.

Why it Happened

The first large Jewish groups came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. William invited Jews from Rouen to move to England. He likely wanted taxes paid in money, not goods. Jews helped with this because they dealt with coins. After William took over, he set up a feudal system. In this system, the king owned all the land. He then gave large parts of it to powerful lords. These lords owed money and soldiers to the king. Below the lords were other people, down to farmers and serfs. Everyone owed duties to the person above them.

Merchants and Jews had a special place in this system. Jews were directly under the king's rule. This was different from most people, who were tied to a local lord. This special status could be good or bad. It meant they were not tied to one lord. But it also meant they were completely subject to the king's wishes. Each new king had to agree that Jews could stay in England. Jews did not have the same protections as others. For example, they were not covered by the Magna Carta of 1215.

Jews played a key role in the country's money system. The Church at that time strictly banned Christians from lending money for profit. This created a gap in the economy. Jews filled this gap. They faced a lot of discrimination in other jobs. Christian guilds often stopped Jews from working in crafts. Jewish law did not forbid loans with interest between Jews and non-Jews. The king could take money from Jews whenever he wanted. He could tax them heavily without asking Parliament.

This made Jews seem like greedy money-lenders. They became very unpopular with the Church and the public. While anti-Jewish feelings were common in Europe, medieval England was especially anti-Jewish. People started to see Jews as evil figures. False stories spread, like the tale of the Wandering Jew. There were also terrible accusations of ritual murders.

In these "blood libel" cases, people falsely claimed Jews hunted children. They said Jews murdered children before Passover. They claimed Jews used the children's blood to make matzah (unleavened bread). These anti-Jewish feelings led to many riots. Many Jews were killed. A famous example is in 1190. Over 100 Jews were killed in York.

The Expulsion

Life for Jews got much worse as the 1200s went on. In 1218, Henry III of England ordered Jews to wear a special marking badge. Taxes became much heavier. Between 1219 and 1272, Jews were taxed 49 times. This totaled a huge sum of 200,000 marks. In 1222, Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, held a meeting. This meeting, called the Synod of Oxford, passed new laws. These laws stopped Jews from building new synagogues. They also forbade Jews from owning Christian servants or mixing with Christians. Henry III made Jews live more separately. He also made them wear badges more strictly in 1253. He supported the false stories of Jewish child murders.

Expulsions of Jews in Europe from 1100 to 1600

The first big step towards expelling Jews happened in 1275. This was with the Statute of the Jewry. This law made all lending with interest illegal. It gave Jews fifteen years to find new ways to make a living. In 1282, John Peckham, the Archbishop of Canterbury, closed all synagogues in his area.

In 1287, King Edward ordered Jews to be expelled from Gascony, a French territory he controlled. The king took all their property. Any money owed to Jews now had to be paid to the king. In late 1286, Pope Honorius IV wrote to the Archbishops of York and Canterbury. He said Jews had a bad effect on Christian religious life. He asked them to stop Jews from mixing freely with Christians. The Church responded with the Synod of Exeter in 1287. This meeting repeated old Church laws. It banned Jews and Christians from eating together. It also stopped Jews from holding public jobs. They could not have Christian servants. They could not appear in public during Easter. Jewish doctors were also forbidden to practice.

By 1289, King Edward was deeply in debt. The next summer, he called his knights to approve a large tax. To make the tax easier to accept, Edward offered to expel all Jews. The heavy tax was approved. Three days later, on July 18, the Edict of Expulsion was issued.

One official reason for the expulsion was that Jews had not followed the Statute of Jewry. They supposedly continued to lend money with interest. This was likely true. It would have been very hard for many Jews to find other jobs. The expulsion order was very popular. Few people resisted it. The expulsion happened quickly.

Orders were sent to officials in every county. All Jews had to leave England by November 1. Jews could take their small, movable belongings. But most of them lost their homes to the king. A few special people were allowed to sell their homes before leaving.

The Jewish population in England was small then. Perhaps around 2,000 people. One story tells of a ship hired by rich Jews. It was going down the Thames River towards France. When the tide was low, the captain convinced the Jews to walk on a sandbank. He then went back to the ship before the tide came in. He left the Jews to drown. He returned to London with their possessions. Some sailors were hanged for this. But the captain was thanked and rewarded by the king.

Many Jews moved to Scotland, France, and the Netherlands. Some went as far as Poland. Poland offered them legal rights.

Later Years

After the expulsion in 1290, there were still some records of Jews in England. Some lived in a special house for converts to Christianity until 1551. People tried to cancel the expulsion order in 1310, but it failed. Still, some Jews seemed to have returned. In 1376, four complaints were made to the king. They said some people acting as bankers were actually Jews.

Sometimes, individuals were allowed to visit England. For example, Elias Sabot, a famous doctor, visited in 1410. But a larger number of Sephardic Jews (Jews from Spain and Portugal) came after 1492. That's when Jews were expelled from Spain. Many were arrested in 1542 for being suspected Jews. Throughout the 1500s, several people named Lopez came to England. They were likely from the same family. The most famous was Rodrigo López. He was a doctor to Queen Elizabeth I. Some people think he inspired the character Shylock in Shakespeare's play.

England also saw converts like Immanuel Tremellius. Jewish visitors included Joachim Gaunse. He brought new mining methods to England. There are records of visits from Jews named Alonzo de Herrera and Simon Palache in 1614. Writings from the 1630s spoke positively about Jews returning to England. This return officially happened in 1657.

Apology

In July 2021, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, made an announcement. He said the Church of England would offer a formal "act of repentance" in 2022. This was for the 800th anniversary of the Synod of Oxford in 1222. That meeting passed laws that limited Jews' rights. These laws eventually led to the 1290 expulsion. The Synod happened before the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534. But the Archbishopric of Canterbury goes back to before 600 AD.

The apology service was held in May 2022.

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