History of the Jews in England (1066–1290) facts for kids

It is believed that the first Jewish people arrived in England around 1066, during the Norman Conquest led by William the Conqueror. The earliest written records of Jewish communities in England date back to 1070. Sadly, they faced terrible attacks in 1189–90. Eventually, in 1290, all Jews were forced to leave England by a special order called the Edict of Expulsion.

Early Jewish Life in England: 1066–1135

Before 1066, there are no records of Jewish people living in England. When William the Conqueror became king, he invited Jewish merchants from Rouen, France, to England in 1070. He believed their business skills and money would help England become richer.

However, Jewish people were not allowed to own land or work in most trades. They mainly worked as money lenders. At that time, the Christian Church believed that lending money with interest was a sin. So, Jewish people often took on this role. The first Jewish immigrants spoke a French dialect.

Around 1092, a church leader named Gilbert Crispin wrote about a friendly discussion he had with a Jewish man about their different beliefs. This was unusual because it showed both sides respectfully.

Over time, the king began to see all Jewish people as his personal property. This idea was put into some laws under King Henry I.

During Henry I's rule (1100–1135), a special paper called a royal charter was given to Joseph, the chief rabbi of London, and his followers. This charter gave Jewish people important rights:

• They could travel freely without paying special fees.
• They could buy and sell goods and property.
• They could sell items given as security for loans after a certain time.
• They could be judged by other Jewish people.
• They could swear oaths on the Torah (their holy book) instead of a Christian Bible.
• A Jewish person's oath was considered very important, even more than 12 Christian oaths, because they helped the king with money matters.

This charter also said that Jewish people could move freely throughout the kingdom, almost as if they were the king's own belongings. Before 1135, Jewish communities mostly lived only in London.

Challenges and Growth: 1135–1189

Under King Stephen, relations between Christians and Jews became difficult. In one instance, the king reportedly burned down a Jewish man's house in Oxford. It was also during this time, in 1144, that the first false accusation of "blood libel" against Jewish people was made in England, involving a boy named William of Norwich. This was a terrible lie claiming that Jewish people killed Christian children for religious rituals.

When Henry II became king and brought back order, Jewish communities grew again. Within five years, Jewish people lived in many towns like London, Oxford, and Cambridge. However, they could only bury their dead in London until 1177.

The king often relied on Jewish people for money. For example, the conquest of Ireland in 1170 was partly paid for by a Jewish man from Gloucester. Henry II generally allowed Jewish people to continue their financial activities.

In 1168, Henry II demanded a large sum of money from the Jewish community. Later, in 1186, he asked for a quarter of their belongings to help pay for a crusade against Saladin. This was a huge amount, but it's unlikely they paid it all at once.

A very wealthy Jewish man named Aaron of Lincoln died during this period. He was probably the richest person in 12th-century Britain. When he died, all the money owed to him from loans went to the king. This was so much money that a special part of the king's treasury was created just to collect it. However, the actual cash from Aaron's estate was lost in a shipwreck while being sent to France.

During this time, Jewish people often lived peacefully with their non-Jewish neighbors, even church leaders. Some lived in grand houses and helped fund the building of many churches and monasteries. But by the end of Henry II's rule, some upper-class people began to dislike Jewish communities, and anti-Jewish feelings grew, partly fueled by the Crusades.

Terrible Attacks: 1189–1190

After Richard I became king, some important Jewish leaders came to his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey. But there was an old rule against Jewish people (and women) attending. They were forced out and then attacked by a crowd. A false rumor spread that the king had ordered a massacre of Jewish people.

A mob in London attacked Jewish homes, setting them on fire and killing those who tried to escape. The king was angry but couldn't punish many people because there were so many attackers, and some were important figures.

After the king left for the Crusades, more riots broke out:

• In King's Lynn, Jewish homes were burned, and people were killed.
• At Stamford Fair, many were killed on March 7, 1190.
• On March 18, 57 Jewish people were killed at Bury St Edmunds.
• The Jewish community in Lincoln only survived by hiding in the castle.

Clifford's Tower, where many Jewish people in York were killed in 1190.

The worst attack happened in York on March 16 and 17, 1190. As crusaders prepared to leave, strong religious feelings led to violence against Jewish people. Josce of York, a Jewish leader, asked for protection in Clifford's Tower. About 150 Jewish people, including women and children, took refuge there. However, the tower was surrounded by the mob, who demanded that the Jewish people become Christian. Many were killed in this terrible event.

New Rules and Royal Control: 1194

While King Richard was away on a crusade, the Jewish community in England faced more difficulties. They were forced to pay a huge sum of money (5,000 marks) towards the king's ransom, much more than the City of London paid.

When Richard returned in 1194, he decided to organize the Jewish community more strictly. This was to make sure he always got his share of their money. He ordered that all financial deals involving Jewish people had to be officially recorded by royal officials. Without these records, the deals would not be legal.

Every loan had to be written down in two copies, called a chirograph. One copy was kept by the Jewish lender, and the other was stored in a special chest that only royal officials could access. This way, the king could always know how much money any Jewish person had. It also meant that if a Jewish person's copy of a loan agreement was destroyed, the person who owed the money still had to pay.

This new rule, called the "Ordinance of the Jewry," led to the creation of the Exchequer of the Jews. This office made sure the king could tax all financial dealings of Jewish people. The king essentially became a silent partner in all Jewish money lending, taking 10% of all money recovered with the help of his courts.

At this time, Jewish people had many of the same rights as other citizens. Their loans could be recovered by law, unlike Christian money lenders who couldn't always get back more than the original loan. They had a direct connection to the king and his courts.

Jewish Leaders in the 13th Century

Jewish communities were allowed to have their own legal system, including a court with three judges. They also had leaders like a president and treasurer, along with scribes. It seems they had a good education system too.

The main leader of the Jewish community was called the "presbyter of all the Jews of England," or chief rabbi. He was usually chosen by the Jewish community, but the king had to approve the choice, similar to how bishops were chosen. The Jewish presbyter also advised the king's financial office on Jewish law, as English law recognized Jewish law in its proper place.

Six chief rabbis are known from the 13th century, including Jacob of London and Elyas of London.

Under King John: 1205–1216

In 1198, Pope Innocent III asked all Christian rulers, including King Richard, to stop Jewish people from charging interest on loans to Christians. This would have made it impossible for Jewish communities to survive.

On July 15, 1205, the Pope declared that Jewish people were meant to be in "perpetual servitude" because they had "crucified Jesus". In England, the king soon followed the Church's lead.

At first, King John treated Jewish people with some fairness. He confirmed the rights of Rabbi Josce and his sons, extending them to all Jewish people in England. He even wrote to the mayor of London, complaining about attacks on Jewish people there. He also reappointed Jacob of London as the chief rabbi in 1199.

However, after losing land in France in 1205, King John's attitude changed. In 1210, he demanded a huge sum of money: £100,000 from religious houses and 66,000 marks from Jewish communities. One Jewish man, Abraham of Bristol, refused to pay his share. The king ordered that one of Abraham's teeth be pulled out each day until he agreed to pay.

Even though King John took a lot of money from the Jewish community, they were important to him in his struggles with powerful nobles and towns. Even in the Magna Carta, new rules were added to prevent the king or his Jewish subjects from charging interest during the time a young heir was still a child.

Growing Persecution in the 13th Century

When Henry III became king in 1216, the situation for Jewish people briefly improved, but not for long. The year before, the Church had passed a law requiring Jewish people to wear a special badge. In 1218, the Archbishop of Canterbury made this law active in England. The badge was a white patch, two fingers wide and four fingers long.

Many towns then asked the king to remove Jewish people from their areas. Jewish communities were expelled from places like Bury St. Edmunds in 1190, Newcastle in 1234, and Southampton in 1236. Simon de Montfort expelled Jewish people from Leicester in 1231, saying it was "for the good of my soul."

The Pope continued to support rules that limited Jewish people and Judaism. Some monasteries in England were especially hostile. False stories of Jewish ritual murder, like the "blood libel," often came from these places. In Worcester, a bishop pushed for stricter rules, asking the Pope for help to keep Jewish and Christian people separate, including making them wear badges and stopping Christians from working for Jewish people in their homes.

The Jewish community became less valuable to the king's treasury during the 13th century. The king had other ways to get money, and the amount he got from Jewish people decreased. Also, Italian merchants, sometimes called "pope's usurers," started lending money to the king. As Jewish people were allowed to lend money in fewer places, their ability to earn money lessened. The king's constant demands also stopped their wealth from growing.

By the mid-13th century, Jewish people in England were seen as the king's property. There seemed to be no limit to how much he could demand from them, even though it was bad for him to take all their money, as they needed it to earn more for him. The great financial pressure Henry put on Jewish people forced them to demand loan repayments, which made anti-Jewish feelings even stronger. Rich nobles and the king's friends sometimes bought Jewish loans to take land from smaller landowners who couldn't pay their debts.

Henry built the Domus Conversorum in London in 1232 to help Jewish people convert to Christianity. Efforts to convert them increased after 1239. By the late 1250s, about 10% of Jewish people in England had converted, largely because their economic situation was so bad.

False Accusations: Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln

Many false stories about Jewish people sacrificing children spread between the 1230s and 1250s. One famous case was the story of "Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln" in 1255. This event was important because it was the first time the king supported such an accusation. In August 1255, several Jewish leaders gathered in Lincoln for a wedding. They were arrested and accused of murdering a boy named Hugh. King Henry ordered the execution of one man, Copin, who confessed under pressure. He also sent 91 Jewish people to the Tower of London. 18 were executed, and their property was taken by the king. The king had previously mortgaged the Jewish community to his brother, so he only got money from executions. This false story was later mentioned in famous English literature and became part of popular folk tales.

New Rules and the Statute of Jewry 1253

Henry III passed the Statute of Jewry in 1253. This law tried to stop the building of new synagogues and made Jewish people wear their special badges more strictly. It also forbade Christian servants from working for Jewish people. It's not clear how much Henry actually enforced this law, but it followed the Catholic Church's existing rules.

In the late 1250s, when Henry was not fully in control, nobles asked for limits on how Jewish loans could be resold. Jewish loans became a reason for the war that followed. Henry's policies of heavy taxes on Jewish people, anti-Jewish laws, and propaganda had caused a very negative change.

Targeting Jewish Communities During the Barons' War

Even though the amount of debt owed to Jewish money lenders was lower in the 1260s than in the 1230s, Henry III's policies made landowners fear losing their lands due to debts to Jewish people. The king's excessive taxation of Jewish people forced them to collect debts no matter what, and his support for courtiers who bought Jewish loans to take land from people who couldn't pay, fueled these fears. These were the reasons Simon de Montfort and his supporters used to gain support for their rebellion.

When the Second Barons' War began, violent actions were taken to remove all records of debt. Jewish communities in London, Canterbury, Northampton, Winchester, Cambridge, Worcester, and Lincoln were looted between 1263 and 1265. The official chests of loan records were either destroyed or taken by the barons.

Simon de Montfort, who had expelled Jewish people from Leicester in 1231, used his power after the battle of Lewes to cancel the debts and interest owed to Jewish people by about 60 men, including his supporters.

Montfort was accused of taking part in the looting, but he later issued orders to protect Jewish people. However, his closest allies, including his sons, had led the violence, so it's hard to believe he didn't know what would happen.

Later Policies of Henry III

After de Montfort was defeated, Henry's policy changed, and he tried to bring back the debts. But Henry's finances were very weak. Parliament refused to help him unless he passed laws that limited the misuse of Jewish finances, especially by Christians. In 1269, Henry agreed to limits on certain payments and stopped the sale of Jewish loans to Christians without the king's permission. He also banned charging interest on loans bought by Christians. These were the problems that had caused the wider crisis since 1239. In 1271, he agreed to ban Jewish people from owning freehold land and ordered that previous laws be enforced. Still, these policies were not enough to calm widespread fears, which quickly returned under King Edward I.

In Lincoln, Henry III ordered the killing of a man named Jopin, who was accused of murdering a Christian boy in a false witchcraft ceremony. He also sent 91 other Jewish people to London. During the executions in London, Richard, Earl of Cornwall stopped them after 18 people had already died. Similar cases happened in London and Northampton in the 1260s and 1270s.

Edward I and the Expulsion

Jewish people were expelled from the lands of Queen Dowager Eleanor in January 1275. These lands included towns like Guildford, Cambridge, and Worcester.

The Statute of the Jewry, 1275

Edward I returned from the Crusades in 1274. In 1275, he made new rules. The Church's laws against charging interest on loans had recently been repeated very strongly. So, Edward's Statute of the Jewry completely banned Jewish people from lending money with interest. However, it allowed them to work in trade and crafts, and even to rent farms for up to ten years. But it specifically said they couldn't have the feudal benefits of owning land.

This permission to own land was not very helpful. Farming and crafts are not easy to start quickly. Also, in 13th-century England, guilds (groups of skilled workers) controlled most skilled labor, and only guild members could buy and sell in many markets.

By taking away their ability to lend money with interest, Edward made it almost impossible for Jewish people to earn a living in feudal England. In a way, the "Statute of the Jewry" expelled them 15 years before the final expulsion. Some Jewish people tried to get around the law by using tricks, like adding interest directly into the loan amount. Some even resorted to highway robbery. Others joined the Domus Conversorum, a house for Jewish converts to Christianity. A large number also started illegally cutting small pieces off coins to get metal, just to survive. As a result, in 1278, all Jewish people in England were imprisoned. A shocking 293 Jewish people were executed in London.

The Expulsion of 1290

After his failed attempts to control Jewish life through laws, King Edward I had only one choice left: if Jewish people couldn't work as artisans, merchants, or farmers, and couldn't charge interest, they had to leave the country. He had already expelled Jewish people from Gascony (a French province held by England) in 1287.

Upon his return to England on July 18, 1290, he issued orders to all English counties. These orders stated that all Jewish people must leave England before All Saints' Day (November 1) of that year. They were allowed to take their movable belongings, but their houses went to the king, except for a few who were allowed to sell their homes before leaving. Between 4,000 and 16,000 Jewish people were expelled. They moved to countries like Poland, where laws protected them.

After the expulsion in 1290 and until their official return in 1655, there is no official record of Jewish people living in England, except for those who stayed at the Domus Conversorum (the house for converts).

However, anti-Jewish feelings did not disappear with the expulsion of Jewish people.

See also

Images for kids

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  Frontage of the Medieval Jew's House in Lincoln, immediately below Jew's Court.