The Painful History of the Jews in England: Immigration, Persecution and Liberation – 1
■ Ibrahim Sediyani
During my trip to the city of York in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England in August 2023, together with my dear friend, businessman Nevzat Töre, we went in front of Clifford’s Tower, the most exceptional part of York Castle, one of the most important historical symbols of the city, and we visited the tower. We experienced very emotional and sad moments here.
The now ruined medieval Norman castle is often referred to as Clifford’s Tower. The castle was initially built to dominate the old Viking city of Jórvík, by the order of William I (1028 – 87), also known as “William the Bastard”, who was also of Norman origin and was “the first king of England of Norman origin”. It had a turbulent early history before becoming a major fortification with extensive water defences.
Clifford’s Tower has a beautiful and pleasant appearance, but more importantly, it has a painful and sad history. While all kinds of cruelty, oppression and massacres were once committed against Jews in Europe, this is the place where the most terrible Jewish Massacre in Britain took place. In 1190, there was a horrific pogrom at York Castle in which 150 local Jews were killed. Many Jews died by suicide to avoid falling into the hands of Christian gangs.
The suffering, persecution and massacres that the Jews experienced in the European continent during the Middle Ages, even until a hundred years ago, cannot be described in words. They were subjected to terrible persecution, were exiled, killed, and burned alive.
Jews experienced similar evils on the Island, in Britain, especially as they experienced in Continental Europe. And although most of the world seems to have forgotten this painful history, all this pain is still fresh for them.
Because; “fire burns where it falls.”
However, empathy is necessary to feel the pain, or at least the heat, of this “fire”. For this, it is necessary to know this painful history and be aware of the pain experienced.
Throughout history, many evils have been committed against this nation, which is in a sense the initiators or at least its bearers of the belief in One God, known as the “Heavenly religions” or “Abrahamic religions” (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), among whom the prophets emerged, and they have been the target of a terrible policy of hatred all over the world.
Okay but why? There is a need for in-depth analysis on the reasons for this, and different but controversial views can be put forward on this subject.
But there is a fact that there is intense Anti-Semitism among Christians in the past and among Muslims today. Just as it was in Christian Europe during the Middle Ages and until a hundred years ago, this Anti-Semitism, which has been instilled in the Islamic world for the last hundred years and still today, is disguised as religious but is actually political.
In this study, we will specifically examine the extent of this in England. We will try to reveal the painful history of the Jews in Britain.
Hoping that the same pain never happens again.
■ THE ARRIVAL OF THE JEWS FROM CONTINENTAL EUROPE TO BRITAIN
Although the history and stories of the Jews in Continental Europe in general and the British Isle in particular are similar in many ways, they differ in some ways.
Compared to Continental Europe, Jews were brought to England at a much later date. After the conquest of England by the Normans led by William I the Conqueror (1028 – 87) in 1066, the first Jews came to this country. (1) The first written record of Jewish settlement in England dates from 1070. There is no record of Jews in England before the Norman conquest in 1066. (2) The few references to Jews in the Anglo-Saxon canons of the Roman Catholic Church relate to Jewish Easter-related practices. (3)
The first Jewish communities are recorded in England as having moved from William I’s towns in northern France sometime after the Norman conquest in 1066. (4) Rouen, an important city of the Duchy of Normandy in northwestern France, on the Channel coast (opposite England), had a significant Jewish population at that time. (5) The chronicles of the historians of the period, especially William of Malmesbury (1095 – 1143), agree that after the conquest of England by William in 1066, many Jews came to Britain from Rouen. (6)
William most likely put this invitation into effect because he wanted feudal tax payments to be paid with money from the royal treasury rather than goods, and to achieve this goal, there was a need for a community of people who would support the use of royal coinage throughout the country. (7) However, Jews were not allowed to own land or participate in trade (except in medicine). These were primarily limited to lending. This activity was dominated by Jews, as Catholic doctrine held that lending money for interest was the “sin of usury”. (8)
Jews were seen as under the direct jurisdiction and possession of the king (9); it subjected them to the whims of the king; The king could tax or imprison them as he wished, without reference to anyone else (10). Very few Jews were wealthy because Jews were allowed to lend money at interest. The church forbade Christians from doing this. Because this was seen as the “sin of usury”. (11) Capital was in short supply and was necessary for development; Jewish loans thus played an important economic role, including investing in monastery building and making it easier for aristocrats to pay heavy taxes to the crown. (12) Although it was also used to finance consumption, especially among landed knights. (13)
However, it is not clear whether the Jews came here in larger numbers immediately after the conquest in 1066 or during the First Crusade (1096 – 99). There are claims regarding this that William I borrowed money from the Jews for the conquest and in return settled them here after the conquest. Taking these assumptions even further, it has been claimed that William’s mother, Herleva (1003 – 50), who was raped by his father, Robert I the Magnificent (1000 – 35), was a Jew from the city of Falaise in Normandy, and therefore he had a special interest in Jews. (14) While the preparations for the First Crusade were continuing, it is recorded that there were intense attacks on the Jews in Normandy and all over Europe, especially in Rouen, and that there were massacres as attempts were made to “Christianize” them. (15) Those who managed to escape from the massacres in question naturally took refuge in England, where the Crusader idea was not yet active and was dominated by the dukes. (16) Based on this information, it can be said that there was Jewish movement towards Britain in both 1066 and 1096. However, while the first wave of migration was based on peaceful reasons, the second was forced.
The first immigrant Jews in Britain spoke a Hebrew-French mixture based on the Norman dialect. (17)
The Normans brought the first Jewish communities to England. Here some of them took on a special economic role as moneylenders. This was an important but otherwise prohibited activity. The Jews of England were subject to considerable religious prejudice and often worked in towns and cities where there was a local royal castle that could provide them with protection in the event of attacks by the majority Christian population. Jews were often given royal protection because Norman and Angevin kings determined that Jewish property and amounts owed to Jews ultimately belonged to the crown and would revert to the king upon the death of a Jew. (18)
■ SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POSITIONS OF THE FIRST JEWISH COMMUNITY IN ENGLAND
With the Norman conquest, King of England William I the Conqueror (1028 – 87) established a feudal system in the country. In this way, all assets in the country officially belonged to the crown. The king then placed lords in charge of these large lands, who were subject to military and economic responsibilities and obligations to the king. Below the lords there were other subjects, such as serfs, who were subordinate to them and their obligations. Merchants, like Jews, had a special status in the system. Jews, unlike the rest of the population, were declared direct subjects of the king. (19) This was an ambivalent legal position for the Jewish population, as they were not subordinate to a particular lord but were subject to the whims of the king, and this could be either advantageous or disadvantageous. Each subsequent king formally revised a royal charter granting Jews the right to remain in England.
In the beginning, the status of the Jews was not clearly determined. An attempt was made to implement the continental principle that all Jews were the property of the king, and by order of King Henry I Beauclerc (1068 – 1135) a clause to this effect was added to some manuscripts called “Leges Edwardi Confessoris” (Laws of Edward the Confessor). (20) However, during Henry I’s reign, Joseph (? – ?), the chief rabbi of London, and all his followers were granted a royal charter. According to this statute, Jews were allowed to move around the country without paying a fee, to buy and sell goods and property, to sell their pledged properties after holding them for a year and a day, to be judged by their peers, to swear in court, and to focus on the “Torah” instead of the “Bible”. Since the oath of one Jew was valid against the oaths of 12 Christians, they were given special weight because they represented the King of England in financial matters. Article 6 of the Charter was particularly important: it gave Jews the right to move within the kingdom as if it were the king’s own property (“sicut res propriæ nostræ”). (21) No study was conducted on the legal status of the Jews until the reign of Henry I Beauclere. He provided them with a legal basis with the first regulation he issued. This charter was taken into consideration in subsequent regulations regarding Jews and remained a document expressing the fundamental freedoms of medieval English Jewry. Henry I’s charter, which has not survived to the present day, offered Jews many rights. The right of settlement, the right of free movement throughout the country, the right to inherit property from their fathers, the exemption from normal tolls, the protection against abuse of power by civil servants, the right to appeal to the king’s court free of charge, the ability to accept anything as collateral except church vehicles and blood-stained vestments, and the ability to keep lands taken as collateral. Among these, they can sell pledged goods that have not been redeemed for one year and one day, and can freely take their goods with them. In addition, it was decided that Jews could only be sued in the king’s court and in the courts organized by the guards of the castles in which they resided. In cases between Jews and Christians, provisions have been made regarding the testimony of members of both religions and the taking of oaths according to the Jewish method. (22) Some historians have argued that Henry I did not issue a charter for the Jews. However, court decisions in England refer to the charter thought to have been issued by Henry I. (23)
Jews in England did not settle outside London before 1135. (24)
Economically, Jews played a key role in the country. At that time, the church had strictly prohibited the practice of making profits by lending money, and this gap in the European economy was filled by Jews, as they were barred from other economic fields, for example, all kinds of arts and crafts that were monopolized by Christian guilds. (25) Because church law could not be applied to Jews. Judaism also had no prohibition on lending money between Jews and non-Jews. The king, taking advantage of their unique status as direct subjects, could seize Jewish assets in the form of taxation. He also had the right to impose heavy taxes on the Jews whenever he wanted, without having to call parliament. (26)
■ HOW DID CHRISTIAN – JEWISH RELATIONS IN ENGLAND BEGIN TO DETERROSE?
Christian-Jewish relations in England began to deteriorate starting from 1144. It was during the period when Stephen of Blois (1092 – 1154), King of England, burned down the house of a Jewish man in Oxford (some accounts say the owner was included in it) because he refused to pay a contribution to the king’s expenses. The first recorded “blood libel” against Jews appeared around this time, in the case of William of Norwich (? – 1144), who was murdered on 22 March 1144. (27) While fanatical Christians were attacking Jews in Germany, according to Jewish historians, the same terrible process was prevented from occurring in England by King Stephen of Blois. (28)
The Jews’ reputation as blackmailing moneylenders made them extremely unpopular among both the church and the general public. While an anti-Semitic attitude was common in Europe, medieval England was particularly anti-Semitic. (29) The image of the Jew as a “Satanic figure who hated Jesus” became widespread, and myths such as stories of the wandering Jew and allegations of ritual murder emerged and spread in Scotland and Wales, as well as in England. (30)
However, it can be said that the period of civil war between Stephen of Blois and Empress Matilda (1102 – 67) after Henry I was difficult for the Jews. Although the Jews tried to remain neutral in the England’s Internal Anarchy (1135 – 53), they could not escape its negative effects. For example, when Matilda captured Oxford in 1141, she imposed a new tax on the Jews. Later, when this city fell into the hands of Stephen, this time he increased the same tax three and a half times because the Jews did not resist Matilda. Moreover, the houses of Jews who objected to this tax were set on fire. (31) What’s worse is that they began to be the subject of a series of accusations called “ritual murders” of Jews. On the eve of Easter in 1144, on 22 March 1144, the body of a young tanner’s apprentice named William was found in a forest near Norwich. A Benedictine monk named Thomas of Monmouth (1149 – 72) spread rumors that the child had been sacrificed by the Jews on the second day of Pesach. In his later work, he did not refrain from giving detailed information about how torture or rituals were carried out in a closed place, as if he were there. (32) As the rumors increased, religious enthusiasm began to occur in the city, and subsequently, it was claimed that various miracles were seen in the cathedral where the child was buried. (33) The charges were so weak that the sheriff refused to try the Jews. Subsequently, despite the sheriff’s resistance, some of the Norwich Jews were killed, while the rest were forced to migrate to different regions. Especially the nobles who were indebted to them pioneered this movement. (34)
After the end of the civil war, Jews, like all Englishmen, enjoyed peace during the long reign of King of England Henry II Fitzempress (1133 – 89). During this period, Jewish settlements outside London increased rapidly and the number of these cities exceeded 20. (35)
While the King of England protected the Jews and, in a sense, encouraged them during their economic activities, he did not refrain from taking advantage of them. He not only approved his grandfather’s statute to protect the Jews, but also expanded it further, offering the Jews of England internal jurisdiction according to the “Talmudic” laws, except for crimes against public order. (36) So much so that historians of the period, especially William of Newburgh (1136 – 98), harshly criticized Henry II’s approach to the Jews and claimed that they harmed Christians. (37) However, during the same period, even the church was tolerant towards them. As a matter of fact, they did not refrain from working with Jews, as Bury St. Edmunds Monastery did. While they borrowed money from the Jews, they preserved their title deeds and money and protected them along with their children during times of turmoil. (38)
Despite this positive environment for the Jews, the skeptical approach towards them continued in the eyes of the public. It was claimed that on Pesach in March 1168 in Gloucester, a Christian boy named Harold was tortured to death at the circumcision ceremony of the child of a prominent Jew and then thrown into the River Severn. Similar rumors subsequently emerged in Bury St. Edmunds in 1181 and in Bristol in 1183. However, since the Jews were under royal protection, attacks such as the incident of William of Norwich could not be made against them. (39)
In 1168, Henry II, while forming an alliance with the German King and Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa (1122 – 90), captured prominent representatives of the Jews, taxed the remaining 5000 Marks and sent them to Normandy. (40)
As we said, with the restoration of order during the reign of Henry II, the Jews renewed their activities. Over the next five years, Jews began to reside in Oxford, Cambridge, Norwich, Thetford, Bungay, Canterbury, Winchester, Newport, Stafford, Windsor and Reading, as well as London. However, until 1177 they were not allowed to bury their dead anywhere other than London. Their spread throughout the country enabled the king to make use of them when necessary. (41)
The conquest of Ireland in 1170 by Richard de Clare (1130 – 76), Lord of Leinster, known simply as Strongbow, was financed by a Jew from Gloucester named Josce (? – ?). Accordingly, the king fined Josce for lending money to those under his displeasure. However, as a rule, Henry II does not appear to have limited the financial activities of the Jews in any way. The positive position of the Jews of England was demonstrated, among other things, by the visit in 1158 of Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra (1092 – 1167), a philosopher, astronomer, physician, linguist and poet who lived in Andalusia under Islamic rule and was one of the most outstanding Jewish scholars of the Middle Ages, in 1181 by the visit of the Ukrainian Torah expert and Jewish scholar Isaac of Chernigov (? – ?) and the appeal to England of Jews exiled from France by the French King Philip II Augustus (1165 – 1223). In 1182, among them was probably the Parisian Talmudic scholar Judah ben Isaac Messer Leon (1166 – 1224). (42)
Following these first waves, some developments, especially in France, in the 12th century caused more Jews to immigrate to England. For example, in 1171, many Jews went to England during the accusation that they had committed “ritual murder” against the Jewish community in Blois. The deportation of Jews from some parts of Ile de France by the French King Philip II Augustus on April 9, 1182 also encouraged this migration. Probably, on top of this exile decision, Normandy’s capture by the French in 1206 made the Jews there uneasy and caused them to settle in England. (43)
This last event was the last major migration movement from Continental Europe to Britain in the Middle Ages. In the following period, as a result of the increasing pressure in Britain, reverse movements occurred, albeit slightly.
■ THE CRUSADES AND THE JEWS IN ENGLAND
However, in 1186, for the Crusade (1187 – 88) against the Kurdish leader Saladin Ayyubi, or with his full name Malik’on-Nassr bave Mouzaffar Salahaddin Jousouf koure Najmaddin Ayyubi al-Shadi al-Kurdi (1138 – 93), who is considered the greatest commander in Islamic history, when they asked the rest of the country to pay taxes, they demanded a quarter of Jewish securities. The tithe was calculated at £70,000 and the quarter at £60,000. However, it was unlikely that the entire amount would be paid at once, because Jews had been requested to pay late interest debts over the years. (44)
Undoubtedly, it was not in vain that the king protected the Jews, because he was benefiting from them economically. The most notable of these is that after the death of the Jewish financier Aaron of Lincoln (1125 – 86) in 1186, the king confiscated all of his property. In fact, although this decision was legal, it was not widely implemented due to the understanding that the Jews were the property of the king. However, the King of England, Henry II Fitzempress (1133 – 89), who needed resources in his war against the King of France, Philip II Augustus (1165 – 1223), wanted to solve this problem by seizing the property of Aaron of Lincoln, who was perhaps the richest man (45) in England at that time. Upon Aaron’s death, all property acquired through usury, whether Jewish or Christian, fell into the king’s hands. The estate included debts of £15,000 from approximately 430 debtors scattered across the English counties. In order to follow up and collect these debts, a special department was created in the Royal Treasury in 1187, known as “Scaccarium Aaronis” (Aaron’s Exchequer). (46) Interestingly, the ship carrying Aaron’s movable assets to France sank in the Channel in February 1187. This cash treasure, which fell into the hands of the king, was also lost in the shipwreck. (47)
King of England Henry II took every opportunity to exploit the Jews. In order to finance the 3rd Crusade, which was to be prepared in 1188, he demanded a tax called the famous “Saladin Tithe”, named after the great Kurdish sultan Saladin Ayyubi, against whom he would fight. However, the tax requested from Christians at the rate of one tenth was collected from the Jews at the rate of one fourth. (48)
During this period, Jews lived in good relations with their non-Jewish neighbors, including the clergy. They entered churches freely and took refuge in monasteries in times of turmoil. Some Jews lived in lavish homes and helped build numerous cathedrals and monasteries. By the end of Henry II’s reign, however, they were subject to the ill-will of the upper classes, and under the influence of the Crusades, anti-Jewish sentiments spread further throughout the country. (49)
Despite some negativities, it can be said that the reign of Henry II was the most comfortable period for the Jews of Medieval England. However, from the last period of Henry II, who took up the cross, the environment in which religious fanaticism increased during the preparations for the 3rd Crusade paved the way for anti-Semitism.
While England was partially involved in the first two Crusades, it appears as the main actor of the 3rd Crusade. (50) When Henry II died before he could fulfill his promise of a Crusade, this environment increased even more during the reign of his successor, Richard I the Lionheart (1157 – 99), who was determined to continue the same mission. (51) So much so that the negativities showed themselves even during the accession of Richard the Lionheart to the throne. On September 3, 1189, women and Jews were banned from attending the coronation ceremony in Westminster on the grounds that they would “bring bad luck”. But a group of Jews came to the door of the hall with gifts, hoping that the new king would recognize the charter introduced by Henry I and confirmed by Henry II. In the chaos that ensued after they were not allowed in, the events escalated when the officers beat some Jews and unrest broke out all over London. Rumors subsequently spread that the king “gave instructions to destroy the Jews”. After a while, the houses of the Jews were burned and some of them were massacred. Some of them were able to escape these attacks by taking shelter in the Tower of London and some by taking shelter in their Christian neighbors who were close to them. (52)
Richard of Devizes (1150 – 1200), the British chronicler of the period, narrated the event in a manner that did not conceal his enjoyment of the brutality: “On the day of the coronation, Jews began to be sacrificed in London for their father (the sin of their ancestors), who was Satan. This went on for so long it almost continued into the next day. Other cities of the kingdom faithfully imitated London’s creed and consigned its ‘bloodsuckers’ to Hell.” In the continuation, he condemned the fact that the Jews were not treated harshly enough in Winchester and criticized them by saying, “…they acted softly and donated their parasites”. (53)
According to the English priest Roger of Wendover (? – 1236), one of the chroniclers of the period, King of England Richard I, who heard the developments, considered the attacks on the Jews as an insult to him and ordered an investigation. However, as far as it is understood, there was no significant result. Because three of the leading looters were hanged, but one of them was punished for attacking Christians during the events, and the other two were punished because the fires they started burned down the houses of Christians. Apart from this, the king did nothing other than ordering the Jews throughout the country to be left alone. (54)
While King of England Richard I went to Continental Europe in December 1189 and continued his preparations for the Crusade, anger and hatred towards the non-Christian people, whom they called “painim”, were increasing throughout England. While Christians were preparing for a campaign against the “Muslim infidels” outside, they claimed that the “Jewish infidels” were peacefully enjoying their ill-gotten wealth in their luxurious stone houses. It was believed that revenge for the crucifixion of Jesus was necessary, and there was a widespread belief that killing even a single “painim” would be enough to gain Heaven for even the most hardened sinner. (55)
This picture was also seen frequently in Continental Europe during the First and Second Crusade. Throughout Central Europe, from France to Hungary, Christian gangs who came together to go to the “holy lands” attacked Jews and offered them either to be baptized or to die. (56)
For the Crusaders, there is not much difference between Jews and Muslims. Therefore, it was easier for them to kill or convert the “enemies at hand” before leaving their homes and property to fight “the enemies of God abroad”.
■ YORK 1190: THE MOST HORRIBLE MASSACRE OF THE JEWS IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND
This painful process and tense environment in the world and in England gave birth to religious fanaticism, and religious fanaticism led to a series of violent incidents.
In February 1190, a person who had converted from Judaism to Christianity in Lynn Harbor, Norfolk, took refuge in a church after being attacked by his former co-religionists. As the events escalated after the Jews followed him, the people attacked the Jews and plundered their houses. During this period, while young sailors and merchants coming from overseas were more diligent in killing and plundering, the local people were a little more cautious “out of fear of the king”. (57)
A few days later the news reached Norwich, one of the most important cities in the east. Christians, who had difficulty in making supplies to go on the Crusade, were angry at the riches of the “Jews who crucified Jesus”. During the turmoil that peaked on 7 March 1190, many Jews who took shelter in a castle were massacred, their houses were looted and their property was confiscated. Many Jews were massacred at the Stamford Fair on 7 March 1190, and 57 Jews were killed in Bury St. Edmunds on 18 March. The Jews of Lincoln could only save themselves by taking refuge in the castle. (58)
In common cases of “blood libel,” Jews were said to hunt children, collect their blood, and use their blood to make “unleavened matzah” before Pesach. (59) As the Crusaders prepared to leave for the Third Crusade, religious fanaticism resulted in many anti-Christian incidents. The leader of the Jewish community, Josce of York (? – 1190), led local Jewish families to the royal castle, where they took refuge in the wooden castle in the city of York. The crowd surrounded the castle, and when the constable left the castle to discuss the situation, the Jews did not allow Him to enter again, for fear of being entered by the crowd or being handed over to the sheriff. The constable appealed to the sheriff, called his own men, and laid siege to the castle. The siege continued until March 16, when the Jews’ position became untenable. (60)
Perhaps the worst of the attacks occurred in the city of York. The Jewish community was targeted with the guidance of the local barons who owed money to the Jews, especially the lawyer named Richard Malebysse (1155 – 1209), who heard the news of the epidemic in the south. (61) During the incidents, many Jewish houses were burned and their property was looted. The Jews who survived the attacks that night took shelter in the nearby Clifford’s Tower with their valuable belongings in the morning, and the castle guard did his best to protect them. Josce of York, the leader of the Jews in York, asked the warden of York Castle to admit them with their wives and children, and they were admitted to Clifford’s Tower. However, at this time, the people gathered outside the castle told the Jews to become Christians and be baptized, otherwise they would be killed. Clifford’s Tower was besieged by Christian mobs. The Jews trapped in the castle were advised by their religious leader, Rabbi Yom Tov ((? – 1190), to kill themselves rather than convert. Rabbi Yom Tov suggested an act of mass suicide to avoid being killed by mobs, and the castle was set on fire to prevent their bodies from being dismembered after their deaths. A few Jews perished in the flames, but the majority took their own lives rather than surrender to the mob. However, a handful of Jews surrendered, promising to convert to Christianity, but they too were killed by the angry mob. (62) Josce of York began by murdering his wife Anna (? – 1190) and their two children, and was then put to death by Rabbi Yom Tov. The father of each family killed his wife and children before Yom Tov and Josce set fire to the wooden fort and killed themselves. The handful of Jews who did not kill themselves died in the fire or were killed by the rioters. (63) After the massacre was over, the attackers went to the cathedral where the Jews’ bonds were kept and achieved their main goal by burning all the documents there. (64)
In total, around 150 Jews died in the massacre. The castle was rebuilt, again in wood, on top of which the castle was raised 4 m in height at a cost of 207 Sterling (£). (65)
Richard I the Lionheart (1157 – 99), King of England, who was completing his preparations for the Crusade in France at the time, heard what happened and was angry at both the disruption of the peace he had established and the confiscation of the property of the Jews. Because the property of the Jews was under the protection of the king, and when a Jew died, one third of his property was left to the king. In this case, the king’s future property was indirectly being plundered, which was not acceptable. As a matter of fact, King Richard I appointed the Bishop of Ely, William de Longchamp (? – 1197), to investigate the events. While the Yorkers denied their responsibility during the investigation, the barons who were the leaders of the incident had already fled to Scotland. Those responsible were fined and the local sheriff was dismissed. Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that the most punishment was given to William de Longchamp’s rivals. (66) The German King and Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VI (1165 – 97), who had problems with the King of England Richard I the Lionheart, detained him on the road after the 3rd Crusade and demanded a ransom of £100,000 from the English people for his release. The English people, who tried every way to make this heavy payment, gave the excess bill to the Jews and asked them for 5000 Marks. This was more than three times the City of London’s contribution. However, the amount collected reached only half of what was requested. (67) The efforts initiated to collect the tax in question were recorded in a document called “Northampton Donum”. This document is considered very important in terms of Anglo-Jewish history. (68)
On his return, King of England Richard I decided to organize the Jewish community to ensure that they were no longer deprived of the rights he had acquired as the universal heir of Judaism due to the epidemics that occurred after his coronation. Accordingly, in 1194, Richard I decreed that records of all transactions of Jews should be kept by royal authorities, and that without such records such transactions would not be legal. Each debt was to be entered into a “chirograph”, part of which was to be kept by the Jewish creditor and the other part to be kept in a chest accessible only to special officials. In this way, the king could always detect the assets of any Jew in the country. In this way, no destruction of the bond held by a Jew could relieve the creditor from his debts. This “Ordinance of the Jewry” was the beginning of the Jewish Exchequer, which practically made all transactions of the Jews of England taxable by the King of England. Thus the king became a sleeping partner in all finances. The king also demanded two “bezants” per “pound”, which was 10% of the entire amount recovered by the Jews with the help of the courts. At this point, Jews enjoyed many of the same rights as non-Jewish citizens. However, their loans were legally recoverable; whereas the Christian moneylender could not recover more than his original loan. They were in direct contact with the king and his courts; but this did not mean that the king had the arbitrary power to tax them or take their money without refunding them, as was often exemplified by the pipe rolls. (69)
Although King of England Richard I the Lionheart maintained his negative attitude towards the Jews, he was happy with their activities. Moreover, he offered some privileges to rich Jews in 1194, just like his father and grandfather, so that they could make England their home. They were allowed to keep the land as they had done before, were allowed to collect their heirs’ debts, were given license to go wherever they wanted, and were exempt from tolls. It was decided that their trials would be carried out by people appointed by the king. (70) The Jews were allowed to have their own jurisdiction, and there is evidence that they argued with the three judges. Reference is made to the “parnas” (president) of the community, the “gabbai” (treasurer), the scribes and the “chirographers”. A complete education system also seems to have become fashionable at the time. (71)
A chief rabbi, known as “the rabbi of all Jews in England”, was appointed to head the Jewish community. The Jewish chief rabbi was indeed a royal official to some extent, serving as an advisor to the Jewish Ministry of Finance on Jewish law. Because the British legal system accepted the validity of Jewish law as much as it was in its own private sphere. There are known to have been six chief rabbis in the 13th century: Jacob of London (reappointed in 1199), Josce of London (1207), Aaron of York (1237), Elyas of London (1243), Hagin fil Cresse (1257) and Cresse fil Mosse. (72)
– will continue –
FOOTNOTES:
(1): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 4, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(2): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903 / Andrew P. Scheil, The Footsteps of Israel: Understanding Jews in Anglo-Saxon England, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 2004
(3): Joseph Jacobs, ibid
(4): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 4, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(5): Robert Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, p. 346, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000
(6): William of Malmesbury, Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the Earliest Period to the Reign of King Stephen, p. 338, Henry G. Bohn Publishing, London 1847
(7): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903 / Andrew P. Scheil, The Footsteps of Israel: Understanding Jews in Anglo-Saxon England, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 2004 / Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews, p. 208, Harper & Row Publishing, New York 1987
(8): Joe Hillaby – Caroline Hillaby, The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History, p. 374 – 378, Palgrave Macmillan Publishing, Basingstoke 2013
(9): Bernard Glassman, Antisemitic Stereotypes Without Jews: Images of the Jews 1290 – 1700, p. 14, Wayne State University Press, Detroit 1975
(10): William D. Rubinstein, A History of the Jews in the English-Speaking World: Great Britain, p. 36, Macmillan Press, New York 1996
(11): Richard Huscroft, Expulsion: England’s Jewish Solution, p. 76 – 77, Tempus Publishing, Stroud 2006 / Joe Hillaby – Caroline Hillaby, The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History, p. 374 – 378, Palgrave Macmillan Publishing, Basingstoke 2013
(12): Richard Britnell – Bruce Campbell, A Commercialising Economy? England 1000 – 1300, Robert C. Stacey, “Jewish Lending and the Medieval English Economy”, p. 101, Manchester University Press, Manchester 1994 / Robin R. Mundill, The King’s Jews, p. 25 ve 42, Continuum Publishing, London 2010 / Sholom A. Singer, The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290, The Jewish Quarterly Review, issue 55, p. 118, October 1964, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1453793?origin=crossref
(13): Paul Hyams, The Jewish Minority in Mediaeval England (1066 – 1290), Journal of Jewish Studies, issue 25, p. 291, April 1974, https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.18647/682/JJS-1974
(14): Robin R. Mundill, The King’s Jews, p. 4, Continuum Publishing, London 2010
(15): Robert Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, p. 358, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000
(16): Robin R. Mundill, The King’s Jews, p. 4, Continuum Publishing, London 2010
(17): Joe Hillaby – Caroline Hillaby, The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History, p. 22, Palgrave Macmillan Publishing, Basingstoke 2013
(18): İbrahim Sediyani, Güneş’in Batmadığı İmparatorluğa Mezopotamya Güneşi’ni Taşıyorum Viking Bilgelerin Desteğiyle – 11, Sediyani Seyahatnamesi, volume 15, chapter 11, England and Wales trip, 9 April 2024
(19): Bernard Glassman, Antisemitic Stereotypes Without Jews: Images of the Jews 1290 – 1700, Wayne State University Press, Detroit 1975
(20): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903
(21): ibid
(22): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 6, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964 / Henry Gerald Richardson, The English Jewry Under Angevin Kings, p. 109, Methuen & Co. Publishing, London 1960
(23): Gerald Richardson, ibid, p. 111
(24): Joe Hillaby – Caroline Hillaby, The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History, p. 23, Palgrave Macmillan Publishing, Basingstoke 2013
(25): Gideon Reuveni – Sarah Wobick-Segev, The Economy in Jewish History: New Perspectives on the Interrelationship between Ethnicity and Economic Life, p. 8, Berghahn Books, New York 2010
(26): William D. Rubinstein, A History of the Jews in the English-Speaking World: Great Britain, Macmillan Press, New York 1996
(27): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903
(28): ibid
(29): William D. Rubinstein, A History of the Jews in the English-Speaking World: Great Britain, Macmillan Press, New York 1996
(30): Bernard Glassman, Antisemitic Stereotypes Without Jews: Images of the Jews 1290 – 1700, Wayne State University Press, Detroit 1975
(31): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 8, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(32): Thomas of Monmouth – Augustus Jessopp – Montague Rhodes James, The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich, p. 19 – 20, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1896
(33): ibid, p. 50
(34): Lionel Barnett Abrahams, The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290, The Jewish Quarterly Review, issue 7, p. 81, October 1894, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1450332?seq=1
(35): Robert Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, p. 346, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000
(36): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 10, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(37): William of Newburgh, Historia Rerum Anglicarums, p. 280, Longman & Co. Publishing, London 1884
(38): Jocelin of Brakelond, Chronicle of the Abbey of St. Edmunds, p. 15, Alexander Moring the de La More Press, London 1903
(39): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 13, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(40): Gervase of Canterbury, The Chronicle of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I., p. 205, Longman Publishing, London 1879
(41): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903
(42): ibid
(43): Robin R. Mundill, The King’s Jews, p. 10, Continuum Publishing, London 2010 / Joseph Jacobs, ibid
(44): Joseph Jacobs, ibid
(45): Robert Chazan, The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom (1000 – 1500), p. 159, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2006
(46): Gerald Richardson, The English Jewry Under Angevin Kings, p. 117, Methuen & Co. Publishing, London 1960 / Robin R. Mundill, The King’s Jews, p. 21, Continuum Publishing, London 2010 / Robert Chazan, ibid
(47): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903 / Robin R. Mundill, ibid, p. 27
(48): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, ğ. 17, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(49): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903
(50): Robert Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, p. 358, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000
(51): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 18, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(52): Roger of Hoveden, The Annals, Comprising The History of England and of Other Countries of Europe from AD 732 to AD 1201, “The Persecution of Jews, 1189”, Fordham University Press, Bronx 1189 / Walteri de Hemingburgh, Chronicon, volume 2, p. 138 – 139, Bentley & Fley Publishing, London 1849 / Roger of Wendover, Flowers of History, volume 2, p. 81, Bohn Publishing, London 1849 / Lionel Barnett Abrahams, The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290, The Jewish Quarterly Review, issue 7, p. 82, Ovtober 1894, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1450332?seq=1
(53): Richard of Devizes, The Chronicle, p. 5, Bohn Publishing, London 1841
(54): Roger of Wendover, Flowers of History, volume 2, p. 81, Bohn Publishing, London 1849
(55): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 20, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(56): Lionel Barnett Abrahams, The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290, The Jewish Quarterly Review, issue 7, p. 79, October 1894, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1450332?seq=1
(57): Robert Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, p. 358, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000
(58): Roger of Wendover, Flowers of History, volume 2, p. 89, Bohn Publishing, London 1849 / William of Newburgh, Historia Rerum Anglicarums, p. 310, Longman & Co. Publishing, London 1884
(59): William D. Rubinstein, A History of the Jews in the English-Speaking World: Great Britain, Macmillan Press, New York 1996
(60): İbrahim Sediyani, Güneş’in Batmadığı İmparatorluğa Mezopotamya Güneşi’ni Taşıyorum Viking Bilgelerin Desteğiyle – 11, Sediyani Seyahatnamesi, volume 15, chapter 11, England and Wales trip, 9 April 2024
(61): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 22, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(62): İbrahim Sediyani, Güneş’in Batmadığı İmparatorluğa Mezopotamya Güneşi’ni Taşıyorum Viking Bilgelerin Desteğiyle – 11, Sediyani Seyahatnamesi, volume 15, chapter 11, England and Wales trip, 9 April 2024
(63): Ephraim of Bonn, The York Massacre, 1190 / Heinrich Graetz, History of the Jews, volume 3, p. 409 – 416, The Jewish Publication Society of America Publishing, Philadelphia 1902 / Lawrence Butler, Clifford’s Tower and the Castles of York, p. 15, English Heritage, London 1997 / Christoph T. Maier – Stephen Church, Crusaders and Jews: The York Massacre of 1190 Revisited, Anglo-Norman Studies XLIV: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2021, p. 105 – 120, Boydell & Brewer Publishing, Martlesham 2022 / İbrahim Sediyani, ibid
(64): Roger of Wendover, Flowers of History, volume 2, p. 90, Bohn Publishing, London 1849 / Rogeri de Houedene, Chronica, volume 3, p. 33 – 34, Longman & Trubner Publshing, London 1870 / Radulphi de Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanım, p. 27, Longman & Trubner Publshing, London 1875 / Robert Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, p. 359, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000
(65): All sources about the 1190 York Jewish Massacre / see also: İbrahim Sediyani, ibid
(66): Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews in England, p. 26, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964
(67): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903 / Gerald Richardson, The English Jewry Under Angevin Kings, p. 164, Methuen & Co. Publishing, London 1960
(68): Isaac Abrahams – Hilary Jenkinson, The Northampton “Donum” of 1194, volume 1, Miscellanies of the Jewish Historical Society of England, London 1925
(69): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903
(70): Lionel Barnett Abrahams, The Expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290, The Jewish Quarterly Review, issue 7, p. 79, October 1894, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1450332?seq=1
(71): Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 5, Joseph Jacobs, “England”, p. 161 – 174, Funk & Wagnalls Publishing, New York 1903
(72): ibid
SEDİYANİ HABER
14 MAY 2024
