IN my last lecture I brought down the history of the Jews in this
country, to the death of Henry the Second. The reign of that monarch
seems, upon the whole, especially when compared with subsequent reigns,
not to have been very unfavourable to the prosperity of the Jews. They
experienced the usual share of imprisonment, fine, and banishment,
which does not seem to have much depressed their general state. From the
nature of some of the fines, which I described to you on Friday evening
last, we may infer the wealth and power of individuals amongst them.
One Josce, it seems, was fined by the king for supplying the rebels
in Ireland with large sums of money; another Jew was fined for taking
in pawn the abbey plate of St. Edmundsbury. When the king intended to
proceed to the Holy Land, after having made an agreement to the same
effect with Philip Augustus, King of France, at the parliament held at
Northampton in the year 1188, the Jews were commanded to supply nearly
half the subsidy requisite for the undertaking――the Christians being
taxed at £70,000, and the Jews at £60,000; and though this money was
never levied, in consequence of a disagreement between the two kings,
and Henry’s subsequent death, as I have already stated,¹ yet these are
facts which clearly prove the flourishing state of the Jewish finances
in England during this reign; and although the Jews had been frequently
subjected to heavy pecuniary exactions under the reign of Henry the
Second, still the vigorous administration of that prince had shielded
them from popular violence. They were still able to carry on their
trades and their professions. In spite of the reports circulated by the
monks, that the Jews were sorcerers (in consequence of their superior
medical skill), Christian patients would frequent the houses of the
Jewish physicians in preference to the monasteries, where cures were
pretended to have been effected by some extraordinary relics, such as
the nails of St. Augustine, the extremity of St. Peter’s second toe, the
breath of our Lord, which Nicodemus secured in a glove, the feathers of
the wings of the archangel Michael, and more such-like relics. I need
hardly add that the cures effected by the Jewish physicians were more
numerous than those by the monkish impostors.
¹ From Henry’s History of Great Britain, one would be led to
believe that the “one hundred and thirty thousand pounds were
raised.”――Vol. v., p. 182.
Andrews――who was evidently no friend to the Jews――in his continuation
of Henry’s Britain, observes――“The partiality in favour of Jewish
physicians was unaccountable, and probably ill-founded; yet Elizabeth
chose to trust her health in the hands of the Hebrew, Rodrigo Lopez,
rather than have recourse to many English students in medicine,
of considerable abilities, who attended her court.” And in a note
he adds――“The same fantastic preference had made Francis I., when
indisposed with a tedious complaint, apply to Charles V. for an
Israelite, who was the imperial physician. Accordingly, the person
whom he sought for visited Paris; but the king, finding that he had
been converted to Christianity, lost all confidence in his advice, and
applied to his good ally, Soliman II., who sending him a true, hardened
Jew, the monarch took his counsel, drank asses’ milk, and recovered.”¹
¹ Vol. ii., p. 63.
When King Henry died, the Jews began to hope for better days. They were
encouraged in their hopes by Richard’s conduct, who, after his return
from Normandy――where he had been as prince――proclaimed liberty to all
prisoners and captives, even to the greatest criminals. The coronation
day, which was to take place in the beginning of the month of September,
A.D. 1189, was proclaimed by the intended king to be an universal day of
joy; and to crown all, that year was believed by all Jews to have been
one of their jubilees.
All these circumstances conspired to flatter the oppressed Jews, and
to raise their expectation that they also would experience mercy from
the lion-hearted monarch, and led them to hope that together with this
reign an era of better days would be introduced into the annals of their
history in this country. But, alas! hope told them a flattering tale.
From the accession of this sovereign to the throne, the Jews had to date
in characters of blood the commencement of a new and most severe series
of sufferings and outrages; their footsteps in this country from the
days of Richard to the days of Edward the First――when they were finally
banished――may be tracked by their blood; against them sympathy has been
steeled, and for their rights justice has had no balances. So far has
the bitterness of their affliction been from exciting commiseration, or
their hopeless prostration from disarming cruelty, that however Norman,
Saxon, Dane, and Briton may have differed in other respects, and however
adverse they were to each other, they concurred in treading down the
Jews, and contended which should look with greatest detestation upon a
people whom it was accounted a point of religion to hate, to revile, to
despise, to plunder, and to persecute.
How truly was it said, that “except, perhaps, the flying fish, there
was no race existing on the earth, in the air, or in the waters, who
were the objects of such an unintermitting, general, and relentless
persecution as the Jews of this period. Upon the slightest and most
unreasonable pretences, as well as upon accusations the most absurd and
groundless, their persons and property were exposed to popular fury.”¹
¹ Sir Walter Scott.
It may not be uninstructive, however, to dwell on the history of the
Jews in this realm during that period――though a dreary tale of woe――as
it throws a great measure of light upon the national character of the
people of this country, and the nature of its government during the dark
ages of its annals; and if it be painful to you to hear of massacres,
extortions, and persecutions perpetrated by your ancestors, upon a
defenceless people, it is still a subject of congratulation that you
are permitted to turn your eyes upon the improved state both of the
persecuted and the persecutors――an idea which is naturally reflected
from the opaque surface of these barbarous times with a luminous
brightness, upon your own more happy epoch.
Richard _Cœur de Lion_, whose whole thoughts were engaged in the
contemplated relief of the Holy Land, and the recovery of Jerusalem,
seems to have regarded the Jews with feelings of especial antipathy,
as being the determined and sworn enemies of a religion of which he
professed himself so zealous a champion. The courtiers and the clergy,
especially Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, endeavoured to make
the king believe that the Jews were in general sorcerers, and might
possibly bewitch him if allowed to be present at his coronation.
Actuated by these sentiments, and desirous, perhaps, to give proof
of the _sovereign_ contempt he entertained towards the opponents of
Christianity in general, Richard, as one of the first acts of his reign,
caused a proclamation to be issued, the day before his inauguration,
forbidding any woman or Jew to approach the palace during the ceremony
of his coronation. Both women and Jews were considered by the ministers
of the Church to practice sorcery and witchcraft.¹
¹ Miss Strickland gives the following as a reason for the
exclusion of women:――“As the etiquette of the queen-mother’s
recent widowhood prevented her from sharing in this splendid
festival, all women were forbidden to be present at its
celebration.”――_Queens of England_, vol. i., p. 373.
The issuing of such a proclamation at the commencement of the reign,
was an ill omen of the treatment which the Jews were to expect under
the government of the new monarch. They were desirous, if possible, to
reconcile the mind of the king, and with a view to this purpose, deputed
some of the chief men from amongst them to carry rich presents to him.¹
These persons, hoping that they would be protected by reason of the
gifts of which they were the bearers――which, as Dr. Tovey says, “were
full worthy of his acceptance”――ventured to approach the courtyard of
the palace at the time of the coronation, in order to crave leave of
admittance, but the confluence pressing forward, they were, before
they could obtain permission to enter, forced within the gates. The
attendants who were stationed at the entrance, charged them with
disobedience to the king’s command, and with blows forced them back into
the street. The mob who were assembled at the outside, when they saw
what took place, raised a cry that the king desired the proclamation
he had issued to be enforced, and forthwith fell upon such of the Jews
as were mingled with the crowd, and beating them, many were severely
wounded, some killed, and many were left half dead. A report was now
quickly spread through the city that the king had ordered all the Jews
to be put to death, for the disregard they had shown to his proclamation.
The people lost no time in putting this supposed order into execution.
The Jews were sought out by the populace in every quarter of the city,
and wherever they were found, were slain without mercy. Many took refuge
in their houses, and defended themselves with determined courage, till
the rabble, whose fury was increased by the opposition they experienced,
set fire to their houses and burned them to the ground, the Jews
and their families perishing in the flames. The cruelties that were
inflicted were so atrocious, that the more sober-minded citizens, who
had in vain endeavoured to restrain the mob, sent information at length
to the king of what was taking place. He was at the time seated at the
banquet, but immediately gave directions to Randulph de Grandville,
the Lord High Steward, to quell the tumult. This officer, taking with
him some of the chief nobility, used his endeavours to put a stop to
the outrage; but the populace would pay no regard to his authority,
threatened him with violence, and compelled him to retire. No
interference of the chief justice and his officers, whom the king had
despatched to quell the tumult, availed, until the multitude were gorged
with spoil, and tired with the labour of slaughter. The tumult continued
during the whole night; the houses of all the Jews were plundered, and
most of them burned, and it was not till the next day that an end was
put to the proceedings, by a large force sent into the city by the king.
A few of the most active of the rioters were apprehended, and three of
them were afterwards executed; not, however, for the pillage and murder
of the unfortunate Jews. One of them was hanged because he did not
_confine_ his villany to the Jews, but took advantage of the uproar to
plunder the house of a Christian; and the other two――who also met with
the same fate――because by setting fire to the house of a Jew they had
exposed the dwellings of the neighbouring Christians to destruction. And
we are further informed by another historian, “that the inquiry soon
stopped, as many considerable citizens were involved in the guilt, and
as the priests applauded the pious zeal which destroyed so many enemies
to the Christian faith.”²
¹ Those who came from a distance must have been totally ignorant
of the royal proclamation since it was only one day old.
² Noorthouck, p. 34.
The celebrated Rabbi, Jacob of Orleans, was among the great number of
Jews who were slain on this night; as appears from the following short
notice of that awful event, by Rabbi ♦Gedaliah ben Joseph Jachija, in
his _Shalsheleth Hakabbalah_, fol. cxi., col. i.:――“In the year 4930
[A.M. 1190, A.D.] when Richard became new king in the city of London,
which is in England, our Rabbi, Jacob of Orleans, was put to death in
glorification of God’s name, and many other Jews with him.”¹
♦ ‘Gedeliah’ replaced with ‘Gedaliah’
¹ See Appendix A.
The following circumstance, which occurred during that dreadful uproar,
will give us some idea of the means which the Christian Church of that
period employed in order to bring the Jews to a knowledge of salvation.
Whilst animated by the above-mentioned mad frenzy and murderous rage, a
Jew who was called Baruch (being interpreted, Benedict or Blessed), of
York, was seized, and commanded to choose either to profess Christianity
or to die immediately. This man, to save his life, called out that he
would embrace the Christian faith, whereupon he was carried by the mob
to the Prior of St. Mary of York, and was by him baptized. The king,
hearing of the conversion, or rather of the baptism, commanded the
Jew to be brought into his presence, and catechised him whether he had
sincerely renounced his former faith. He answered that he had not, but
only through fear of death submitted to whatever the Christians required
of him. Richard, who was at the time attended by the chief dignitaries
of the Church, asked the Archbishop of Canterbury what punishment should
be inflicted on the apostate? The archbishop replied――“Not any; for if
he will not be a man of God, let him be a man of the devil.”
“With which answer,” says the author of the Anglia Judaica, “the king
being something surprised, suffered the man to slip away, and there
was no further notice taken of him.” He continues――“This archbishop,
delighting more in carnal than spiritual warfare, had his brains knocked
out, within a few months after, at the siege of Acre.” Poor Benedict,
however, did not survive more than a few days after that.
The Jews, in order to secure the king’s favour, came forward with
large supplies of money towards the holy expedition――profanely so
called――which the king undertook that year, and were therefore declared
by proclamation to be under the king’s especial protection.
But the spirit which had broken out in London against them, was
speedily communicated to other parts of the country. To put an end to
these disorders, the king caused writs to be issued through all the
counties, forbidding any molestation to be offered to the Jews. But
notwithstanding these writs, the Jews were, in many places, subjected to
severe persecutions; they were attacked in so many places at once, that
their utter ruin seemed determined and inevitable. Brompton tells us
that the citizens of Norwich were the first who followed the bad example
of the Londoners, and were soon followed by those of other places. In
Dunstable and some other towns they saved themselves by professing to
renounce the Jewish faith, and by being baptized into the so-called
Church of Christ. In the town of Lynn they were treated with great
severity and cruelty. And here must be remarked――for it is the part of
an impartial historian to state the whole truth, _pro_ and _con_――that
the Jews were themselves the authors of their sufferings at Lynn.
The circumstances under which the tumult there took place, were the
following:――a Jew had been converted to Christianity; his brethren were
enraged at his conduct, and sought to be revenged. They waylaid him, and
one day as he passed through the streets, endeavoured to get him into
their power; he, however, fled, and took refuge in a neighbouring church;
some of the Jews pursued him thither; whereupon the sailors belonging to
a ship then lying in the harbour, raised a cry that it was intended to
put the convert to death, and being joined by the townspeople, under the
plea of saving the man’s life, fell upon the Jews, drove them to their
dwellings, and entering with them, slew many, carried off whatever
valuables they could find, and then set fire to their houses. The
mariners, enriched by the spoil, embarked immediately on board their
vessel, and putting to sea, got clear off. The townspeople were called
to account for the outrage which had been committed, in disobedience to
the proclamation issued by the king, but escaped punishment by laying
the whole blame to the charge of the sailors. Dr. Jost betrays here――as
well as in many other places――no small measure of partiality, when he
takes upon himself, without any reason whatever, to assert that “it was
doubtless _his_ [_i.e._ the convert’s] fault that he was persecuted in
the open street, by his former co-religionists.¹”
¹ _Den Anlass dazu gab ein getaufter Jude, der, ohne Zweifel
durch seine Schuld, von seinen ehemaligen Genossen auf
offener Strasse verfolgt wurde._ Geschichte der Israeliten,
vol. vii., p. 119.
The same spirit of animosity still pervades the feelings of the Jews
towards their converted brethren. A circumstance to the same effect
happened in this town (Liverpool) about three years ago. A Jew who
had been groundlessly suspected of inquiring into the doctrines of
Christianity, entered a Jewish shop on the eve of the Passover, and was
accosted by another Jew who was in the shop, by the salutation, you are
an accursed _M’shoomad_,¹ which the accused repudiated with disdain.
The accuser, thinking, I suppose, that he had an opportunity to do God
service, gave his brother a tremendous blow on his face; by which he
almost broke his nose. As I said before, the charge was made without
any ground; the insulted Jew therefore, who was ignorant of the precept,
“pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,” took
out the offender, on the first day of Passover, from the synagogue, and
brought him before the mayor of this town, and had him duly punished.
¹ A nickname given by unconverted Jews to their brethren who
believe in Christ. See Appendix B.
The Rev. Mr. Pauli, missionary to the Jews at Amsterdam, writes thus
on the eighth of June last:¹――“This moment I hear of the following
extraordinary occurrence. Last night a Jewish gentleman, no doubt from
the country, was passing the Jewish quarter. Some Jews took him for
me, and in a second a tremendous crowd, chiefly Portuguese Jews, was
assembled, and in spite of all remonstrances of the poor man that he was
not ‘Domine’ Pauli, they rushed upon him and beat him unmercifully, and
left him half dead. When the mistake was found out, they did all they
could to prevent the ill-used gentleman from giving notice of the affair
to the police. He complied with their request, only wishing heartily
that his bruises and broken head could be transferred to me.”
¹ See Jewish Intelligence for July, 1845, p. 259.
The Rev. H. S. Joseph, formerly a Jewish Rabbi of Bedford, now a
clergyman of the Church of England, was called upon after his conversion
to Christianity, by a Mr. Moses T. Ansell, a connexion of his, who
professed to be friendly disposed towards him, and wishing to discuss
in a quiet manner the doctrines of Christianity, with which Mr. Joseph
readily complied. The discussion lasted for some time, during which Mr.
Joseph endeavoured to prove to his friend that his reasons for embracing
Christianity were cogent ones.¹ Mr. Ansell, finding that he could not
disprove the convert’s arguments from Scripture, said to him――“Now we
are by ourselves; you need not be afraid of me, I will divulge your mind
to nobody. Tell me, then, do you really believe that Jesus of Nazareth,
the crucified one, was the Messiah?” (The unbelieving Jews fancy that
it is impossible for a Jew to be really a believer in Christ, however
powerful the arguments are in favour of Christianity.) Mr. Joseph
replied――“I believe from my heart that Jesus of Nazareth was the true
Messiah, and in him alone do I hope for salvation.” No sooner did he
utter that confession, than his guest laid violent hands on him, and
knocked him down to the ground. What carnal weapons! It was well for
Mr. Ansell that Mr. Joseph was a Christian. To return, however, to the
twelfth century.
¹ See a small pamphlet of his, entitled, “Reasons for believing
that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected Messiah.”
By this time King Richard had passed over to the Continent, to join
the king of France in the crusade to Palestine. Those who had taken the
cross were assembled in most of the principal towns, preparing to follow
him. Of these, the greater number were ill provided with funds to defray
the expenses of their journey to the Holy Land, and their zeal in the
sacred cause readily justified any conduct, whereby the pious object to
which they were pledged might be advanced. They observed with envy that
the Jews were possessed of wealth; they regarded them as infidels, and
worked themselves into a belief that they should render good service
to God, if, by wresting the riches from the hands of unbelievers,
they obtained the means for aiding in the overthrow of the enemies of
Christianity in the East.
On the seventh day of March 1190, a public fair being held at Stamford,
had drawn together to that place great multitudes of people, and amongst
them whole troops of those _roaming saints_, as they were called. These
zealous men, indignant that the enemies of Christ should abound in
wealth, while they, who were His great friends, were obliged to strip
their wives and children of common necessaries, in order to be equipped
with travelling expenses, argued that God would be highly honoured if
they should first destroy all the Jews, and then possess themselves
of their property. “So ready are men to believe what makes for their
worldly advantage”――observes Tovey――“accordingly they flew upon them
with great vigour and resolution, and finding very little resistance
from an oppressed and spiritless enemy, quickly made themselves masters
both of their persons and fortunes; the former of which they treated
with all kinds of barbarity. Some few of them, indeed, were so fortunate
as to get shelter in the castle, whither, as they fled without their
riches, the source of all their misery, they were not earnestly
pursued. And as these devout pilgrims pretended to do all this for the
advancement of God’s glory, to show they were in earnest, they took
shipping as fast as they could, and fled away for Jerusalem; not so much
as one of them being detained by the magistrates, or any further inquiry
made by the king into such a sanctified piece of villany.”¹
¹ Anglia Judaica, pp. 19, 20. See Appendix C.
The same outrages were committed in several other parts of the kingdom.
The same spirit prevailed also at Lincoln. An attack was on the point
of being made on the helpless Jews there; but as by that time the
melancholy intelligence was noised abroad, and the Jews were every where
made acquainted that the _faithful (?)_ aimed at their destruction,
they retired, therefore, as soon as possible into the king’s fortress,
which liberty they purchased, with a large sum, of the governor; so that
the majority of them escaped with little damage. At York, the popular
feeling communicated itself to all classes of the inhabitants, and
many of the nobles and principal gentry of the neighbourhood associated
themselves with the soldiers of the cross, and with the knights of the
temple, whose characters were stained with the vilest of human passions.
The origin of their persecution at York was the following. It appears
that Benedict and Jocenus, two of the richest Jews of York, were deputed
by their brethren of that city to carry presents to the king on his
coronation day. The fate of the former you have already heard; the
latter was so far fortunate as to be able to return to York, where he
related the sad catastrophe which had befallen his brethren in London;
but instead of exciting commiseration in the breasts of his Gentile
neighbours, his narrative had the effect of stimulating them to a like
outrage. The houses of the richest of the Jews were accordingly spoiled
and burned, and many, together with their families, were murdered. The
common people, urged by the example of their superiors, fell upon such
as escaped the first assaults, and with savage fury slew them, without
regard to age or sex. Fifteen hundred, with their wives and children,
escaped to the castle, and, by permission of the sheriff and keeper,
took refuge there. Afterwards, thinking――for which they had good
reason――that these officers also had taken part with their assailants,
they refused to allow them to enter, whereupon the sheriff assembled an
armed force, and laid siege to the castle. The mob joined in the attack,
and though they were before sufficiently bent upon destruction and
plunder, they were――to the shame of the ecclesiastics of that day be it
recorded――further stimulated by the exhortations of the clergy. One in
particular, a canon of the order of Præmonstratenses, displayed uncommon
zeal on the occasion. For several days he appeared amongst the people,
dressed in his surplice, after having eaten a consecrated host, and
greatly increased their fury by continually calling out in a loud
voice――“Destroy the enemies of Christ!――Destroy the enemies of Jesus!”
At length the priest received the punishment his conduct justly merited;
for having approached too near the walls, he was crushed to death by a
stone which was rolled down from the battlements.
For a time the Jews defended themselves with desperate bravery; but
the assault being warmly pressed, they found that they had no hopes of
escape, and they offered a large sum of money that their lives might
be spared. This was refused, and they proceeded again to take vigorous
measures for their defence, determining to hold out to the last moment;
calling at the same time――which was right――a council, to take into
consideration what was to be done in case of their being driven to
extremities, which consultation altered their purpose completely. For
when they gathered themselves ♦together into one place, one of their
rabbies, a man of great authority amongst them, and who also made the
convocation, stood up and addressed them in the following words:――“Ye
men of Israel, the God of our fathers, to whom none can say, what doest
thou? commands us at this time to die for his law; and behold! death is
even before our eyes, and there is nothing left us to consider but how
to undergo it in the most reputable and easy manner. If we fall into the
hands of our enemies (which I think there is no possibility of escaping),
our deaths will not only be cruel but ignominious. They will not only
torment us, but despitefully use us. My advice therefore is, that we
voluntarily surrender those lives to our Creator, which He seems to call
for, and not wait for any other executioners than ourselves. The fact
is both rational and lawful; nor do we want examples from amongst our
illustrious ancestors, to prove it so: they have frequently proceeded
in the like manner upon the same occasions.”¹ Thus spoke the old Rabbi,
after which he sat down and wept.
♦ ‘toegther’ replaced with ‘together’
¹ See Appendix D.
The auditors looked first wistfully at each other, and then gave
utterance to their thoughts――some loudly approving the advice of the
Rabbi, whilst others, with tears in their eyes, avowed their dissent
from the Rabbi’s opinion.
To which the rabbi, standing up a second time, replied――“Seeing,
brethren, that we are not all of one mind, let those who do not approve
of this advice depart from this assembly.” The less courageous departed.
But by far the greater number adhered steadfastly to the leader’s
proposal. And as soon as they perceived themselves alone, which
increased their despair, they first burned every thing belonging to them
that was consumable by fire, and buried the remainder in the earth (to
prevent its falling into the possession of their enemies); they then set
fire to several places of the castle at once, after which each man took
a sharp knife, and first cut the throats of their own wives and children,
and then their own. The persons who remained last alive were this rash
counsellor, and the aforementioned Jocenus, who were possessed of a
strong desire to see everything performed according to their directions;
for they did not survive much longer; as soon as that atrocious work
was over, the Rabbi, out of respect to Jocenus (who was a person of
importance), first slew him, and then himself.¹ When this dreadful act
was completed, those who remained alive took up the dead bodies, and
threw them over the walls, on the heads of the besiegers; and determined
at last upon the expedient of their brethren. They also burned their
clothes, and such of their valuables as would consume, and threw the
rest of their treasures into the sinks and drains of the castle; and
the greater part of those who survived, collecting themselves together
in one of the buildings, set fire to it, and resigned themselves to the
flames. A few only, of less courage than their brethren, still remained.
These, coming forward upon the ramparts, called out to the assailants,
and showed the manner in which their companions had fallen, and offered
to receive baptism, if their lives might be spared. This was granted
to them; but they no sooner passed the gate than the people fell upon
them and slew them, with the exception of one or two who escaped; which
proved that the Rabbi was not far wrong in his calculation. The populace
afterwards betook themselves to the destroying and burning of all the
houses of the Jews in the city which had not been previously demolished.
Thus perished fifteen hundred Jews at York on this occasion, besides
those who fell in the other parts of England.
¹ Dr. Jost states, that “Jocenus first strangled his wife
Hannah with his five children, and then allowed himself to
be slain by the Rabbi, whose example was followed by all the
remainder.”
_Jossen erwürgte seine Frau Hanna mit fünf Kindern, und liess
sich dann von dem Rabbi ♦niederschlachten. Seinem Beispiel
folgten alle Uebrigen._
♦ ‘niedercshlachten’ replaced with ‘niederschlachten’
Now comes the secret. No sooner did the English make an end of
butchering that unhappy people, than many gentlemen of the province――who
having been their debtors, and took, therefore, the most active part in
the carnage――repaired to the cathedral, where their bonds were deposited,
compelled the officer to deliver those obligations, and burned them in
the church with great solemnity before the altar.
When the account of these outrages reached the king’s ears, he was
exceedingly enraged at this insult upon his authority, which at the
same time affected his revenue; he sent over immediate directions to
the Bishop of Ely, his chancellor, to apprehend and punish the offenders.
The chancellor accordingly proceeded to York with a strong force, to
execute the king’s commands: but the principal actors in the massacres
there, being warned of his approach, made their escape; some of them
taking refuge into Scotland, but the greater number proceeding on their
journey to the Holy Land. The governor of the castle and the sheriff
were, however, apprehended, and not being able to clear their conduct,
were deprived of their respective offices. A heavy fine was also imposed
upon the inhabitants of the city, for which the chancellor took one
hundred hostages with him. Richard, _mala bestia_ (wicked beast), or as
he is called Mallebisse, was obliged to pay twenty marks for the use of
his land, as also for protection to himself and his two esquires,¹ till
the king’s return; but, with these exceptions, it does not appear that
any individual was brought to punishment for the part he had taken in
the late disturbances.
¹ See Appendix E.
When Richard returned home, after his captivity, the affairs of the Jews
were again brought under his consideration; and he appointed justices
itinerant to proceed through the different parts of England for the
purpose of making further inquiries concerning the slaughter of the
Jews――who were the murderers?――what lands and chattels belonged to them
at the time they were slain?――who took possession of the same? &c. He
established very curious regulations, professedly for the protection
of the Jews, but really――as it was well observed――“that he might fleece
them at his pleasure.” He established the famous EXCHEQUER of the JEWS.
The revenues arising from them were placed under the care of an office
for the purpose, in which the _justiciaries_ of the _Jews_ presided. To
these places Jews and Christians were indifferently appointed. They had
not only the Jewish revenues under their care, but were also judges of
all civil matters, where a Jew was one of the parties. Lord Coke takes
notice of this court, and calls it the “Court of the Justices of the
Jews.”
“In order to know”――observes Dr. Tovey――“what were the particular monies,
goods, debts, real and personal estates belonging to every Jew in the
nation, he commanded (something after the manner of the Conqueror’s
Domesday) that all effects belonging to Jews should be registered.
“That the concealment of any particular should be forfeiture of body and
whole estate.
“That six or seven public places should be appointed, wherein all their
contracts were to be made.
“That all such contracts should be made in the presence of two assigned
lawyers, who were Jews, and two that were Christians, and two public
notaries.
“That the Clerks of William de Sancta Maria, and William de Chimelli,
should likewise be present at all such contracts.
“That such contracts should likewise be made by indenture: one part of
which was to remain with the Jew, sealed with the seal of him to whom
the money was lent; and the other in a common chest, to which there was
to be three locks and three keys.
“One key whereof was to be kept by the said Jewish lawyers, the other by
the Christian lawyers, and the third by the aforesaid Clerks.
“The chest also was to be sealed with three seals.
“The aforesaid Clerks were also commanded to keep a transcript roll
of all such contracts; which roll was to be altered as often as the
original charters of contract were altered.
“And the fee for drawing every such charter was to be three pence; one
moiety whereof was to be paid by the Jew, and the other moiety by him to
whom the money was lent. Whereof the two writers were to have two pence,
and the keeper of the rolls the third.
“It was ordained likewise, that as no contracts for money, so no payment
of it, or acquittance, or any other alteration in the charters, or
transcript rolls were to be made, but in the presence of the aforesaid
persons, or the greater part of them.
“The aforesaid two Jews were to have a copy of the said transcript roll,
and the two Christians another.
“Every Jew was to take an oath upon his roll,¹ that he would truly and
faithfully register all his estates, both real and personal, as above
directed; and discover every Jew whom he should know guilty of any
concealment; as likewise all forgers, or falsifiers of charters, and
clippers of money.”
¹ Parchment MS. of the Pentateuch.
Under those regulations the Jews lived peaceably; for they very seldom,
on their part, violate any regulations established between themselves
and others; and as it was the king’s interest to adhere to the above
regulations on his part, the Jews therefore enjoyed comparative
tranquillity. But at no small expense.
The justices of the Jews at that time were a certain Benedict, and
Joseph Aaron. Their contracts, or, as they were then called, _Shtaroth_,
from the Hebrew, or rather Chaldee, word שטר _Shtar_, were written
either in indifferent Hebrew, or bad Latin, or the same sort of French.¹
That court where all those documents were deposited, obtained the name
of “The Star Chamber.”² It was well remarked that Richard made the Jews
most unfortunate. He used them as a press, with which to squeeze his
subjects. By which they incurred no small degree of animosity from their
Christian neighbours.³
¹ See Appendix F.
² See Appendix G.