“The king to the archbishops, &c. greeting. Be it known that we, by the
institution of God, and for the safety of our soul, and of the souls of
our predecessors and of our heirs, have granted, and by this our charter
confirmed, for us and for our heirs to the house which we caused to be
built in the street which is called New-street, between the old and new
temple of London, for the maintenance of the converted brethren, and
those to be converted from Judaism to the Catholic faith, and for the
aid of the maintenance of these brethren that dwell in the said house,
the houses and lands which belonged to John Herberton, in London, and
are in our possession as forfeited (except the garden which belonged to
the said John in the aforesaid New-street, and which we granted formerly
by our charter to the venerable Father Rudolph, of Chichester, our
Chancellor), and all other forfeitures which in our time, by felony, or
from any other causes, will fall to us in our city, or in the suburbs
of our city, London. Wherefore we wish, and firmly enjoin for us and for
our heirs, that the aforesaid house have and hold freely, and quietly,
and in peace, for the maintenance of the converted brethren, and those
to be converted from Judaism to the Catholic faith, in aid for the
maintenance of these brethren that dwell in the same house, the houses
and lands which belonged to John Herberton, in London, and are in our
possession, as if our forfeiture (except the garden which belonged to
the same John in the aforesaid street, New-street, and which formerly
by our charter we granted to the venerable Father Rudolph, Bishop of
Chichester, our Chancellor), and all other forfeitures which in our time,
by felony, or from whatever other causes, will fall to us in our city,
or in the suburbs within the liberty of our city, London, as we have
beforesaid.”¹
¹ See Appendix P.
This is the first royal interest taken in the conversion of the Jews.
Individual cases were known earlier than Henry’s time, even in King
John’s time, as I have already stated in a former part of this lecture.¹
Henry was no loser by this establishment; the house itself belonged to
a Jew, and he took, moreover, care to indemnify himself more than enough
by the exorbitant imposts he put upon the Jewish community from time to
time. I humbly venture to suggest that it would be quite a legitimate
thing to restore those revenues to the purposes for which they were
originally granted.
¹ See p. 193.