The most serious persecutions broke out in 1348-1349, during the so-called Black Plague which spread all over Europe. As a reason for these attacks the rumor was circulated that the Jews had poisoned the wells or had smeared some poisonous salve on the doors. In many cases the Jews were killed and their houses sacked. The protection of the Emperor availed them nothing; even if the Emperor threatened a city with punishment for breach of the peace, the affair was usually compromised by allowing the city to retain part of the plunder taken from the Jews, the Emperor taking the rest. The Flagellants, who appeared at about this time, by their religious fanaticism also stimulated the hatred against the Jews.

Other annoyances were frequent. On the basis of the view that the Jews were chattels of the king, various rulers occasionally declared void the bonds held by the Jews. The most typical instance is that of Wenzel, King of Bohemia and German Emperor, who in 1385 annulled all the bonds held by Jews and accepted from the debtors a fraction of their debts in settlement.

During the fifteenth century frequent expulsions took place. The cities, originally small settlements where the Jews were the merchants and bankers, had grown in size and importance, and the citizens were jealous of their successful Jewish competitors. Such expulsions were often ordered under the excitement aroused by some false accusation. Thus, in 1421, the Jews of Vienna were accused of having desecrated the host, and a number of them were publicly burned at the stake, all the others being expelled from the city and the entire province. Such expulsions took place in 1426 at Cologne, the oldest Jewish settlement in Germany, in 1440, at Wittenberg, and in 1475 at Bamberg.

The religious troubles of this period contributed to turn the people against the Jews. The Hussites were then a great menace to the Church, and John Capistrano, an Italian monk, preached against them in various places in the kingdom of Bohemia. Everywhere he set the mob against the Jews, and occasionally as at Breslau in 1453, he tried them on the charge of ritual murder. A number of Jews were burned at the stake, and many others expelled. From other cities of that kingdom, as Bruenn and Olmuetz, the Jews were expelled.

Another Catholic revivalist, Bernardin of Feltre, appeared in Trent, where he arranged a ritual murder trial. The body of a boy named Simon was found, and the Jews were accused of having murdered him (1475). Again a number of Jews were cruelly put to death and the remainder expelled in spite of the fact that the Doge of Venice exonerated them from the charge, and that the Pope declared the accusation to be baseless. Simon was considered a martyr and later on made a saint. A similar charge was brought against the Jews of Ratisbon, but they succeeded in proving their innocence. The expulsions continued. In 1499 the Jews were expelled from Nuremberg and Ulm, in 1493 from Magdeburg, in 1496 from the province of Styria, and somewhat later from Ratisbon and Saxony. The exiles sought refuge in villages and little towns under the rule of the nobles, or emigrated to Poland, where, toward the end of the fifteenth century, there was already a considerable Jewish settlement. This soon became in numbers the most important in Europe.

FRANCE

Under Louis IX (1226-1270), a religious fanatic, the Jews were treated badly. In 1236 a mob of crusaders attacked them, and wrought great suffering among them. In 1240 Nicholas Donin, a converted Jew, brought charges against the Talmud as containing statements which were blasphemous to the Christian religion. Consequently all copies that could be found were seized and in cart-loads were publicly burnt at Paris in 1244. In 1254 the King decreed the expulsion of all the Jews from France, but the decree was repealed under Philip IV (1288-1314). All the Jews found in the kingdom were imprisoned and their property confiscated under Philip’s successor, Louis X.

They were recalled in 1315, but under Philip V suffered greatly from a fanatical mob, known as Shepherd Crusaders. After many vicissitudes their final expulsion was decreed in 1394. Only in the south of France, where the feudal barons still had sovereign rights, and in the Papal possessions at Carpentras and Avignon, a few isolated Jewish communities, with a ritual of their own, remained. Most of the Jews exiled from France went to the adjoining German territories of Alsace and Lorraine, and when these territories were annexed to France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Jews were permitted to remain there. But they were not allowed to settle in France proper until 1791.

SPAIN

The Christian kingdoms in the latter part of the Middle Ages continually expanded, so that the Moors were restricted to the southern part of the peninsula. The growing religious fanaticism of the Christians affected the condition of the Jews unfavorably, but individuals rose to prominence as financiers or physicians. James VIII of Aragon ordered a public disputation between Jews and Christians held at Barcelona in 1263. The Jewish side was defended by Moses ben Nachman, and, although he had been assured perfect freedom of speech, the Christians took such offence at his remarks that they demanded his execution. The King sent him instead into exile. He went to Palestine, where he died. Alphonso X (1254-1284), of Castile, employed Don Isaac, a Jew, as his astronomer. Alphonso’s constitution, regulating the condition of the Jews, is rather severe. They were restricted in their commercial activity and compelled to wear yellow badges.