Jews had been living in Arabia long before the time of Mohammed, perhaps as early as the pre-Christian era. Their mode of life was like that of the Arabs. They were divided into tribes, and had fortified places to which they retreated in case of feuds with their Arab neighbors. Like the Arabs they had their warriors, who were at the same time poets. A famous man from the time preceding Mohammed is Samuel ibn Adijah. He is known among the Arabs as a faithful friend, because when an Arab chieftain, one of his friends, sought refuge in his fortress, he allowed his son, who was in the hands of the enemy, to be killed rather than deliver the fugitive into their hands.
Mohammed had frequent intercourse with the Jews, and received from them the first impetus to found a new religion in place of the crude worship of the old Arabs. He laid particular stress on converting the Jews to the new religion, which was to be a universal theocracy. For this purpose he adopted some of the Jewish ideas, customs, and modes of worship, the strict monotheistic idea, the fast of Yom Kippur and the turning toward Jerusalem in prayer. The Jews, however, were offended at his sensuality, and ridiculed him for his ignorance. He therefore became their enemy, and after the capture of one of their forts, killed the inhabitants who had surrendered. All other Jews were expelled from Arabia, which was to be a theocratically governed state, where only the religion of Mohammed would be tolerated.
Under Mohammed’s successors, the Caliphs, Islam rapidly spread over a great part of Asia and the theocratic principle could not be maintained. Under Omar (634-644), who conquered Jerusalem in 637, a law called the Covenant of Omar governing the treatment of non-Mohammedans was proclaimed. By this law the Jews had to pay a poll-tax, and were exempt from military service. In spite of certain disabilities, they enjoyed a relative state of freedom, and, as the literature of the period proves, greeted the rise of Islam as a relief from the oppression they had suffered in Christian countries and in Persia. They also looked upon Islam as the first step toward the realization of the Messianic kingdom. The improvement of their condition was especially manifest in Spain, which was conquered by the Mohammedans in 711.
GERMANIC NATIONS
Beginning with the fourth century, various Germanic tribes settled on the soil of the old Roman Empire, and began to establish independent kingdoms in the fifth century within its limits, until in 476 the last Emperor, who was a ruler in name only, was deposed. In Italy, where Theodoric had founded the kingdom of the Ostrogoths in 493, the Jews were fairly treated, although Theodoric, a fanatical Christian, considered the Jews an undesirable element. He would, however, allow no injustice to be done them, and when a mob in Ravenna destroyed a synagogue in 519, he ordered the city to make restitution; for this he was severely censured by Ambrosius, the Bishop of Milan. The Jews held the rule of the Goths to be preferable to that of the Byzantines, and in the war between these two powers, which ended with the overthrow of the Gothic kingdom (555) they aided the former, and their bravery in defending the city of Naples was highly praised by Greek historians.
After a short period of domination by the Byzantines, the Longobards, another German tribe, conquered Italy in 568. They do not seem to have taken any interest in the Jews, as their government was restricted to members of their own nationality. The Jews, as Roman citizens, were under the authority of the Roman government, which, as the Byzantines could not exercise any authority, was left almost entirely in the hands of the Bishop of Rome, the highest local dignitary. From the records of this period, we possess information as to the attitude of Pope Gregory I (590-604), in dealing with Jewish affairs. While naturally not in sympathy with the Jews, he insisted that they be treated fairly. Thus, he ordered that a cross, which a Jewish convert to Christianity had placed in a synagogue to spite the Jews, be removed, and when a synagogue had been converted into a church, he ordered an indemnity paid to its former owners. But he very often censured the Frankish kings for allowing the Jews to hold public offices and to keep Christian slaves.
FRANCE
The Merovingian kings who conquered Ancient Gaul in 496 were the first of the Germanic rulers to adopt the Roman Catholic religion. All the others were Arians. In the sixth century they treated the Jews kindly; we hear of a Jew named Priscus, a favorite of King Hilperic (561-584), whom that king loved so well that he wished him converted to Christianity. On one occasion Priscus discussed religious problems very freely in the presence of the King, with Bishop Gregory of Tours, and criticized Christian dogmas fearlessly. In spite of the representations of Pope Gregory I, the Frankish kings entrusted the Jews with offices, such as tax collector, and allowed them to deal in Christian slaves. Church councils, however, as early as the fifth century, legislated against social intercourse between Christians and Jews.
SPAIN
The Visigoths, who ruled over Spain, treated the Jews worse than any other nation at that time. All the mediæval disabilities, such as the seclusion of the Jews in certain quarters and the restriction of their worship, had their origin in that country. Frequently we hear of a law prohibiting the holding of Christian slaves by Jews. Repeatedly Jews were converted by force, and occasionally whole communities expelled. Bishop Isidore of Seville (560-630) wrote a book entitled “Against the Jews,” which was widely read and translated into different languages. His example was imitated in later times. In the Frankish kingdom, Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons (814-840), wrote five books on the Jews, the titles of which show his animus: “On the Insolence of the Jews,” “On the Necessity of Guarding Against Having Company with Jews,” etc. He opposed the law which prohibited the baptism of heathenish slaves owned by Jews and agitated for their social seclusion. Similar was the literary activity of Amolo, Archbishop of Lyons (841-852), who wrote a book against the Jews and dedicated it to Emperor Charles III.