Alphonso, the successor of Ferdinand, found himself in such difficulties, owing to the increasing power of the Saracens, that he showed favour to the Jews, in order to get them to help him with men and money in his wars against the Infidels. He even allowed them to act as judges over Christians; but the Pope did not at all approve of this, and reproached the king for having, as he expressed it, "put the synagogue of Satan above the Church of Christ." Alphonso, however, did not take away the indulgences, which he had granted only to further his own interest.
The close of this eleventh century was remarkable for the first of the Crusades, or wars undertaken by Christian nations, in order to take Palestine, or the Holy Land, out of the hands of the Saracens. In many parts of Spain, great numbers of Jews were massacred by those about to join the Crusade, under the mistaken idea that they should bring the blessing of God upon their intended expedition, by destroying the descendants of those who had crucified the Saviour of mankind. In Germany, the Crusaders, who marched through the country, murdered all the Jews who refused to become Christians. An immense number thus perished, many of whom were burnt in their houses; for the unhappy Jews barricaded their dwellings, and then threw their families, their property, and themselves into the flames, thus disappointing the avarice of their enemies, who coveted their riches. Even mothers, on the approach of the merciless Crusaders, killed their children with their own hands, telling them it was far better for them to go at once into Abraham's bosom, than to fall into the hands of the Christians. Some of the Jews, less brave and conscientious than their brethren, saved their lives by pretending to adopt the Christian religion, which they must naturally have hated more than ever, since those who professed to be guided by its precepts, had acted with a degree of cruelty and inhumanity, worthy only of the most ignorant savages. The same dreadful scenes took place in Palestine, for when the Crusaders arrived in that country, they, actuated by very mistaken notions of the spirit of Christianity, inhumanly murdered all the Jews they could lay hands upon; and men, women, and children alike perished by hundreds.
During this dreadful time, it is pleasant to know that some of the Christian bishops and clergy did try to protect the Jews; and they received into their houses such fugitives as could manage to escape from the fury of their enemies.
Thus ended the eleventh century.
Chapter VII.—TWELFTH CENTURY.
Our history has now brought us to the twelfth century; that is, to the space of 100 years, from a.d. 1100 to a.d. 1200. The twelfth century began as the eleventh had ended; for the Crusaders continued to persecute the Jews in Germany and other countries, as well as in Palestine.
The cry of the Christians was, "Let us destroy the descendants of those who crucified Jesus Christ, so that the name of Israel be no more remembered"—a cry as much at variance with prophecy, as with the spirit of Christianity; for the Holy Scriptures had plainly declared, that the once chosen people of God, though scattered throughout all lands, and severely punished for their unbelief, should never be destroyed.
Among the Christian bishops who interfered in favour of the Jews, was one called St. Bernard, who thought that it was the duty of Christians to convert rather than destroy them; and that kindness was more likely to do this than persecution. St. Bernard brought Innocent the Second, who was then Pope, to agree with him, and to befriend the Hebrew race.
On one occasion, when this Pope entered with much pomp and show into Paris, the Jews, approaching him with great respect, gave him a volume, or roll, containing the Law. The Pope received it, and said, "I reverence the Law given by God to Moses, but I condemn your explanation of it, because you still expect the Coming of the promised Messiah, instead of believing, as the Catholic Church does, that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah our Saviour; and that He now liveth and reigneth in Heaven, with God the Father, and God the Holy Ghost."