“John by the grace of God, &c. Be it known that we have granted to all the Jews of England and Normandy to have a residence freely and honourably in our land, and they are to hold all things of us, which they held of King Henry, our great-grandfather; and all those things which they now lawfully hold in land, bonds, and mortgages, and their chattels. That they may have all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of the said Henry, the grandfather of our father, in a better and more quiet and more honourable manner. And if complaint shall arise between a Christian and a Jew, let him who shall have appealed against the other, produce witnesses to substantiate his plaint, viz., a lawful Christian and a lawful Jew. And if a Jew shall have a writ concerning his plaint, his own writ shall be his witness. And if a Christian shall have a plaint against a Jew, the plaint shall be tried by the Jew’s peers. And when a Jew dies, his body shall not be detained above the ground; and let his heirs have his money and his debts, so that he be not disturbed thence, that is to say, if he have an heir that would be responsible for him, and do justice as touching his debts and forfeitures. And let it be lawful for Jews to buy every thing offered to them and to receive them, except such things as belong to the Church, and crimson cloth. If a Jew be summoned by any one without a witness, let him be free from such a summons by his single oath taken upon his book; and if he be summoned concerning things which belong to the crown, let him likewise be free by his single oath taken on his roll. If a difference arise between a Christian and a Jew about the lending of money, the Jew should prove the capital, and the Christian the interest; that a Jew may lawfully and quietly sell a mortgage made to him, when he is certain that he held it a whole year and a day; that the Jew should not be entered into any plea, except before us, or before the keepers of our castles, in whose bailiwicks the Jews resided. That the Jews, wherever they are, may go whither they please, with their chattels, as if they were our own chattels, nor may any man detain or hinder them. And we ordain that they should be free throughout England and Normandy, of all customs, tolls, and modiations of wines, just as much as our own chattels are. And we command and order you to keep, defend, and protect them; and we prohibit any one from impleading them in opposition to this charter touching the things mentioned above, under pain of forfeiture, as the charter of our father, King Henry the Second, did reasonably command.”[1]
[1] – See [Appendix D].
And as a particular encouragement to the English Jews, he granted, moreover, by another charter, dated the same day, that all differences among themselves, which did not concern the pleas of the crown, should be heard and determined by their Rabbies, according to their own law: a privilege which must have been of great importance to them, as the Jews consider it strictly unlawful to go to judgment before Gentiles.
In return for these charters, the Jews paid the sum of 4,000 marks.
The Jews, encouraged by such extraordinary marks of respect and kindness, fancied once more that they had found in England a home; and great numbers began to come over from the Continent. The royal favour, however, tended to excite the envy of their Gentile neighbours, who began to accuse them again of various crimes, as crucifying children, and falsifying the coin, &c.
In the fourth year of this reign, a Jew, of Bedford, Bonefand by name, was indicted for a crime of a very incredible nature; which alleged crime, however, could not be proved, and the Jew was, therefore, honourably acquitted.[1]
[1] – See [Appendix E].
In the fifth year of this reign, the Jews were subjected to many ill treatments and indignities from the citizens of London; but the king still continued to show a desire of affording the Jews protection. They petitioned him to interfere his authority, and obtain them security from a recurrence of like grievances: whereupon he immediately wrote a sharp letter to the mayor and barons of London, in which he told them that, “as they knew the Jews were under his special protection, he wondered that any ill had been suffered to come upon them;” and after committing the Jews to their guard and protection, concluded with saying, that if any fresh injuries should be allowed to befall them, he should require their blood at the hands of the citizens.[1]
[1] – See [Appendix F].
These measures of conciliation had the desired effect: the Jews, placing reliance in the protection thus offered them by the king, again applied themselves, with full confidence, to the acquirement of property; and before ten years of this reign had passed away, their increasing wealth rendered them capable of affording a rich harvest to the crown. When the fickle tyrant found that this was the case, he did not any longer keep the mask of kindness on his face: he began to throw aside the disguise he had assumed, and by every means which lay in his power endeavoured to reap the advantages which his policy had placed within his grasp. It evidently appears that the reason he lavished so many privileges upon them, was for the diabolical purpose of alluring them into his power, that he might plunder and oppress them at pleasure. It was aptly said by a French historian, that the Jews were used like sponges—allowed for a time to suck up a large amount of wealth, which was wrung out into the coffers of the crown.