There were some, however, in this reign who were interested in the spiritual welfare of the poor persecuted Jews. The king himself was indeed an infidel,[1] and cared for no religion, and loved no God but the god of money, and therefore cared for nothing but the treasure of the Jews. There was, however, a prior, Richard by name, of Bermondsey, who, A.D. 1213, built a house for the reception of Christian Jews, and called the building “The Hospital of Converts.” The prior did it in honour to St. Thomas.[2]
[1] – See [Appendix K].
[2] – It appears that there was an institution of that kind much earlier in the city of Oxford. See Wood’s History of the University of Oxford.
The last act of King John towards the Jews was to employ them in a barbarous deed, to execute which he could not compel any of his Christian subjects. Having taken prisoners a great part of the Scotch army at Berwick, who assisted the barons, he determined to inflict such a variety of cruel and inhuman tortures upon them, that he could find none except the Jews whose obedience he was able to command. The Jews in the neighbourhood were, therefore, reluctantly obliged to become their executioners. It is not to be supposed that the Jews lamented much his decease, since even a modern Jew can yet exclaim, at the mention of his name, “Thank God that there was only one King John!”
When Henry the Third succeeded to the throne, he was only nine years old; and owing to the impious and arbitrary conduct of the late king, the country was in a state of general turbulence and discontent. It was therefore fortunate for the Jews, in common with the nation at large, that the administration of affairs, in the early years of this reign, fell successively into the hands of men of distinguished ability and virtue. The Earl of Pembroke, whilst by his talents and vigour he reduced the disaffected to respect the power of the crown, reconciled all ranks of men to his authority, by the equity and impartiality of his measures. As soon as he entered on his exalted office, as guardian to the youthful king, he adopted measures for the special relief and protection of the poor persecuted Jews. Many individuals amongst them were exonerated from burdens which had been previously imposed upon them; and numbers were immediately liberated from imprisonments, to which, upon various pretences, they had under the late king been condemned. Writs and letters patent were issued, directed to the principal burgesses of each of the towns where the Jews resided, viz., London, Lincoln, York, Hereford, Worcester, Stamford, Bristol, Northampton, Southampton, Winchester, Gloucester, Warwick, and Oxford, in all which places great numbers of the Jews resided, commanding that they should be held secure from any injuries, either to their persons or to their properties; and particularly that they should be guarded against any violence from the hands of the crusaders. In addition to these measures, a confirmation of the charter they had obtained in the beginning of the late reign was granted, by the terms of which it will be remembered that most important privileges were granted them, and their estates and persons were shielded from violence. At the same time with this confirmation of their former charter, the Jews were further exempted from the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts; and, to secure them a more strict administration of justice, the judges who in the late reign had presided over their affairs in the exchequer, and who had shown themselves unworthy of their trust, were removed from their office, and persons of character appointed in their place. Hubert de Burgh, who, upon the death of the Earl of Pembroke succeeded him in the chief direction of the government, was little inferior to him in the wisdom and probity of his conduct. During the fifteen years that these ministers continued in power, no instances are recorded of any acts of violence having been offered to Jews; but we are, on the contrary, informed that many unlooked for privileges were lavished upon them. In conjunction with these measures, the sheriffs of the different places, where the Jews resided, were directed to require that the Jews should distinguish themselves by wearing, on all occasions, a particular mark upon their clothes. The mark was to be attached to their upper garment, and was to consist of two white tablets of linen or parchment, and to be affixed to their breasts. Some historians wish to persuade us, that although this order bore the appearance of being of a nature at once degrading and oppressive, it had nevertheless been dictated by no unkindly intention. And it has been remarked, that by making the Jews thus plainly known from other persons, any one who offended against the directions given for their protection, would be deprived of the excuse they might otherwise have made, of being ignorant of their persons. This certainly sounds plausible; but a critical reader of history will at once discover that such a reason is a mere gloss. The real reason for the enactment of that strange order seems to be, that the Jews should be discernible in the eyes of the king, in order that when he wanted money he should know where to find it without great search; for we are informed by Dr. Tovey, that “the next year [of Henry’s reign], the king being informed of his council that great profit would arise from the Jews if they were kindly dealt with, sent forth the following writs to the respective sheriffs and officers, commanding them to elect twenty-four burgesses out of every town where the Jews resided in any number, to watch carefully over them that they received no injury, and particularly guard them against the insults of Jerusalem Pilgrims.” So that, to my mind, it appears that the government after all watched more jealously their purses than their persons!
However, the protection which was thus extended to them again inspired them with confidence: those who had survived the oppressions of the last reign began afresh to accumulate wealth; and numbers of their nation were induced to come over from the Continent, and settle in this country. The new comers were at first treated with violence by the wardens of the cinque ports where they landed. They were thrown into prison, and pillaged of their effects. For though the policy of the government towards the Jews had changed, the hatred and cupidity of the people in general remained unabated. When, however, information was given at court of the circumstance, relief was quickly afforded. Writs were issued to the officers of the different ports, commanding that such Jews as had been imprisoned should be set at liberty, and be allowed to live freely and without restraint, upon consenting to enter their names upon the Rolls of the Justices of the Jews, and not to depart the country again without permission![1]
[1] – See [Appendix L].
The clergy, it would seem, took umbrage at the privileges which the Jews enjoyed, and resolved to attempt, by an exercise of ecclesiastical authority, to overbear the effects of the protection which had been afforded by the measures of government. Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, in conjunction with Hugo de Velles, Bishop of Lincoln, published a general prohibition, by which all persons were forbidden to buy anything of the Jews, or to sell them any victuals or other necessaries, or to have any communication with them; declaring, at the same time, that they were persons, who, by the laws of the Church, were excommunicated for their infidelity and usury. Indeed the ecclesiastics had more cause to be jealous of them then than at any subsequent periods. The Jews were then a more accomplished and enlightened race, than centuries of feudal oppression had made them four or five hundred years later. Benjamin of Tudela, the great Jewish traveller of the preceding century, informs us, that every association of Jews in the more important cities of Europe, had its college, or seminary, for training men learned in their law: whilst on the other hand, Christians were then groping in the darkness of superstition and ignorance. The laity, and even the priesthood, were then, in point of enlightenment, as far inferior to their descendants four hundred years later, as the Jews were superior to theirs. In England, the balance of learning and accomplishments decidedly preponderated in favour of the Jews, as I have shown in the lecture before last.[1] There was a difference, too, in the relative holds of the two religions upon the minds of their votaries. Both rested upon one common basis—the Old Testament. The faith which spiritualises the types and forms of that sacred volume was then comparatively new in the island; many of its inhabitants had been pagans only two or three centuries before, and were yet wavering in their faith. On the other hand, the Jews were stronger in faith then than they are now. The Jews were then a proselytising race: now they no more seek to make converts than the Society of Friends. All which tended to excite emulation on the part of the Church.[2]
[2] – See Knight’s London.