West of Grocers’ Alley is the Old Jewry, one of the most interesting places in the whole of London on account of its having been the Ghetto, though not a place of humiliation, for the Jews of London. When they came to London they received this quarter for their residence; why this place, so central, so convenient for the despatch of business, was assigned to them, no one has been able to discover. In the learned work of Mr. Joseph Jacobs (The Jews of Angevin England) he shows that Jews were in Oxford and Cambridge as well as in London in the time of the Normans.
The older name of the street was Colechurch Street. In the Receipts and Perquisites of the Tower from the Jews of London are found the following:
| For two pounds found in the Jewry for forfeit | 60s. |
[The sense of this entry is doubtful. Perhaps the two pounds were forfeited and 60 is wrongly transcribed for 40 (lx. for xl.).] (Guildhall MS. 129, vol. ii. p. 95a.)
| From a certain Christian woman found in the Jewry for the purpose of making an exchange. She fled and threw away the money | 100s. | (ibid. p. 97). |
| From a certain goldsmith fighting in the Jewry, of a fine | 21s. | (ibid. p. 96). |
| From Nicholas, the convert, goldsmith of London, for his boys fighting in the Jewry | 100s. | (ibid. p. 97). |
| From a certain Christian found in the Jewry by night | 7s. 11½d. | (ibid. p. 97). |
| From a certain boy coming into the Jewry | 66s. 8d. | (ibid. p. 97). |
| From John of Lincoln because he was found in the Jewry by night | £6 | (ibid. p. 97). |
| From a certain Christian woman in the Jewry by night | 18s. | (ibid. p. 97). |
It thus appears that the Jewry was walled in with gates. Had it been a simple street, a thoroughfare, there could have been no objection to any one passing through. As for the teaching of the Church respecting Jews, these extracts from Mr. Jacob’s book will show the hatred which was inculcated towards them.
“If any Christian woman takes gifts from the infidel Jews or of her own will commits sin with them, let her be separated from the church a whole year and live in much tribulation, and then let her repent for nine years. But if with a pagan let her repent seven years.
“If any Christian accepts from the infidel Jews their unleavened cakes or any other meat or drink and share in their impieties, he shall do penance with bread and water for forty days; because it is written ‘to the pure all things are pure.’
“It is allowable to celebrate mass in a church where faithful and pious ones have been buried. But if infidels or heretics or faithless Jews be buried, it is not allowed to sanctify or celebrate mass; but if it seem suitable for consecration, tearing thence the bodies or scraping or washing the walls, let it be consecrated if it has not been so previously.”
The earliest mention of the Jews occurs in the Terrier of St. Paul’s, 1115: