Expulsion

"The story of how England's kings first courted then persecuted and finally expelled England's Jewish community during the Middle Ages. The first Jewish communities in the British Isles were established following William of Normandy's conquest of Britain in 1066. They settled in London and were at first courted by their Christian hosts. However, not long after attitudes began to change, reflecting the hardening of wider European attitudes. In a course of events that frighteningly mirrors that of Nazi Germany over seven centuries later, statutory regulations against the Jews, culminating with the Statute of Jewry of 1275, became the increasingly harsh and punitive. There were never more than a few thousand Jews in medieval England, but they were envied, hated and misunderstood because of their wealth and beliefs. After just over 200 years the Jewish communities of England were forcibly removed on the orders of Edward I. The Jews remained excluded for over 350 years, England was not unique in its approach to 'the Jewish problem,' but it was different in the permanence of the solution it found."--Publisher's description. ; Jews became a conspicuous minority in England at the end of the 11th century. In the 12th century their main profession was usury, which evoked strong anti-Jewish sentiments. In the 12th-13th centuries the Jews suffered from legal restrictions imposed by the Crown on moneylending and from excessive tallages extorted from them. The story of the death of William of Norwich in 1144 and the myth of Jewish ritual murder worsened Christian-Jewish relations even more. In 1189-90 anti-Jewish riots broke out in London and York; riots became a recurring pattern in the 13th century, each time bringing about a deterioration of the legal status of the Jews. The Church opposed contacts between Jews and Christians, as well as moneylending. Examines King Edward I's attitude to the Jews and the motives that lay behind his decision to expel the Jews in 1290. Edward took legal measures to direct the Jewish community away from usury and towards "legitimate trade", as well as to impel them to convert; his "experiment" was a failure. Numerous accusations against Jews of coin-clipping, and subsequent executions (hundreds of Jews were hanged in the 1270s-80s) under Edward, ruined English Jewry completely. In 1290, pursuing two aims - to obtain a parliamentary decision to impose a large one-time tax and to improve his image as a Christian king, Edward expelled the Jews. The expulsion of 1290 was preceded by expulsions of Jews from other areas which were ruled by the Crown. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)