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:''This article describes the 'Edict of Expulsion', given by Edward I of England in 1290 that exiled the Jews from England for 350 years. For information on the 1492 Edict of Expulsion from Spain, see the Alhambra decree. For other legislations expelling Jews from their homes, see Jewish refugees.''
In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict ordering all Jews expelled from England. Lasting for the rest of the middle ages, it would be over 350 years until it was formally overturned in 1656. The edict was not an isolated incident, but the culmination of over 200 years of mistreatment.

Contents

Buildup to Expulsion

Expulsion

The intermediate period

Notes

References

See also

External link

Buildup to Expulsion

The first Jewish communities of significant size came over with William the Conqueror in 1066. From the start the Jews had a special status as direct subjects of the King.^[1] Legally the Jews were distinct from the rest of the population. Every successive King formally reviewed a royal charter to grant the Jews the right to remain in England, and the Jews did not enjoy any of the guarantees of Magna Carta.^[2]

Economically, the Jews played a key role. The church at the time strictly forbade usury, or the lending of money for profit. This left a hole in the heart of the European economy that the Jews quickly filled.^[3] Within this capacity, some Jews made large amounts of money. However a large portion of their profits sometimes ended up in the King’s hands. Taking advantage of their unique status, the King was able to levy heavy taxes on the Jews at will without having to summon Parliament.^[4] The Jewish community acted as a kind of giant monetary filter. The Jews collected interest on money loaned to the people which the King could take at his pleasure.

Unfortunately, their perceived role as extortionate money lenders made the Jews extremely unpopular with both the Church and the general public. While Anti-Semitism was widespread in Europe, medieval England was particularly bad.² An image of the Jew as a diabolical figure who hated Christ started to become widespread, and Anti-Semitic myths such as the wandering Jew and ritual murders originated spread throughout England; as well as Scotland and Wales.^[5] Jews were said to hunt for children to murder before Passover so they could use their blood to make matzah.^[6] Anti-Semitism on a number of occasions sparked riots where many Jews were murdered, most famously in 1190 when over a hundred Jews were massacred by the locals.⁶

Expulsion

The situation only got worse for the Jews as the 13th century progressed. In 1218, England became the first European nation to require Jews to wear a marking badge.^[7] Taxation grew increasingly intense. Between 1219 and 1272, 49 levies were imposed on the Jews for a total of 200,000 marks, a huge amount of money.⁴ The first major step towards expulsion took place in 1275, with the Statute of Jewry. The statute outlawed all usury and gave the Jews fifteen years to readjust.^[8] However, the guild system in place as well as general prejudice made Jewish expansion into mercantile or agricultural life almost impossible.

While in Gascony in 1287, Edward ordered the English Jews expelled. All their property was seized by the crown and all outstanding debts were transferred to the King’s name.^[9] It was a bleak sign of things to come. Edward’s personal views on the Jews are something of a mystery. In the glimpses we have of his dealings with them, he seems interested but unsympathetic. His mother, however, does seem to have been anti-semitic.^[10] Whatever his personal feelings, by the time he returned to England in 1289 Edward was deeply in debt. The next summer he summoned his knights to impose a steep tax. To make the tax more palatable, Edward in exchange essentially offered to expel all the Jews.^[11] The heavy tax was passed, and three days later, on July 18, the expulsion was issued. One official reason for the issue was that the Jews had neglected to follow the Statutes of Jewry. However, the edict was widely popular and met with little resistance, and the expulsion was quickly carried out.
The Jewish population in England at the time was relatively small. While population estimates vary, probably less than 1% of England was Jewish; perhaps 3,000 people.^[12] The expulsion process went fairly smoothly, although there were a few horrific incidents. One story told of a captain taking a ship full of Jews to the Thames while the tide was going out and convincing them to go out for a walk with him. He then lost them and made it back to his ship before the tide came back in, leaving them all to drown.¹⁰ Other stories exist of Jews being robbed or killed, but the majority of the Jews seem to have crossed the channel in safety.

The intermediate period

Between the expulsion of the Jews in 1290 and their formal return in 1655, there is no official trace of Jews as such on English soil except in connection with the Domus Conversorum, which kept a number of them within its precincts up to 1551 and even later. An attempt was made to obtain a revocation of the edict of expulsion as early as 1310, but in vain. Notwithstanding, a certain number of them appear to have come back; for complaints were made to the king in 1376 that some of those trading as Lombards were Jews ("Rot. Parl." ii. 332a).
Occasionally permits were given to individuals to visit England, as in the case of Dr. Elyas Sabot in 1410; but it was not until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain that any considerable number of Hebrews found refuge in England. One of these as early as 1493 attempted to recover no less a sum than 428,000 maravedis which the refugees from Spain had entrusted to Diego de Soria. In 1542 many were arrested on the suspicion of being Jews, and throughout the sixteenth century a number of persons named Lopez, possibly all of the same family, took refuge in England, the best known of them being Rodrigo Lopez, physician to Queen Elizabeth, and who is said to have been the origin of Shylock. Besides certain distinguished converts like Tremellius and Philip Ferdinand, the most remarkable visitor was Joachim Gaunse, who introduced new methods of mining into England. Occasional visitors, like Alonzo de Herrera and Simon Palache in 1614, are recorded.

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See also

★ History of the Jews in England

★ History of the Jews in England--Jews came to England with the Normans

★ History of the Jews in England--The Expulsion

★ History of the Jews in England--Maranos in England

★ History of the Jews in England--Menasseh Ben Israel's Mission

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★ Menasseh Ben Israel (1604-1657)

★ History of the Jews in England--The Jew Bill of 1753

★ History of the Jews in England--Other Influences on the Jewish Standing in the Community

★ History of the Jews in England--The Struggle for Emancipation

★ Early English Jewish literature

★ History of the Jews in Scotland

External link

★ England related articles in the Jewish Encyclopedia