The Jews were seen as infidels. They were seen as the betrayers and murderers of Christ.

1. Religious intolerance of the Jews The Jews were seen as infidels. They were seen as the betrayers and murderers of Christ. In 1179 The Third Lateran Council had stressed the danger of spiritual contamination that would occur through contact with the Jews! It wasn’t just in England that the Jews faced oppression. France and Germany held similar views and violent acts increased. Myth and scare mongering of the Jews increased, people said that the Jews parodied the murder of Christ by seizing and crucifying small children. This level of scare mongering certainly helped to justify the attacks and seizing of assets that frequently took place, This was normally from people who had taken the cross and were looking for a way to fund their crusades! Knights killing Jews at the time of the First Crusade (1000's AD)

2. The Jews as money lenders Under Richard, the Jews suffered considerably, possibly as a consequence of ‘crusading fervour’. The wealth of the Jews in their large townhouses proved particularly offensive. Men also despised the fact that they relied upon the Jews for credit and the usury that went hand in hand with this. (usury is an extortionate amount of interest). The interest could be one or two pence per week (22% or 44% per annum!!!!). The usury sometimes ran from the moment the money was loaned or sometimes from the moment that the debt was due to be repaid. Most loans were short term and due within a year. Land was used to secure the loans, consequently many defaulters lost land and it fell into Jewish ownership. The big money borrowers though were the barons, the knights, ecclesiastical institutions and the king. This is significant as they burdened most of the debt but also held most influence and were most ableto make their resentment towards the Jews felt!

3. The Jews as money lenders Money lending was therefore a vital asset for the King, but deeply hated by Christians who felt that they were being exploited by a minority group. In 1190, and the aftermath of the York pogrom (see later slide), the Richard I began to regulate the Jewish money lenders. Justices of the Jews were created, they were responsible for collecting the debts of Christians that had now come into the hands of the king due to Jews dieing intestate. Local sheriffs were also ordered to support the Jews in retrieving this money, maybe as a less offensive and less provocative measure. Local courts were set up for litigation between the Jews and Christians. There was even a sub branch created in the exchequer called the exchequer of the Jews or the Exchequer of Aaron. This was named after Aaron of Lincoln

4. Aaron of Lincoln He was a great Jewish money lender He is believed to have been the wealthiest man in 12th century Britain, it is estimated that his wealth exceeded that of the King, on his death in 1186, the amount of money owed to him was £18, 466. That was nearly the total revenue of the crown He is first mentioned in the English pipe-roll of 1166 as creditor of King Henry II for sums amounting to £616 12s 8d in nine of the English counties. He conducted his business through agents, and sometimes in conjunction with Isaac, fil Joce; by these methods building up what was practically a great banking association that spread throughout England. In 1190, Richard de Malbis (Richard Malebisse), a debtor of Aaron of Lincoln, led an attack on the family of Aaron's late agent in York that resulted in the death of the entire community, some 150 men, women, and children, at York Castle. (The York pogrom) The rise of Aaron of Lincoln illustrates the level of lending, the potential wealth of the Jews and above all their significance to the economy.

5. The position of the Jews under Henry II The Jews were the only non Christian group. Under the rule of Henry II, the Jewish community had no place or [position in the feudal system. There were seen as outsiders, yet under HII, the Jews were ‘protected’ by the King. They were therefore, in effect, possessions of the king. This gave allowed a level of tolerance towards the Jews. As the Kings property he could tax them or take tallage from them as and when he pleased. They would loan money to the King, the king would sometimes repay this. Between 1186 and 1194 the total amounts demanded from the Jews rose to well over £13,333 He would also place high fines on inheritance. As his possessions, the king stood to inherit their estates should they die intestate. He would also stand to inherit their debt books (the vast sums of money owed to the Jews which had often been borrowed to pay the king in the first place!)

6. The position of the Jews under Richard I Under Richard I the level of violence towards the Jews intensified almost immediately. On the day of his coronation in London. The king had issued an edict prohibiting their appearance at his coronation; but some of them bringing him large presents from their nation, presumed, in confidence of that merit, to approach the hall in which he dined. Being discovered, they were exposed to the insults of the bystanders; they took to flight; the people pursued them; the rumour was spread, that the king had issued orders to massacre all the Jews; a command so agreeable was executed in an instant. Mobs broke out and attacked the Jewish community and plundering their properties. Richard reacted by punishing those who had been involved, though for Richards standards the punishment was weak. Similar outbreaks of violence occurred at Kings Lynn, Bury St Edmonds, Stamford, Lincoln and York. The York pogrom being the most significant (pogrom is an organised massacre of people).

7. Richards coronation While the king was seated at table, the chief men of the Jews came to offer presents to him, but as they had been forbidden the day before to come to the king's court on the dav of the coronation, the common people, with scornful eye and insatiable heart, rushed upon the Jews and stripped them, and then scourging them, cast them forth out of the king's hall. Among these was Benedict, a Jew of York, who, after having been So maltreated and wounded by the Christians that his life was despaired of, was baptized by William, prior of the church of Saint Mary at York, in the church of the Innocents, and was named William, and thus escaped the peril of death and the hands of the persecutors. The citizens of London, on hearing of this, attacked the Jews in the city and burned their houses; but by the kindness of their Christian friends, some few made their escape. On the day after the coronation, the king sent his servants, and caused those offenders to be arrested who had set fire to the city; not for the sake of the Jews, but on account of the houses and property of the Christians which they had burnt and plundered, and he ordered some of them to be hanged. On the same day, the king ordered the before-named William, who from a Jew had become a Christian, to be presented to him, on which he said to him, "What person are you," to which he made answer, " I am Benedict of York, one of your Jews." On this the king turned to the archbishop of Canterbury, and the others who had told him that the said Benedict had become a Christian, and said to them, "Did you not tell me that he is a Christian?" to which they made answer, " Yes, my lord." Whereupon he said to them, "What are we to do with him?" to which the archbishop of Canterbury, less circumspectly than he might, in the spirit of his anger, made answer, "If he does not choose to be a Christian, let him be a man of the Devil;" whereas he ought to have made answer, " We demand that he shall be brought to a Christian trial, as he has become a Christian, and now contradicts that fact." But, inasmuch as there was no person to offer any opposition thereto, the before-named William relapsed into the Jewish errors, and after a short time died at Northampton; on which he was refused both the usual sepulture of the Jews, as also that of the Christians, both because he had been a Christian, and because, he had, " like a dog, returned to his vomit."

8. The York pogrom 1189 The Jewish community in York totalled around 150 men, women and children. The two leading figures within the Jewish community in York were Benedict and Josce, there houses were a great source of wonder and above all envy. The pogroms were led by local barons and knights who were heavily indebted to the Jewish money lenders and had used their lands as security. They were joined by other knights, youths and workmen from the towns. The authorities in the city did nothing to help. The Jewish houses were attacked first, this led them to flee their houses and seek protection in the Castle at York, Cliffords tower. Richard Malebisse, a northern baron, who was heavily in debt led a siege on the tower. Entrapped the Jews inside began to commit suicide. A group of Jews left the tower and vowed to convert to Christianity. They too were slaughtered. The pogrom sent shock waves around Europe, the aggressors were punished through fines and confiscation of lands and imprisonment. The pogrom was an extreme example, soon Jews returned to York and established a flourishing community once again. They remained protected and served as a reminder of Christ's passions. The fact that they were allowed to store their bonds in York minister possible represent evidence of the fact that they were valued and accepted even by the Catholic church.

10. The position of the Jews under John As you may expect, John exploited the Jews as his predecessors had done to the extreme. He demanded a £44,000 tallage from the Jews in 1210. He reportedly knocked out a tooth of a Bristol Jew each day that he failed to pay his tallage. He used the Jews to harass the barons for money owed