31st July 1255- 9 year old boy was found dead in a cesspit near a Jewish house, and from then Jews were looked at as BLOOD LIBELS
1278- King Edward arrested 680 Jews for coinage offences, and hanged 293
Coinage offences included coin clipping, ie. trimming the edges off coins, melting the clippings down and selling them
1190- Jews were attacked in York, where 150 were killed
In 1290, Edward I decided to expel all 3,000 Jews left in England
He took their possessions
London 1263 - 400 were murdered. London 1264, 100 were beaten to death
Impacts
They contributed huge amounts of money to society (especially cathedrals)
Integration
Jews took on a wide variety of occupations as well as money-lenders (doctors,. goldsmiths, crossbow makers, artists, etc.)- we know from legal documents
They were doctors, doctors help people, therefore the Jews helped the Christians
However, laws in most towns prevented Jews from working as anything other than moneylenders, proving them to be valuable to society
Extra
Due to their expertise in money-handling, William I invited Jews to England
Christians and Muslims weren't allowed to charge interest on loans
The king was giving them special privileges, and they were ensured royal protection
Jews lived together in small towns called JEWRIES, and each community had its own council called a KEHILA
Persecution and Prejudice
Henry III ran into many problems with money during his reign from 1216 - 1272, so he decided that the Jews needed to be taxed much more than others
The Jews then demanded money from the people who'd previously borrowed money from them, but they quickly lost their wealth
In 1255, Henry III handed all royal rights over the Jews to his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, in return for a large loan
Henry III arrested 93 Jews, hung 18, and they were all charged with RITUALMURDER. All their property was handed in to the king (as it did with all executed criminals)
STATUTE OF JEWRY: -Jews were no longer allowed to collect interest on loans - Most people who owed money to Jews didn't have to pay - Jews had to wear large yellow badges on outer clothes - Jews could only live in a few selected towns
Another statute was that Jews were now allowed to buy land and become farmers, however most Jews were so poor that they had no chance of buying land to become farmers
This statute may have given Jews the hope of success, which is why they didn't leave
DOMUS CONVERSORUM: Henry III set up a home where Jews were converted to Christianity instead of being exiled