"Granny's Chapters" Part 35

Our history has now brought us to the twelfth century; that is, to the s.p.a.ce of 100 years, from A.D. 1100 to A.D. 1200. The twelfth century began as the eleventh had ended; for the Crusaders continued to persecute the Jews in Germany and other countries, as well as in Palestine.

The cry of the Christians was, "Let us destroy the descendants of those who crucified Jesus Christ, so that the name of Israel be no more remembered"--a cry as much at variance with prophecy, as with the spirit of Christianity; for the Holy Scriptures had plainly declared, that the once chosen people of G.o.d, though scattered throughout all lands, and severely punished for their unbelief, should _never be destroyed_.

Among the Christian bishops who interfered in favour of the Jews, was one called St. Bernard, who thought that it was the duty of Christians to _convert_ rather than destroy them; and that kindness was more likely to do this than persecution. St. Bernard brought Innocent the Second, who was then Pope, to agree with him, and to befriend the Hebrew race.

On one occasion, when this Pope entered with much pomp and show into Paris, the Jews, approaching him with great respect, gave him a volume, or roll, containing the Law. The Pope received it, and said, "I reverence the Law given by G.o.d to Moses, but I condemn your explanation of it, because you still expect the Coming of the promised Messiah, instead of believing, as the Catholic Church does, that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah our Saviour; and that He now liveth and reigneth in Heaven, with G.o.d the Father, and G.o.d the Holy Ghost."

The next Pope was also favourable to the Jews, and forbade the people to insult them on any occasion whatever. Under such circ.u.mstances, the Jews became a rich and flourishing people in Rome, and in all the other cities of Italy.

Towards the close of the twelfth century, a Jewish rabbi, named Joseph, was prime minister to a Christian king of Spain, and had a coach of state, and guards to attend upon him; but having cause to be displeased with the wicked conduct of one of his countrymen, this man, whose name was Gonzales, contrived by his falsehoods to set the king against Joseph, who was in consequence turned out of his office in disgrace. Gonzales, who, though a Jew himself, was no friend to his brethren, now, under pretence of enriching the king, persuaded him to allow him to do as he pleased with eight of the princ.i.p.al Jews. The king consented; Gonzales caused these eight men to be put to death, and seized all their property. He then asked the king to give up to him twenty more; but the monarch refused, thinking it more honourable to demand some of their riches for his own use, than to deprive them of life as well as property: the unhappy Jews gladly consented to give the king large sums of money, in order to preserve their lives.

Shortly afterwards, Gonzales, having displeased the king, was shut up in prison, and then the Jews again enjoyed that peace and quiet so favourable to the pursuit of learning, of which they were very fond.

Among the learned men who distinguished themselves at this time, the chief was Moses Maimonides, or the son of Maimon. This man claimed to be descended from king David: his knowledge and learning were so wonderfully great, and so far superior to that of any other rabbi, that his countrymen called him "The Eagle of Doctors," (the eagle being the king of his kind,) and declared, that no one before had ever come so near in wisdom to their great founder and lawgiver, whose name he bore.

But the very wisdom and learning for which they praised him, soon raised the jealousy of the Jews against Maimonides; and this feeling was increased by his showing very little respect for the Talmud, and by his teaching some extraordinary doctrines, learnt from a Mahometan of Arabia, under whom he had studied. Thus Maimonides offended a great part of the Jewish people; and at Montpelier, a town in the South of France, the chief of the synagogue persuaded certain learned men to preach against Maimonides, and defend the Talmud: he also caused the works of Maimonides to be burnt, and excommunicated all who should dare to read them.

The learned men amongst the Jews were now divided into two parties: one _for_ and one _against_ Maimonides; and disputes were in consequence carried on for many years. At this time, learning was not entirely confined to _men_ amongst the Hebrew race; for several learned Jewish _women_ made themselves remarkable in the twelfth century. One of these women was so skilful in explaining the Law and the Talmud, that many went to hear her lectures upon these subjects: she spake to the people from behind a latticed window, so that, whilst her voice was heard, she herself could not be seen by those outside.

From Jewish historians we learn, that during this twelfth century many of their nation were raised, at different times, to high offices in the courts of princes; and that others became celebrated as generals.

Several learned Jews also renounced their religion and became Christians, and then wrote books in favour of Christianity. One of these Jews turned Mahometan, and wrote a book, accusing his Jewish brethren of having altered the Law given to Moses by G.o.d. This greatly pleased the followers of Mahomet, who forbade any person to quote or translate any part of the Pentateuch, as used by either Jews or Christians.

In France, towards the end of this century, the Jews suffered greatly under Philip Augustus, or Philip the Second, who began to reign A.D.

1180. Some Jews were accused of having murdered a Christian youth; king Philip eagerly seized upon such an excuse, and, under pretence of piety and zeal for the glory of G.o.d, banished all the Hebrew race from his dominions; allowing them only to keep the money for which they could sell their furniture, the king taking for his own use all the rest of their property. It is even said that these poor creatures were robbed of what money they had been allowed to keep, and reduced to such a state of want and misery, that many died in consequence. The industry and skill of the Jews, however, made their loss felt in every country from which they were expelled; and no doubt that was the case now, for shortly afterwards Philip recalled them, excusing himself to such of his subjects as disapproved of the measure, by saying, that he allowed the Jews to return in order to get from them money to pay the expenses of the Crusades.

So wickedly were the Jews treated at this time, that if one became a Christian, all his property was taken from him--a measure not likely to encourage conversions.

Something must now be said of the treatment of the Jews in England during the twelfth century. Henry the Second, who began to reign A.D.

1154, has been blamed by monkish writers for allowing them to live in peace; but the scene was soon changed.

The great wealth of the Jews caused them often to be applied to by those who wished to borrow money; but they were hated by all Christians, and grievously oppressed and ill-treated in most Christian countries. When Richard the First succeeded his father, A.D. 1189, the Jews hoped, by giving him large sums of money, to secure his favour and protection; and great numbers of them came up to London from the most distant parts of England, just before the king's coronation. The common people in those days were very ignorant and superst.i.tious, and fancied that the Jews were magicians or conjurors, who could bewitch the king, and so do him harm; and Richard, therefore, forbade any Jew to be present in Westminster Abbey at his coronation.

Some of them, however, hoping to forward their own interests, ventured into the abbey, loaded with valuable presents for the monarch; but as they knelt before him, the king spurned them with his foot, and the courtiers followed his example. A great outcry was immediately raised outside the abbey; and at the same time a report was spread, that Richard had given an order for the general ma.s.sacre of the Jews. An order so agreeable to the people, who hated the race of Israel, was instantly acted upon; and under this false impression, hundreds of Jews perished miserably: houses were broken open, and all the inhabitants murdered; or if they resisted the entrance of their foes, their houses were set on fire. Many of these wretched Jews put their own wives and children to death, to prevent their falling into the merciless hands of the Christians. The day after the coronation, a proclamation was published to stop these shocking acts; but the fury of the people was not so easily checked, and the persecution continued in some degree for several months. Nor was it confined to London, for in other parts of England similar outrages were committed upon the unfortunate Jews.

When Richard the First went to Palestine to take part in the Third Crusade, the Jews suffered a still worse persecution; for although they had furnished the king with large sums of money for the expenses of this war, their enemies were not satisfied.

It has been said, that in those times the Jews best understood how to get rich by trade; one way in which they made money was, by lending it at high interest. If, for instance, any person wanted a large sum of money at once, in order to buy an estate, or carry out any great object, he would borrow it of the Jews; engaging, in return, to pay a certain sum every year, or every month, as _interest_ on the money lent, until he could repay the whole sum.

The Jews who lent money asked very high interest for it; and were often guilty of great injustice and harshness to those who had borrowed it: all this added considerably to the hatred felt towards the Hebrew race on account of their religion.

Chapter VIII.--IMPOSTORS IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

When Richard the First was making preparations for the Holy War, (as the Crusade was called,) his Christian subjects felt very angry that they, who looked upon themselves as the favourites of Heaven, should be obliged to deprive their families even of needful things, in order to fit themselves or others out to join in this war, whilst the enemies of Christ were left in peaceable enjoyment of their riches; and they persuaded themselves that it would be a meritorious act, acceptable to G.o.d, to destroy all the descendants of those who had crucified the Saviour, and then take their wealth to pay the expenses of the Crusade. Before his departure for the Holy Land, the King gave an order that the Jews were not to be disturbed in any way; but no sooner had he left England, than the fury of the people broke out afresh, and very many of the unhappy Israelites were destroyed in different places, and their property seized; whilst the magistrates, whose duty it was to keep order and protect _all_ the king's subjects, made little or no attempt to stop these acts of cruelty and violence.

At York, the most dreadful scenes took place. The Jews of that city were great money-lenders, or _usurers_, as they were called in reproach; and as they lived in a sumptuous manner, indulging themselves in every luxury, the people envied them for their riches, and hated them more and more; and hearing what had been done in other parts of England, they prepared to attack their victims. Upon this, the chief persons among the Israelites prevailed upon the governor of York to allow their countrymen to take refuge in the castle, as its walls were strong enough to protect those within them. Very soon, however, the Jews, seeing that the governor frequently went out of the castle into the city, suspected that he was plotting with their enemies for their destruction; and therefore, one day, when he had gone out as usual, they shut the gates, and refused to let him in again. The governor, very indignant, complained to the sheriff and to the heads of the Christian party, who, as they were the chief debtors to the Jews, were most anxious to destroy them. The sheriff immediately ordered the governor to attack the castle; but he soon repented of having given such a hasty order, and many of the princ.i.p.al citizens refused to join in its execution. It was, however, too late to check the populace, who were bent upon murder and robbery. The attack was made, the a.s.sailants encouraging each other by the cry, "Destroy the enemies of Jesus." The Jews offered to give large sums of money, on condition that their lives should be spared; but this offer was refused. When they saw that they could defend themselves no longer, one of their most esteemed rabbis proposed that they should kill themselves, saying, that it was better to die courageously for the Law than to fall into the hands of the Christians. Accordingly, these poor creatures killed their wives and children, set fire to the castle, and then slew themselves. In this way 500 perished. A few, who gave themselves up in hopes of meeting with mercy, were murdered, and all the houses belonging to the Jews were plundered.

Richard was very angry when he heard of such disobedience to his orders, and ordered the Bishop of Ely, as Chief Justice of England, to punish the guilty most severely. The chief offenders, however, had left York before the bishop entered that city; and he contented himself with depriving the sheriff and governor of their offices, and laying a fine upon some of the richest citizens.

Although so much has been said about the Jews in the twelfth century, there is still something more to be added, because during this period there were more impostors pretending to be the Messiah, than during any other similar period of time. The first of these impostors appeared in France A.D. 1137, and committed so many crimes, that the Government caused several synagogues to be destroyed, and at length the man himself was put to death, with a large number of his followers. The next year a false Messiah appeared in Persia, and collected a formidable army. The king of the country bribed him with a large sum of money to disband his followers, and then treacherously caused him to be beheaded, forcing the Jews to return to him the money, which he had given as a bribe to the unfortunate man.

Spain had also her impostor, who appeared in A.D. 1157, and was supported by one of the most learned rabbis of Cordova, who had just written a book to prove that the Messiah must shortly come--a work which had probably put it into the head of this man to a.s.sume the character. The greater part of the educated and sensible Jews looked upon this impostor as a madman; but the people in general believed in him, and suffered severely for their folly.

Ten years afterwards, a person appeared in the kingdom of Fez, in Africa, and declared that in the course of a year the promised Messiah would come. The conduct of this impostor greatly displeased the Mahometans, to whom the kingdom belonged, and brought persecution upon all the Jews scattered throughout the country.

In the same year in which a false Messiah appeared in Fez, another Jew of Arabia took the t.i.tle of Messiah. He pretended to work miracles, and gained many followers. He was at length seized, and taken before the ruler of the country, who asked him, what had led him to try and impose upon his countrymen? He boldly answered, that he had not done so, for that he was indeed a prophet sent by G.o.d. Being then asked what miracle he could work to prove that he was really sent by G.o.d, he said, "Cut off my head, and I will come back again to life." The king took him at his word, and ordered him to be beheaded, promising to believe in him if he came to life again. His followers actually continued for some time to expect his re-appearance; but at last they were obliged to give up all hope: they were heavily fined, as a punishment for listening to this impostor.

We have now spoken of eight pretended Messiahs; but there is still one more, the most famous of them all: this was a Jew, named David Alroi, or El David, who, with about 1,000 of his countrymen, dwelt in a city subject to the King of Persia, to whom they paid tribute. In 1199 El David took the t.i.tle of Messiah; and, being a learned and clever man, he deceived the mult.i.tude by his pretended miracles, and persuaded them to take up arms in his cause. The King of Persia, alarmed by the success of the rebels, commanded El David to go to Court, promising to acknowledge him as the Messiah, if he would give some miraculous proof of being so. Contrary to all expectation, the impostor appeared before the king, persisting in his claim to be the true Messiah. He was then put into prison, in order to see whether he could work a miracle to set himself free. Somehow or other, he did manage to escape, and those who were sent in search of him were unable to find him; but, through the treachery of his son-in-law, who took a large bribe to betray him, he was given up to the king, and put to death, with a great number of those who had been deceived by him.

Thus remarkably was fulfilled our Saviour's prophecy, that "false Christs and false prophets should arise and deceive many." It may seem strange to us that the Jews, after refusing to acknowledge Jesus Christ, Who had given so many proofs of His Divine power, should afterwards have been so ready to follow any impostor who chose to style himself the Messiah, without being able to do one single thing to support such a claim.

The reason of this appears to be, that the Jews, in spite of all prophecy, still set their minds upon a Messiah, who could at once establish a kingdom upon earth; and they were, in consequence, always ready to take up arms, hoping that the time for establishing such a kingdom was now come.

Jesus, by His conduct, put an end to all hopes of the kind in Him; and therefore He was despised and rejected. The impostors who took His name promised to deliver the Jews from all their enemies, and restore them to their country; and therefore they were believed and followed.

The cruel treatment experienced by the Jews in England during the reign of Richard the First, led many of those who still possessed any property, to leave the country; so that when John became king, A.D.

1199, the absence of so many rich people and the falling off of trade were much felt in the kingdom; and, in the early part of the thirteenth century, the king used every means in his power to bring them back. He solemnly promised, that if they would give him a large sum of money, they should enjoy all their former privileges: he allowed them to possess lands, build synagogues, and even choose a High Priest. Great numbers of Jews then returned to England, where they were soon more cruelly plundered than they had been before. It was the old story; they were odious to the people on account of their religion, and still more so, perhaps, for the enormous usury which they exacted for money lent. Thus there was a continual cry for their banishment, or rather for their destruction; but the king found it more for his own interest to keep them in the country, where he could upon all occasions make them purchase his protection by paying a heavy fine; and the Jews, seeing that so long as they gave money to the king they might exact what interest they pleased for money lent to his subjects, acted accordingly, and became more and more oppressive to all who were so unfortunate as to be their debtors.

In the beginning of the thirteenth century, A.D. 1210, John wished to raise a large sum of money: as usual, he fell upon the Jews. The money not being readily paid, the king, in spite of the privileges which these unfortunate people had so dearly purchased, ordered men and women to be put into prison until he received the enormous sum which he now demanded. A Jew of Bristol was called upon to furnish such an immense sum, that he refused, declaring that the payment of it would reduce him to beggary. Upon this refusal, the king cruelly ordered that one of the poor man's teeth should be taken out every day until he did pay. This wretched Jew lost seven teeth, and then agreed to give the sum demanded by the king.

Chapter IX.--THIRTEENTH CENTURY IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

Henry the Third became King of England on the death of John, A.D.

1216: he was quite a child when his father died; but those who governed for him, set the Jews who were in prison at liberty; and ordered that they should be protected against the violence of the Crusaders. Still, during the whole of Henry's long reign, which extended far into the latter half of the thirteenth century, the Jews were subject to great oppression and ill-usage in England.

As a privilege and favour to the citizens of Newcastle, the king commanded that no Jew should be allowed to dwell in their city.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of Lincoln and Norwich, took a sure way of driving the Jews out of their dioceses; for they forbade all Christians to sell them any provisions whatever.

The Prior of Dunstable, on the other hand, gave the Jews leave to reside in those places over which he had any control, on condition of their paying him every year two silver spoons.

The Jews were at this time accused of committing all sorts of dreadful crimes; how far these accusations were true or false, we do not know.

They were human creatures, and the cruel treatment they met with, might well lead them into the commission of many wrong acts, which would, of course, be exaggerated by the hatred of their enemies; who believed them guilty, upon the slightest suspicion, and compelled them, in consequence, to pay heavy fines.

In the middle of the century, when Henry the Third demanded fresh supplies of money for the purposes of war, the Jews, irritated by such repeated oppression, wished to leave England, and seek some more hospitable country, in which they might dwell: the king refused to allow them to leave the country, and forced them to pay the tax demanded. The next year, the king again applied to them, declaring that in spite of the taxes he had already levied, he continued to be greatly in want of money, and must raise it from any quarter, and by any means.

The unfortunate Jews truly declared that they could not pay the taxes now demanded of them; upon which Henry the Third actually sold them and their possessions to his brother, to raise the sum required! It was now expected that the Jews would be completely robbed of everything they possessed, in order to repay the prince the money for which he had bought them; but he, being convinced that they really could not have furnished the sum required, had compa.s.sion upon them, and left them in peace.

To such a height had hatred of the Jews risen in this reign, that when (about 1264) the barons took up arms to force the king to agree to their demands, they could think of no better way of gaining the favour and help of the people, than by killing the Jews; and 700 were accordingly ma.s.sacred. The pretence for this ma.s.sacre was, that one of the Jews had tried to force a Christian to pay an enormous and unfair interest for a loan of money: supposing this to have been true, the crime of one man should not have caused the death of hundreds. At the same time, houses were plundered, and the magnificent synagogue, built in the beginning of Henry the Third's reign, was burnt to the ground: it was afterwards rebuilt; but in 1270, the king most unjustly took it from the Jews, and gave it to a body of friars, who lived near it, and complained that their devotions were disturbed by the howling of the Jews during their worship.

The fact was, that the chapel belonging to the friars was small and dark, and they coveted the fine large synagogue close by their dwelling; and as no ideas of justice ever interfered with the treatment of the Jews, they begged the king to give them this synagogue, and furnished him with an excuse for doing so.

On the death of Henry the Third, A.D. 1272, his son Edward the First became King of England, and very soon afterwards a law was made, which promised to improve the condition of the Jews; as it fixed a yearly tax to be paid by them, instead of leaving them liable to be called upon for contributions on every occasion, at the will of their enemies. This law also permitted them to possess houses and lands wherever they pleased. But, on the other hand, it was forbidden for any Christian to lodge in the house of a Jew; and every one of the Hebrew race above seven years of age, was obliged to wear a distinguishing mark upon his upper garment: this mark was a figure of two ropes joined together.