Expulsion of Jews from England

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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Under the feudal system established in the reign of William I, Jews (along with merchants) had a special status as direct subjects of the monarch. As such, they were useful to the crown as sources of revenue, because they could be taxed directly. By the reign of Edward I, however, their involvement in money-lending had built up popular resentment towards the Jewish community. Edward ordered several punitive laws against the Jews from 1275, beginning with the Statute of the Jewry, which outlawed usury. Four years later, Jewish heads of households across the country were arrested and 300 of them executed. The following year, they were ordered to attend Dominican sermons aimed at converting them to Christianity. This wave of discrimination culminated in the 1290 Edict of Expulsion, which…

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Expulsion of Jews from England". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 July 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1343, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1343 Expulsion of Jews from England 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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