Trudy Gold
Normans, Jews, Blood Libels, and Crusade
Trudy Gold - Normans, Jews, Blood Libels, and Crusade
- And as you can guess from that conversation between Wendy and I, we are going to Baku tomorrow, and that’s why I’m lecturing tonight, rather than the usual slot, because I really wanted to bring William’s brilliant lecture, which I hope some of you heard, and now talk about the Jews. I’m particularly glad to do it today, because Monday, the 1st of November, 1290, was the day that no Jew could be left in England. The Edict Of Expulsion was given on, wait for it, Tisha B'Av and Jews had to be out of England by the 31st of October, Walpurgis Night, the Night Of The Witches, so on All Saints’ Day, the 1st of November, there will be no Jews left in this isle. And just to recap with you, the Jews come to England in 1066 and they’re thrown out in 1290. William said some very in interesting things about Englishness. He also talked about how, when people came to England, they desperately wanted to be English. And that is certainly true from the readmission, from 1656 onwards. The Sephardim desperately wanted to be part of English society and many of them achieved it. And then, of course, the Eastern Europeans, amongst whom many of us, that’s where our ancestors came from, Eastern Europe, 1881 to 1914, and the Jews already here and there were only 60,000 Jews in England in 1880.
And then you have this huge influx and what was to happen to them? They were to be made into lovely Englishmen. And that was really the whole thrust of Anglo Jewry. But the first settlement was completely different. And it’s important to remember that the Jews came to England because they were invited in by William the Conqueror. There is evidence by the way, that they found coins in Cornwall of all places. Now, I want you to think of Cornwall and to think of the tin mines. They actually found some Maccabean coins there. So, we know that at certain periods in Jewish history, there would’ve been trading between this isle and the land of Israel. Also, Helen Fry is stepping in on Thursday to talk about the Jews of Cornwall and Devon. And it’s fascinating, how there was a Jewish settlement in Penzance in the first settlement. And, actually the main street in Penzance is called Market Jew Street. Unfortunately, it’s the distortion of the language. It’s got nothing to do with Jews but Marriott Zion, there is a connection with Jewish settlement. So, but that’s all to come. And I’m going to begin by quoting of course, Max Nordau, because when he opened the first Zionist Congress in 1897, you will remember that he said, that there is only one country in the world that was free from the taint of antisemitism, and that country was England. And he said that in 1897, at the first Zionist Congress. And those of you who heard me last week, will remember that I was actually talking about how political Zionism was created in England’s fair and pleasant land. But it’s certainly not true of the first settlement. Jews come to England under William the Conqueror.
And can we see the first slide please? Thank you. That’s the first slide. Now why have I done this for you? I was talking to Professor Pima the other day, about the kings and queens of England, and he said, “you know, in South Africa, "we knew every king and queen of England, "remember, we were given an English education.” That might also be true of the Canadians, because what I’ve done for you in the first and the second settlement, I’ve looked at the reigns under which the Jews lived. So, that when I refer to William I or Henry II, you’ll know exactly who I’m talking about. So, the Jews are in England from 1066 to 1290. The second settlement, we will leave for another time. And what I want to find out is, is there anything in the first settlement that can make us san-gui-ne a part-time Anglo jury? I think not, England was the first country to expel the Jews. It was the first country to use the blood libel against the Jews. And, tragically, the image of the Jew in literature of that period is very, very re-co-tant. And I know Professor Piemer has already looked at “Merchant of Venice” and he looked at the revenge play, “The Jew of Malta.” And it’s fascinating, because the Duke of Ma-xos was the Jew of Malta. So this negative stereotype, so, why was it that William the Conqueror who took the land, he led a crusade, remember, against England, because the English archbishop had not been ratified by Rome. Think of the power of the church. He comes to England, he conquers and he invites the Jews in. Why, why on earth did he do so?
Well, it’s important to remember, there was already a large Jewish community in his capital, Rouen. And the Jews who came to England, would’ve spoken Norman French as their lingua franca. Of course, they would’ve had Hebrew, they would’ve had Aramaic and their contacts would’ve been with other Jews. So, already at this stage, the Jews are an international people. Now why on earth did he allow it? And this is one of the problems with teaching mediaeval history. When we teach modern history, there are so many sources. When we teach mediaeval history, we have to build up a picture. And this is from a charter of the time. In the fourth year of William the Conqueror’s reign, he held a council of his barons, in which amongst other things, it was provided that the Jews’ settle in this kingdom should be under the king’s protection. This is of course one of the court chroniclers, who of course were clergymen, that they should not subject themselves to any other without his leave. It is declared that they and all theirs, belong to the king. And if any should detain them or any of their goods, the king might challenge them as his own. So, they come to England as the king’s Jews. Why? Now don’t forget that, Williams already talked to you about the whole development of banking, but in 1066, the church had taken on board that law from Leviticus, which banned usury, and that applied to the Christian world. The Jews had been pushed out of every other trade or profession, and they do become the money lenders. And it’s important to remember that under the first three Norman Kings, William I, his son, William Rufus and his second son, Henry I, it’s going to be a time of great stability for the Jews.
When the crown was strong, the Jews were protected. William of course, sets up the feudal system, as Williams already explained to you, the land is parcelled out to his barons. So, I want you to think about the feudal pyramid, the king, the barons, the knights, the peasantry. The other estate was of course the church. And one of the other motifs of English history is, who should control, the church or the state? Now, where did the Jews fit in? Expelled from any other way of earning a living, and because they are international, they are invited in as his money lenders, his tax farmers. And under the Normans, under those first three kings, when there is stability, Jewish taxes amounted to 20% of the country’s annual revenue. And we know that at the height of the settlement, there were only 15,000 people. So, what you are seeing, is a community that is actually very important to the crown. So, they’re there because they’re useful. The charter issued, the original charter was lost. But what we do have, the original proper charter, was given by Henry I, who was a great law giver. But what we do have, is a charter of 1201, from King John. You can see that he is of course the brother of Richard I. And in fact, there’s going to be a lot more about him next Monday, when William talks about Magna Carta, the Great Charter, which of course was his, it was the barons made him sign it.
And it’s very important in the development of both the British constitution, the American Constitution, the Canadian Constitution, and ironically, Israeli law, because much of Israeli law is based on mandate law. So, I think it’s quite critical that we discuss this. So, this is the confirmation of the charter, “Know that we have granted "to all the Jews of England and Normandy,” he sees them as one entity, “to have freely and honourable residence in our land, "to hold what they have from us, "which they held from King Henry, "our father’s grandfather. "And now they reasonably hold in land and fees "and mortgages and goods, "they have all their liberties and customs, "just as they had in the time of King Henry, "our father’s grandfather.” Better and more quietly and more honourably, the Jews are to be left alone, because every debt owing to the Jews, a percentage goes to the crown.
They are the king’s possessions. It’s not that he loves them, it’s because, and I want you to think of in times of crisis, the barons borrow money from the Jews, knights borrow money from the Jews. Think of the most important possession anyone could ever have. A woman, her wedding ring, if she was short of money, she would pawn it from the Jews, and quite often it was Jewish women who ran the stalls. So, important to note, for the ruling elite, the king, it is very important that the Jews remain safe. And then there are further clauses. “If this is dispute between a Jew and a Christian, "they must have witnesses, "a lawful Christian and a lawful Jew. "And if a Jew has a writ about his complaint, "the writ shall be a witness for him. "And if a Christian have a complaint against a Jew, "let it be judged by peers of the Jew.” So this is very fair. “And when a Jew dies, "his body should not be detained above earth, "but his heirs shall have his money and his debts. "So, he shall not be disturbed, "if he has an heir who may answer for him "and let it be lawful for Jews to receive and buy "without difficulty, all things that may be brought to them "except anything of the church. "And if any Jew is summoned without testimony, "he shall quit to that summon on his soul oath on his book.”
And you will remember, that when we’d start looking at the second settlement, and one of the reasons that Jews couldn’t take high office, was because of the oath on the King James’ Bible, This is a charter of 1201, which is reinforcing an earlier charter, that the Jew can swear on the Hebrew Bible, “And let it be lawful to the Jew to sell his pledge, after it is certain, he has held it for a whole year.” You can sell on a debt. “and wherever the Jews may be, "let it be lawful for them to go where they will "with all their chattels, just as our own property, "and let none stop or prevent them in this. "And we order that they be free "through all England and Normandy, "of all the customs and tolls and mediation of wine "just as our own chattels. "And we order you to God to defend and maintain them. "And we prohibit anyone "from summoning them against this charter "or above points on our forfeit, "such as the charter of King Henry "and it’s witnessed,” et cetera, et cetera. And it’s interesting, all transactions were written in Hebrew or Latin on a shetar. And some historians like Chaim Maccabee believed that the origin of the Star Chamber, it was the collection of debts, which belonged to the wealthiest Jew of England in the reign of Henry II, a man called Aaron of Lincoln. So, important to remember, the Jews are there and it’s in the interests of the first three Normans to have them there, because they are useful to the crown.
They are the money agents, they are the agents who collect the money, of course it’s gold. Quite often they are the mint masters and we know that they very much saw themselves as an offshoot from the Norman community. There was no yeshiva, no training of rabbis in England. So, they would’ve come over from France, and we know a little bit of their lives. We know in London, for example, where they lived, all you’ve got to do, is to wander at the streets of the city of London. And we know that, if you think of Old Jewry, that they went beyond the bounds of Old Jewry. It was quite a large settlement in London. And it’ very interesting. And can we see the next map, if you don’t mind, Lauren please. Now, this is Martin Gilbert’s map, the Jews of England. If you put your hands on it, you can make it a bit bigger, and you will see that gradually, the spread of the Jewish community, London was always the largest community, but you’ll see them around the coasts, because they are traders. Who do you think is bringing in the silks from China? Who do you think is bringing in spices? Just think of the courts. What did the courts want? They wanted furs, they wanted silks, they wanted jewels. Well, they’re not grown in England, so, where do they come from? They come from the merchants. Now, ironically, if you look at the great trading routes through to China, an extraordinary group of Jews, called the Radhanites, who came out of Persia, they did the route through to Kaifeng, that incredible city, which I’ve told you before, in the year 1000, when there were 40,000 people living in London, there were a million people living in Kaifeng.
And, of course, the other traders were Muslims. But because of the animosity between Islam and Christianity, it’s the Jews who could easily, in times of peace, slip through from one empire to another. Because you’re not looking at continual wars. Look, the first three Norman Kings are strong rulers. They want to maintain their country and they want to maintain it in safety. And it’s interesting, is it not? When William was talking about Saxon, he was talking about Saxon identity, this was something that were completely passed the Jews by, they were there at the behest of the Norman kings. And we know a little bit about their lives. We know also that there’s a certain amount of socialisation. How do we know this? Because Elhanan ben Isaac in his tosafot, he writes this, “It is surprising that in the land of the Isle,” England, “they are lenient in the matter "of drinking strong drink of the Gentiles "and along with them, for the law is distinct "according to these doctors, who forbid it on the ground "that it leads to inter marriage.” “You mustn’t drink with the Gentiles. That lead to intermarriage, "but perhaps as they would be great to your feeling, "if they were to refrain from this, "one mustn’t be too severe on that.” And there’s another rabbinic decision. This is a lovely one, this is Mordecai Ben Hillar. Say for Mordecai, they are applying, if there’s a rabbinic dispute, who’d you go to go? You’d go first to the rab-bon-him of France? And if not, they have to go further, to the rab-bon-him of Spain. The question is whether you may buy milk from a gentile, drawn from an animal, without any Jew being present.
Rabbi Benjamin of Canterbury forbids it, even in the case where the gentile has no unclean animal amongst his flock. This was causing problems, so it goes further. And it’s fascinating that they are maintaining their ritual practises. They are living very much an enclosed life, although there is a certain amount of socialisation and of course, marriages are all arranged. And if the marriages can’t be in England, they would send to R-a-w for the . And this is a marriage contract. The contract between Yom-tov Ben Moses and Solomon Ben Alliab. “Yom-tov betrothed his daughter, Zuna, "to the aforesaid Solomon "and agreed to give him a dowry of 10 Marks "at the time of the wedding and five Marks a year later. "He’ll provide the bridegroom and the bride "with weekday and Sabbath clothing "and give them full board and lodging "and the aforesaid Yon-tov undertakes "to sustain and support the bridegroom "and the bride for a full year.” So, we know that Jewish life is continuing in all sorts of ways. And this is about the taking of land for cemeteries. “The same year, the Lord the king "gave a licence to the Jews of his land "to have a cemetery in any city of England "beyond the wall of the city, "that they might buy a place "for burying their dead reasonably and in suitable spot. "for a previously all dead Jews "used to be carried to London to be buried.”
This is from the Chronicle of Roger of Hoveden. And he’s talking about as the community expanded, they needed to buy land, and this was land just outside Canterbury. And, of course, you see them all along the coast, they go as far as Exeter and you will see, there’s a large community in the north. And you will also see communities in the Welsh borderlands, sea routes, of course. So, important to realise that, as they become established, they very much build up a community. Now, I’ve used this code of education with some of you before, but I think it’s really interesting. And I think it’s another reason that there’s an apartness of the Jews. I’ve often said to you, when we look at modern history, why do people assimilate? They assimilate when the outside world has something to offer them. Now bearing in mind, you are living in a completely religious worldview. And also, even though revisionist history is saying, the Dark Ages weren’t half as dark as people thought. Nevertheless, Jews had to be literate. Jews would have a different dream and really, a different way of doing things. And this is the code of education and I love it, because I really want to send it to the minister of education. This is from the 12th century. “The teachers shall not take more "than 10 students in one subject, "for though our sages are fixed 25 as the proper number, "that only applied to Palestine, "where the climate favour the development of the mind, "and for the time of political independence, "for in freedom, "the mind is lofty, strong, clear, and light, "and takes up wisdom and knowledge easier "than in a state of subjection.”
So, basically, 10 children in every class. And this is also very good practise. “The teacher shall not teach the boys by heart, "but form the book, "and teach them to translate the Bible into the vernacular. The sages used to go through the weekly readings on Shabbat twice in the original, once in translation. "The teacher shall accustom the lads "to examine one another every evening in their lessons, "so they may sharpen each other’s wits.” “I still believe, the methodology "of Talmudic education has never been rivalled, "a younger student with an older student, "under the supervision of a master. "It is the best way to educate. "The teacher shall make the lads repeat every Friday, "what they’ve learned in the current "and in the preceding week. "Our sages say, at five years old, "the boys study the scriptures. "The father shall expressly determine the teacher’s work, "saying, ‘know that you should teach my son the alphabet this month, 'the vows next month, 'and how to put them together in the third. 'So, within three months, 'the children at age five must be able to read Hebrew. 'From month to month, you should increase my son’s task. 'If this month he can learn the weekly portion of scripture, 'next month he must go through the whole.’” Our sages state further, “at 10 to the missioner, "for all this a space of three years as appointed, "for yet then the lad is 13 years old.”
So, it’s important to remember, now, I’m not saying that every, every boy had a very good education, but the aspiration is there. And I remember, when I had the pleasure of interviewing Norman Lebrecht, “Genius and Anxiety,” and we both were discussing this whole notion of, what is it about the Jews? Why in the main do we have this high-visibility profile? What makes us run? And I really do think it is the dream of education, because we’ve had such a tumultuous history. We’ve often had, just look, 200 years in England, then out, then somewhere else. I’m not saying the suitcase practise for today, but what I am saying, you do have this notion that everything is transitory. What can’t you take with you? You can’t take your chattels, you can’t take your possessions, but you can take your brain. And I think, if you look at this code of education, the aspiration was always there. And it’s only really when we come to those periods in history, when the outside world was amazing. Just think of the contact between the Hellenic world and the Judaic world. You know, think of those Jews who wanted to Hellenize, after all was not Hanukkah, which we’ll be commemorating, celebrating soon. Was that not a religious war? So, the Greek civilization was the greatest threat. And then modernity and the enlightenment. When the outside world has something you really want, then does it lead to assimilation? Is it possible to walk the tightrope? And that’s something we’ve talked about quite often. And really I would suggest you at this period, it wasn’t an option. Look, there’s the great division between the Normans and the Saxons.
That’s the main motif. The Jews are an afterthought. William, bless him, gave us the line, because in a history, that’s all we were at this period. We are useful to the first three Norman Kings, because they have a stable country. Henry I is the law giver, and he’s really building, he’s building a mini empire, the lands in France, and it’s going to get a lot busier. He needs these flexible individuals, mint masters, money lenders, merchants, traders. They are useful to the crown and that’s why they are protected. There is no love of the Jews. We know, by the way, that William Rufus, in particular, didn’t like the church very much. And he also encouraged disputation between Jew and Christian. And if the Jews scored points, he loved it, because he hated the power of the Pope. So, you have this period from the reign of William through to the end of Henry I’s reign. Now some of you will remember, last year when Earl Spencer, who’d written a brilliant book called, “The White Ship,” was interviewed about the reign of Henry I, because of course Henry I dies, his son has already been killed in a boating accident. That is what “The White Ship” is about.
And he leaves a daughter, Matilda, and can a queen rule in England? And this is what is going to cause a great deal of instability for the Jews. I should mention though, in the meantime, I should’ve mentioned this previously, 1096, 1095, the church calls the barons, the dukes, the kings to crusade. It bypasses England, no Englishman, Saxon or Norman, except a few younger sons, went on the first crusade. A few younger sons did, and a few knights, seeking booty. Now, what were the crusades about? They were this movement to free the land of Israel, which is seen as so central to Christianity, from the Muslims. It’s also a way of the church, usurping power from the kings and the barons. We’ve talked about this in the past, but what happens is, the king isn’t involved in the first crusade. As the crusaders went on the march from France, through the German lands, Germany, all these separate little principalities, there were the most terrible bloodlettings against the Jews in Worms, through the whole of the Rhineland. Horrible, horrible massacres. Because, if you could imagine, the whipping up of crusader fury, the whipping up of crusader frenzy, go back to that line in St. Matthews gospel. When the church is triumphant, the Jews are in trouble.
So, on the way to Jerusalem, when, of course, those terrible responses on Jerusalem being up to its neck, the crusaders gloried in the fact that they were up to their knees in the blood of the Muslims and the Jews, they murder, murder, murder. And they do it through blood lust, but they also do it for possession. Look, as William explained to you, the Normans also brought in this notion of the eldest son inheriting, the second son went into the church. What’s the third son to do? He’s got to do something. So, how do they earn money? How do they survive? Crusades was an incredible way, it was very smart of the church. If we’re going to take on, many of the popes were, of course, really princes and kings themselves. How do you get them on your side? You give them something. Not only do you absolve them from all their sins and everybody’s living in this religious worldview, remember? But they can have plunder, because to kill a heretic or to kill an infidel, is not murder. In fact, the inquisition, which is much later of course, in the 1500s, the inquisition actually sanctioned, torture is sanctioned by the paper seat. So, basically you have this situation, where the Jews in Europe are in a dreadful state. So, what happens is, William realised what’s going on and he actually welcomes them in. So, some Jews from the Rhineland and from the south of France, that area between Spain and France was very, very interesting because of course, at this period, Spain is Muslim. And that area was very much a free-thinking area and many of them make their way to England, which swell the community there. So, when Henry dies in 1135, everything goes wrong.
Why? We’ve lost the central power of the king. Can Matilda rule? Her cousin, Steven, declares war. Steven seizes the throne between 1135 and 1141. Matilda takes it back between 1141 and 1142. And then Steven takes it back between 1142 and 1154. So, between 1135 and 1154, there is a period of anarchy in Britain. It also coincides with terrible plague, leprosy. It’s a terribly dark period for England. And when the barons, think about it, the barons are fighting. They’ve lost the central power of the king. The Jews have lost their protection, and that’s when everything goes wrong. And it erupts in Norwich. In Norwich we have the first blood libel, in history, ascribed to the Jews. Now, the blood libel, that terrible, terrible calumny that the Jews used the blood of Christian babies for their Passover bread. You’ve got to remember, and I’ve spent a lot of time, particularly with Patrick Bade, going through the churches of Europe, particularly the Catholic churches, if you really want to depress yourself, go and look at the images of Jews in these churches. The Jews have been diabolized. They are the devil. You owe them money. The devil is capable of doing anything. And it really does go back to this, that line in St. Matthew’s Gospel, where the crowd scream, “Let his blood be upon our hands and upon our children.” Now, the first three Norman Kings don’t take this seriously at all.
The Jews are useful. And we already discovered that normal relations could exist between Jews and Gentiles. They lived separate lives, but even socialising sometimes. There would’ve been transactions, maybe they weren’t liked for their money lending, they might have been seen as an oddity, perhaps, but it’s the crusading fervour in Europe. And then, of course, civil war, because what happens in a civil war, the the barons, the various knights, they’re up to their necks in debt. Now, the blood libel was not invented for the Jews. Its origins are pagan. And we know that there were many pagan sects, their pagan rituals were about the sacrifice of a child, or a virgin, the blood to fertilise the earth. There’s a brilliant book by Joseph Campbell, called “The Masks of God.” He basically looks at, what do people worship? And if you look at pagans, the worship of the earth, and if there’s a bad harvest, how do you atone for that harvest? How do you atone to whoever your deity is? And we also know that witches and who were witches? Tragic story, the history of witches. Witches tended to be midwives in villages. Usually they didn’t marry, they were the women who brought the other babes into the world. They often had cats as their friends, you know, familiars. And they often knew, what herbs cured. So, if anything goes wrong, you blame the witches.
And this is a time of huge superstition. And consequently, what happens in Norwich, it’s Easter. Easter’s always a vulnerable time and a local baron, he did a deal with the local priest, that a young boy had gone missing, and in the Jewish quarter, the Jews must have taken the child for their Passover ritual. They would drink his blood. Now anyone who knows anything about Judaism, knows about that blood is taboo. Tragically, this first blood libel against the Jews have spread. It spreads throughout England, and then, unfortunately, it hits the continent. It hits later on the Arab world, the big blood libels in the 20th century. There were two famous blood libels, one in Russia, the Mendel Beilis case in 1911. And it wasn’t resolved till 1913. There was another blood libel, actually in the southern states of America, the Frank case. He was lynched, but it was about the blood libel and there’d be many blood libels in the Arab world. And a previous foreign minister of Syria, actually did his dissertation on the blood libel. And about 15 years ago, on Egyptian television, there was a sort of 20-part series about the evil Jews. I don’t know how many of you remember “I, Claudius” on British television. It’s what everybody stayed home to watch. It was brilliant. This was kind of the I, Claudius of Egyptian television. In fact, David Ivanovich did a very clever programme about it. And basically, one of the central themes was the blood libel. Luckily it does seem that inroads are being made in the Middle East and I think that came out very strongly with Yo-tan and Carly’s talk, last night. There are lots of shards of hope. But basically the blood libel is very, very potent.
Who would commit a blood libel? Who would commit this kind of crime? A devil. And this is where the diabolization of the Jew comes in. Now, I’m not completely insane. I do not believe everyone goes around, thinking Jews are devilish. But what I do believe, is that this negative stereotype of the Jew is incredibly dangerous. And what’s important is, it begins in England. Now, I’m reading to you from the testimony of Thomas of Monmouth. He writes, this is from 1155, it’s from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. “In King Stephen’s time, the Jews of Norwich "brought a Christian child before Easter "and tortured him "with all the torture that our Lord was tortured with, "and on Good Friday, hanged him on a cross, "on account of our Lord, and buried him. "Our Lord made plain, he was a holy martyr "and the monks buried him. "And he works wonderful, varied miracles. "And he is called Saint William.” Now, this is the testimony of Thomas of Monmouth, another chronicler. And he takes testimony from Theobold, a converted Jew in Cambridge. Now this is a convert. Tragically, converts quite often abducted the most appalling anti-Jewish rhetoric, and there’s a whole course on Jewish self-hatred. No, I’m not going to teach it, because it’s just too depressing.
But quite often, when your people are hated and you don’t have strength, moral fibre perhaps, or you don’t see any beauty in it, you join the other side. And many of the greatest enemies of the Jews, tragically, have been these characters. And this, according to Thomas of Manmoth, is the testimony from Theobold. “He was a Jew of Cambridge. "The Jews of Spain assembled every year in Narbonne, where their royal seed flourished, in order to arrange the annual sacrifice, prescribed in the ancient writings of their fathers, to show contempt for Christ, to revenge themselves because Christ’s death has made them slaves in exile, and to arrange their freedom and return to their own land, they have to shed blood annually, by sacrificing a Christian child. Each year, the Jews of Narbonne cast lots to determine the country in which town the sacrifice would be performed. The lot fell on Norwich in 1144 and all the synagogues of England knew and consented to the act.
Let me repeat this, because this is extraordinary. The Jews of Spain assembled every year in Narbonne. Now remember, that’s in the southwest of France. It’s an area of a great deal of free thinking. Later on, it’s the centre of the Cathars, the Albigensian crusades, you will know about. The first crusades were actually against them. They were considered heretics, because they loathed what they saw, the corruption of the Catholic Church. Women could also be priests alongside men. They were very unusual. They believed, the God of this world was an evil God, that there is a much greater force. They had a very Manichean theory of the world of the dark, the world of light. And of course it was very alien to Catholic thought and it was spreading in this area. So, know that Narbonne, it’s the borderlands between Spain and France, and also, there was a semi-autonomous Jewish kingdom, called Septimania. So, it’s an area where "heresies” in inverted commas have flourished. So, the Jews of Spain, you know, the Jews living still under Islam, assemble every year in Narbonne, where their royal seed flourished, in order to arrange the annual sacrifice, prescribed in the ancient writings of their fathers, to show contempt for Christ, to revenge themselves, because Christ’s death had made them slaves in exile, and to arrange their freedom and to return to their own land, they had to shed blood annually by sacrificing a Christian child.
Each year, the Jews of Narbonne cast lots to determine the country in which town the sacrifice would be performed. The lot fell on Norwich in 1144 and all the synagogues in England knew and consented to the act. Now, the problem was that the blood libel spread in England, there was a terrible blood libel in the reign of Barry St. Edmonds. That was later, that was just after the Civil War. But the most famous blood libel in English history, is actually in Lincoln. And this was in 1240… My brain’s gone. Hugh of Lincoln. I think it’s 1244. I’ll check that date for you. Or maybe it’s on here. Sorry. No, 1255. 1255 was Hugh of Lincoln. And again, it is very much the story and it’s in the reign actually of one of the most religious kings of England, Henry III. But more about him next time we meet. But basically, this was the most famous one in English history. Why? And Professor Pima will be talking about this when he looks at Chaucer, because one of the ways people could buy time out of purgatory, was to go on pilgrimage. And of course Chaucer wrote his famous “Canterbury Tales,” which is the story of a group of pilgrim’s, going to Canterbury Cathedral, to pray at the tomb of St Thomas à Becket. And they told each other’s stories. And the second nuns tale is the story of the murder of sweet St. Hugh.
And in fact, in the church in Lincoln, in the cathedral, it was only in 1959, that the plaque to Hugh was removed. And you now have a new plaque: “Such stories do not redound to the credit of Christendom. "We pray, remember Lord our offences "nor the offences of our forefathers.” So, basically you have this period where the blood libel in this time of civil war, but once it starts, there’s no stopping it and it spreads. And as I’ve said, it becomes a very, very potent issue for Jews. And of course, it’s going to come up again in anti-Semitic writings of the 19th and 20th century. Papers like De-sterb-ma were full of blood libel. Although anti-Semitism is a modern racial term, they use these terrible accusations, like the desecration of the host, the blood libel, later on, and it culminates really in the Nazi writings. But then, as I said, unfortunately it’s back again with a vengeance in other parts of the world. So, it’s an accusation that doesn’t go away. But it was a first for England. But then everything changes. Why? Because England stabilises. And what happens, is, Henry II, who is the son of Matilda, he comes to the throne, aged 18. And we have a real treat for you, because not only will Professor Pima be talking about Chaucer, but wonderful Dennis will be looking at “Lion in Winter,” which is an amazing film, based on a story about Henry II. Henry II was one of the most fascinating kings that England ever had. He came to the throne when he was only 18 years old and he married Eleanor of Aquitane, who was the greatest heiress of Europe.
She was the only child of the Duke of Aquitaine, so, she inherited all of his lands and she’d already first married the King of France, she’d given him only daughters. She’d gone on crusades to Jerusalem, where her uncle was king of Jerusalem. There are so many legends about Eleanor of Aquitaine, and she marries Henry, she’s 30, he’s 18. And it was a very, very tempestuous marriage. Not as tempestuous as later stories will tell us. Unfortunately, we don’t really know that much about her. But certainly, she’s one of these characters that comes down through history because she lived a very, very long life. She lived through the reigns of both her sons, Richard I and King John. She was regent of England. And as I said, she survived till her eighties. Now, Henry was a very interesting king, because he was a real intellectual and he’d been educated by some of the best tutors of the age. This is the early Renaissance. Abelard, you know the story of Abelard and Eloise. Abelard was a monk who’d had a tragic love affair with Eloise, but he was also a man of the early enlightenment. And he was the tutor of Henry II. He was one of the most powerful men of his age. He ruled over sort of two thirds of France and Britain. And not only that, his court with the brilliant Eleanor, attracted diplomats from all over the world. He had a knowledge of law, he was a great law giver. I know that many lawyers listen to this platform and they probably know a lot more about it than I do, but I think tort was developed in his brain. He had knowledge of law, he had knowledge of theology, art, architecture. He also had terrible problems with the church, over who should rule.
He believed that only the king should rule in England and France. He didn’t want the church, having their own separate courts, because if a cleric stepped out of line, then he would go to church courts. And Henry wanted to rule alone. So, when the post of Archbishop of Canterbury was vacant, he appointed his closest friend, the man he would go really rubble rousing with, Thomas a Becket. But Thomas took it seriously and he became a great power in the church. And later on he was martyred and he was made a saint. And of course, there are many very good plays written about the martyrdom of Thomas a Beckett. TS Elliott, if you can stomach his antisemitism, he is a great writer. I think there’s four or five great plays about Thomas a Beckett. So, an interesting man and this is all happening. And Henry got so cross with the church, he actually threatened to become a Muslim. Now, we know that his grandfather, Henry I, had employed a Jewish doctor, Petrus Alphonsi. And his major work, Petrus Alphonsi, was a dialogue between, he’s Jewish, and he converted actually, and his newly Christian self. Scholars thrived under Henry’s patronage. And we know the teaching had existed in some form, from 1096. It develops rapidly from his reign and because Henry banned English students for studying at the University of Paris. And he very much wanted to develop study in England. He believed in education and we know that Ibn Ben Ezra visited England, and we’re pretty sure that he would’ve visited the court. He very much well treated his Jewish community and he used them as a bank basically. Many of them became very rich in his reign, but they were very highly taxed as well.
The richest man in England, Aaron of Lincoln, when he died, it was too much for Henry. He confiscated all the debts and they amounted to over a hundred thousand pounds. Have you any idea how much money that was in the late 1100s? Anyway, it doesn’t have a happy ending for Henry, because he sent most of it to France on a boat. And tragically the boat sunk, but 15,000 was owed to Aaron of Lincoln, by the clergy. So, he got that money And that’s why they think, the Star Chamber was actually to deal with the debts of Aaron of Lincoln. But more about that next week, because I think I want to stop there, because there’s a lot more to say. And I don’t want to start a new subject. So, let’s have a look at the questions.
Q&A and Comments:
Q: Okay. Oh, this is from Paula. “How can you find out about your wonderful team?”
A: Look, Paula, the story of Lockdown University is really rather interesting. I will tell it because Wendy’s not listening. Wendy was in South Africa, I was in Cornwall, we’ve been friends for a long time. I was bored, she was bored. Her family were in total lockdown and she phoned up and said, “do you want to start teaching?” So, I started teaching, there were about 10 of them, and she got in touch with a few friends and it spread, ‘cause she’s international. And then she said, “let’s do more.” And then I got in touch with Patrick Bade, who’s been a close friend of mine for 30 years. We’ve worked together for years. And then Wendy brought in Judge Dennis Davis and I brought in Professor Piemer and William Tyler, who I’ve also worked with for years. That was our nucleus. And then people like Helen Fry joined and Julian Barnett, who’s just joined. Basically, these are all people who, we all work together well and the way we programme, we sit round and we think, what period are we going to do? And actually we will be, once the website is up and running, we will be giving you more advanced notice, At the moment we plan a month in advance. But in a way, I hope it makes it exciting for you. But if you have wonderful ideas, let me know. And of course, the evening sessions, usually the 7:30 sessions, and of course Jeremy Rosen came in, who we’ve worked with for years as well. But the evening sessions are quite often political or literary and much of that is programmed by Wendy. So, we’re trying to, I suppose, create an open free university where like-minded people come together. I dunno if Wendy’s on, but it’s her genius.
[Wendy] Trudy!
Yes?
Now, Trudy, Trudy, don’t promise anything different, because we just do our best.
I know we do our best, still I’d rather
[Wendy] We are working-
You’re not meant to hear this, because I was just saying, it was your initiative. Now Dickens, -
We were having fun. We’re having fun-
[Trudy] We’re having fun-
and we’re sharing information for those who want to listen.
Yeah.
But we do really what interests us and we’re just so, more than happy to share it. But we are working, we’ve got other lives. So -
Yeah, I think this is is the other issue. This is the other issue, but you know, basically we’ve got a great team of people and Wendy is the driving force. I’ve never known anyone with as much energy as her, but anyway, Valerie’s talking about Dickinson Fagan. Yes, you do have the negative stereotype, but what is interesting about 19th-century English literature in 20th century, and I will be looking at Philo-Semitism with you, because you have writers like George Elliot and I know that later on, David Piemer is going to look at Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, and he’ll probably bring Robin Hood into it, but there’s not much to do with the Jews there. But nevermind.
Q: And Jennifer’s also commenting about Isra-aid. Mitzi, “although the Jews came back under Cromwell, "there was still great antisemitism.” Do I agree?
A: Look, the problem is, let’s call it anti Judaism at that period. I think the problem is that you do find this negative stereotype of the Jew in the world of monotheism. And it’s a long detailed discussion. You do not find it in China. You do not find it in Hindu-India. The problem with Christianity, even though it’s a religion of love, it makes this accusation against the Jews, that they are guilty of the crime of deicide. And it’s very difficult to get round that.
Yes, this is from Janet. Aaron of Lincoln financed both the castle and the cathedral, which has a statue of the church crushing the Jew. Sure. This is one of the problems. “Even when Jews lived inland and lent money, "they were genuinely reimbursed in goods, "which they had to recycle through commerce.”
Yes, very important point, Monique, thank you for bringing that up.
Q: “Have there been any studies to show that, "in countries where Jews were allowed to thrive, "the economy flourished, "when expelled, the economy contracted?”
A: That is a very interesting question. When Menasseh ben Israel petitioned Cromwell to allow the Jews back, that is exactly the argument he gave. Those countries that treat the Jews well, those countries will prosper. Is it true? Well, I’d like to think it is, but it’s not really true.
“There is a Roman general who was surprised "how educated Jewish children were 2000 years ago.” Yes, Judaism is a religion of knowledge. And that was the problem for the conversos, which I talked about last week. If, without the books, how do you send the knowledge? There’s a wonderful Hasidic story, that there was a great rabbi who knew the path. And when he got to the path, he knew the prayers. And then his son wasn’t quite sure where the path was. And when he got there, he didn’t know all the prayers. And if the knowledge isn’t kept up, we lose it. And that’s one of the problems.
Q: This is Sandy. “In the US and Canada up to lately, even today, "they learn to read the Torah, "but never learn the translation in English. "So, what use is a language "that is like me, reading Spanish? "I can even read it with a good accent. "No idea what I’m talking about.”
A: Yeah, that is strange, because in that code of education that I just told you, it’s said you translate to the vernacular, which would’ve been Norman French.
Q: “Was there any reason there were no Jewish settlements "west of the line, "which went from Doncaster Darby to Gloucester "except for the port cities?”
A: I haven’t thought about that, David. I will look at it. You know, this is the problem with this channel, Wendy. We’ve got some very, very smart people on it. I know there was no settlement in Scotland, because it was too dangerous up there. “Little Hugh of Lincoln.” Yes, I mentioned Hugh of Lincoln. Of course he was the most famous one. The church did say that these child saints should not be canonised. They did take away the canonization of these child saints. But that unfortunately didn’t stop it. “Sorry to be pedantic, "but the blood libel is infamous not faith.” Yes, of course, Michael. Much better. Of course it’s infamous and it’s stonked to Jewish history.
Q: “Do we know of anyone who were Spanish, "to prove descent from any of the Jews of England?”
A: Danny, I’ve never heard of it. It’s very, very unlikely. We can probably chart their exit, because they went to France and we know that also there was some terrible incidents. But then, France becomes inhospitable, to put it mildly. They’re kicked out of France, they went into the German lands. But don’t forget, Poland is opening up, you know, a very smart Polish king who had a huge country, with a huge peasant population and a large percentage of aristocrats, needed a commercial group and he invites them in. So, that’s also the story. I’d never heard that. It would be almost impossible to prove that. And we also know, some would’ve stayed behind. They would’ve converted and blended in.
Oh, people are thanking us. About the Jews of York, I’ll be talking about the Jews of York, when I’m back. Yeah, the Jews of York is a terrible story.
“How is there a Jewish community, as the Jews were mass…” Yeah, there were some massacres, but many of them survived. You’ve got to remember, Jewish history, where are they going to go? Where are they going to be? They’ve got to be somewhere where they’re safe. Henry II, he’s king of half of France. He’s on the throne, he’s strong. They come back or they’ve managed to survive somehow. Look, massacres, horrors, don’t go on every day. You go on living, somehow.
Adrian is saying, “what I like like about OU, "it’s non-political, just history.” Yes, this was always our dream, wasn’t it, Wendy? We were not a political platform. We are trying to be an open platform of ideas that accommodate all views and all, because, William talked before about freedom and liberty. I think we all believe passionately in both, be it Norman or whether it’s Norman or Saxon.
[Wendy] We’re also a family. So everybody has different opinions.
Yeah.
And [Wendy] So we embrace different opinions and we learn from each other, because that’s what makes diversity interesting.
[Trudy] That’s a very, very wonderful point, Wendy.
[Wendy] Yeah.
Q: - [Trudy] “When the Jews left England, where did they go?”
A: As I said, they went to France and,
oh, this is from Sandra Myers. Hi Sandra. She’s just read that Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, was unveiled on All Saints Day. Oh wow, Sandra. Oh, that’s lovely.
This is Adrian. “Jews are persecuted, "because they refuse to accept Jesus the Messiah. "This stubbornness brings a doubt in Christian thought.” Yeah, yeah, of course, you see, it’s an affront to Christianity. Jesus was born amongst the Jews, but they re rejected him. There are inroads. Let’s be careful. I mean, there’s a huge body of opinion now in the church that want reconciliation with the Jews. So, we have moved on to an extent. But that’s as far as I want to go. I think that’s it, Wendy.
[Wendy] Okay, Trudy. Thank you very, very much. Thank you, who’s there tonight, Lauren?
[Trudy] Yes, Lauren’s with us tonight, so you and I also have an adventure.
[Wendy] Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks Lauren. And thanks to everybody for joining us tonight.
[Trudy] God bless. Bye.
[Wendy] See you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
[Trudy] See you. God bless.