Expulsion: England's Jewish Solution

by Richard Huscroft

There were never more than a few thousand Jews in medieval England, but they were envied, hated and misunderstood because of their wealth and beliefs. In an age when expressions of religious conviction could be intense, fanatical and violent, the Jews were easy targets and vulnerable scapegoats. After just over 200 years, the Jewish communities of England were forcibly removed on the orders of Edward I, England becoming the first country to expel a Jewish minority from its borders. The Jews remained excluded for over 350 years, England was not unique in its approach to 'the Jewish problem', but it was different in the permanence of the solution it found.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent review of the events that led to the expulsion of England's Jewish population in the middle ages. Fascinating and tragic look at the Angevin method of stealing directly from a major money-making segment of the population in order to fund their own crusade campaigns. Very interesting book.

[Willy Marz Thiessam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book by Richard Huscroft is entitled "Expulsion; England's Jewish Solution". Without a doubt it answers to its title with a clear narrative that has precise and cogent references as to the event that took place in 1290. What it does not say is as significant as what it does. The book outlines clearly the history of Jewish settlement from the arrival of the Normans in 1066 to their eventual expulsion in the troubled reign of King Edward I.

What is clear is that the closer England was to European political, social and economic influence the more the Jewish population became integrated into English life. What is also clear is that the more the government became troubled by maintaining French possessions and other military conquests the more dependent it was on taxation and other support from its English subjects.

This pressure was in turn taken out on the Jewish population. In particular the ruinous building of the fortresses to surround Wales and effect its conquest appears to have been particularly important. Huscroft describes the increasing persecution, as well as the efforts to accommodate both on the Jewish side and on the side of the crown.

Huscroft does a great job of giving a clear narrative of events. Of course these events took place within a greater context that he can not fully describe. For what he does it is essential to anyone's reading about the period in English history and also that of the Jewish people.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains why and when Jews entered England, and why they were expelled in 1290. There is no real record of Jewish presence in England before around 1090; apparently, they came for commercial reasons, as dealers in luxury goods and moneylenders. Tax records suggest that by the mid-12th century, the Jews were a relatively wealthy community. But because of Christian bigotry, these Jews were always vulnerable to pogroms.

But the Jews' wealth and lack of political power made them vulnerable; kings routinely instituted huge ad hoc taxes that impoverished English Jewry. By the mid-13th century, Jews were both less useful and more unpopular than they had been a century earlier: less useful because there was no more Jewish wealth for the king to steal (and because Christian Italians had entered the moneylending business, providing an alternative source of credit) and more unpopular because many Christian noblemen were in debt to Jews, and did not want to pay their debts. So in 1290, the king decided that Jews had outlived their usefulness, and expelled them from England.