Claims have been made that Jews were protected by the King of England. However, what exactly does this mean? Let us examine what the history is, then we will have some degree of knowledge, assuming that what has been written is accurate.

The following is from "A History of the English Courts", Fifth Edition, by A. T. Carter, C.B.E., K.C., Butterworths, 1927, Chapter XXIV, except some explicitly noted footnotes.

"The position of the Jew was peculiar and unhappy. In the feudal system there was no place for him. He was an alien ¹ , and as such had no political rights, as such could hold no estate of inheritance in land, his very residence in the country being on sufferance. He was, moreover, a hereditary alien, for, as he was not permitted to swear on the Pentateuch except for the purposes of judicial proceedings, he was unable to do homage or fealty. No Christians might do homage or fealty to him; he could be neither any lord's man, nor any man's lord. He was the king's chattel ² . Unlike the 'clerk,' he lacked the powerful aid of the Catholic church; and unlike the foreign merchant, he could appeal to no temporal king to use the weapons of diplomacy in his favour. The counsels of self-interest forbade our kings to scare away the foreign merchant, our ordinances proclaim our pains to invite their welcome visits, but the Jews required no such attentions. Though they lived here on sufferance, they could hardly leave without permission ³ .

Of the steps by which the Jew reached his peculiar relationship to the Crown nothing is known; but though it is extremely probable that the Baronage ardently desired property in a Jew, we cannot doubt that the Crown lawyers argued that what belonged to no one in particular belonged to the king. As a matter of law, the Jew was regarded as treasure trove. The authorative legal view is expressed in one of the Ordinances in the so-called 'Laws of Edward' as follows:

Continuing:

"The activities of the Jews in this direction were favourably regarded by the Crown. It is not too much to say that they were the honey bees of the king. They carefully collected and stored in accessible places the golden hoard on which the king, whenever his necessities pressed, could lay his hand. This meritorious industry it was the royal interest to protect. Protective privileges were first given by Henry I to a particular family, confirmed by his successors, and extended to all Jews by a Charter of King John in 1201." ⁴

Continuing:

"In their own quarter, the Jewry, the king's writ did not as a rule run except in pleas of the Crown or between Christians and Jews. Cases between Jew and Jew were left to thir own tribunals and settled according to thier own law."

Continuing:

"The Jewish community 'Talliaged. [an exceptional tax]"- Whatever financial assistance the kings had got from individual Jews, the practice of 'talliaging' their community did not commence till 1168..."

"As they fleeced the subjects of the realm so the king fleeced them." ⁵

Continuing:

"An unfortunate affair grievously affected the fortunes of the community. At the coronation of Richard the leading men of the Jewish community, desiring to pay their respects to the new king, thronged to the palace, were hustled by the crowd, and a general affray ensued. The Christians pursued the Jews to their quarters, and massacred, burnt, and looted as they could. The example was followed at other places, notably at York, where 'good guidance' led rioters to the cathedral, where the 'vadia' or securities had been placed by the Jews for safe custody, and the bonds were then burnt ⁶ . This touched the Crown closely, for the bonds were not in duplicate. accordingly, when Richard returned from his captivity registries of these bonds, 'Archæ,' were established in the principal towns ⁷ and administered each by four chirographers ⁸ , two Christians and two Jews, chosen by juries summoned by the Sheriff. All loans ⁹ were to be put in the legal form of a chirograph before these officials, who kept a copy, and also a register of all the chirographs and all subsequent dealings with them."

Continuing:

"The Scaccarium Iudæorum.-In connexion with this system was the establishment in the Exchequer of a special tribunal for the trial of Jewish causes, the Scaccarium Iudæorum ¹⁰ . Probably the Exchequer had always taken Jew causes, as the Jew was always the king's debtor, but in 1198 we find sitting with the Barons of the Exchequer four 'custodes Iudæorum,' of whom two were Christian and two were Jews, but these were the only Jews ever appointed. These officials were later known as 'Justices of the Jews,' but they had not exclusive jurisdiction over the Jews." ¹¹

Continuing:

"Once we hear of the Justices receiving a royal order to make a domiciliary visitation of the Jewries to find hidden hoards of wealth, and it seems that in this branch of the Exchequer were administered the estates of the Jews deceased. This was a duty of great importance. The Jew alive or dead was of value. In his life he could be mortgaged, assigned, or subdemised with his arrears of talliage; after his death his estate was valued by a mixed jury and his representatives, and the least portion of it that was appropriated for the king's use was a third: the rest was allowed to devolve according to the disposition of the deceased. If the deceased left infant children, the king had their wardship and marriage ¹² , both lucrative incidents."

Continuing:

"It is not needful here to follow in detail the fortunes of the community. Let it suffice to say that though grievously oppressed, yet they throve among the impoverished barons to such an extent that they were becoming masters of great estates in the country, and began to assume baronial state... [then] a grave political peril was imminent: for estates acquired by the Jews potentially passed into the hands of the king. Anti-Semitism joined hands with constitutionalism, and commencing in 1269 dealt repeated blows on the Jewish community, till in 1290 Edward banished them from the kingdom. ¹³ They did not return till the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell."

¹ Alien to both church and state. See "A History of English Law", Fifth Edition, Vol. I, by W. S. Holdsworth, K.C., D.c.L., Hon. LL.D., Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, 1931, pp. 45, 46 Return

² "Res nullius": any object that can't be owned by anybody. Ibid. Return

³ "Jewish communities were allowed to settle in the more important towns ... acquired a certain freedom of trade and a certain measure of autonomy. They were allowed to choose their Chief Rabbi; and their synagogues were not prohibited." Ibid. Return

⁴ In "A Child's History of England" by Charles Dickens, in Chapter XV about Edward I, Dickens states: "The Jews were hated by the people, and Edward ordered them all out of the kingdom on pain of death. They were let take with them their money and goods. Harsh as was this order, it is but fair to Edward to say that he cut off a great source of revenue and thus acting up to the wishes of his people." Clearly Dickens' opinion is at variance with the English legal views concerning Jews and their property, held in England at that time.
     Almost all students of Dickens view the novel "David Copperfield" as autobiographical. In this novel, David Copperfield (Dickens) studies naval ecclesiastical law. David Copperfield does not continue this legal program. Considering Dickens' ignorance of English law and history above, it is a pity he did not continue with his studies. Return

⁵ Ibid. Return

⁶ Though they were thus protected by the crown they were hated by all classes of the community. The superstition of the populace combined with the indebtedness of the higher classes to produce this result. Ibid. Return

⁷ London, Lincoln, Oxford. Ibid. Return

⁸ A chirograph is a deed or public instrument in writing, to prevent frauds and concealments. Return

⁹ Including "Starra" or acquittances or assignments. See "A History of English Law", Fifth Edition, Vol. I, by W. S. Holdsworth, K.C., D.C.L., Hon. LL.D., Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, 1931, pp. 45, 46 Return

¹⁰ Also known as the "Exchequer of the Jews" Ibid. Return

¹¹ "A clause relating to usury upon debts owed to the Jews naturally found a place in Magna Carta ... though it was omitted in 1216, because it impaired the value of the Jew as a source of revenue...". Ibid. Return

¹² "The requirement of a church marriage was subject to an exemption for Quakers and Jews, but not for Roman Catholics, nonconformists and non-believers. The problems were largly removed in ... 1836 by the introduction of a civil marriage (as an alternative to a church marriage). See "An Introduction to English Legal History", Third Edition, by J. H. Baker, LL.D., F.B.A., Butterworths, 1990, p. 550 Return

¹³ In 1275 usury was forbidden, and they were required to wear a badge. Ibid. Return