HKB
The Jews in Spain brought trouble upon themselves by listening to one of their own countrymen, who declared himself to be the expected Messiah, and persuaded the multitude to follow him to Palestine, where he promised to establish his kingdom. Many perished on this expedition; and those who did return to Spain had cause to repent bitterly of their foolish credulity, for during their absence the Government had seized upon all their lands and property.
When Gaul was taken from the Romans by the barbarians, various tribes of Germans, calling themselves Franks, established their empire in the country. Charles the Great, or "Charlemagne," as he is always called, became sovereign of the Empire of the Franks (or France, as we may now term it), A.D. 772. The Saracens at this time were very troublesome in making frequent attacks upon the country; and the Jews were suspected of encouraging and aiding the Infidels, out of hatred to the Christians. Charlemagne, after defeating the Saracens at Toulouse, in the south of France, determined utterly to destroy the Jews, who were accused of causing all this bloodshed. He was, however, persuaded only to put to death some of those supposed to be the most guilty. The others were condemned to pay an annual fine; and were, moreover, obliged to assemble three times a year, at the gate of some Christian church appointed by the bishop, to receive a box on the ear! which we may well believe to have been no slight blow.
At other times, the Jews were treated with gentleness and moderation. Louis le Débonnaire became king on the death of his father, Charlemagne, early in the ninth century, A.D. 814. His favourite physician was a Jew; and for his sake Louis granted great privileges to the Jews. These marks of favour made them haughty and insolent; but when the bishops complained of their behaviour, the king would not listen to any proposition for their punishment. The favour and protection thus granted by the monarch, produced a great effect among his subjects; and those about the Court declared openly, that the descendants of Abraham ought to be treated with the greatest respect. Some even went so far as to observe the Jewish Sabbaths, and to attend the synagogues; preferring to hear the discourses of the learned rabbis, rather than the sermons of the Christian priests and monks, who were at this time extremely ignorant. During the reign of the next king, Charles the Bold, the Jews met with little favour; and in some places they were constantly insulted with impunity by the populace. In one part of Languedoc, it was the custom to pelt the Jews with stones, from Palm Sunday--that is, the Sunday before Good Friday--until the Tuesday after Easter Day.
During the tenth century, when there was much ignorance in all Christian countries, the Saracens were great promoters of learning; and under their protection the Jews were also able to apply themselves to study, and many famous men appeared amongst them at this time; but, unhappily, disputes between themselves soon brought them into fresh difficulties.
We now come to the eleventh century, during which, if not before, colonies of Jews settled in England; for when William, Duke of Normandy, conquered the country, A.D. 1066, a considerable number of them were already established in the kingdom. William also brought with him, from Rouen, another colony of Jews, and gave them places to live in, from whence they could carry on trade with other nations. In return, they were to pay the king certain sums of money.