HKB
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.
The Jews also appear to have been in favour with William Rufus, who encouraged disputes between the learned rabbis and the Christian bishops, declaring that he himself was quite ready to follow the religion of whichever party had the best of the argument or dispute. The Jews, always an industrious and money-making people, are said to have become so rich and powerful in England during William the Second's reign, that they not only held public meetings for the purpose of converting the upper and more learned classes, but also endeavoured by bribes to induce the poor and ignorant to renounce Christianity, and enrol themselves amongst the Jews.
What has been said of the condition of the Jews in England, applies also to all other European countries, where the Jews were richer, more fond of learning, and more polished--that is, more civil and gentle in their manners--than any other people. They were the only bankers; all trade with foreign nations was carried on by them alone; and even the gold and silver ornaments and vessels used in Christian churches, were mostly made by these determined enemies of Christianity.
During the eleventh century, of which we have been speaking, the Jews in Egypt were for a short time persecuted by a Saracen prince, who wished to establish a new religion in the place of Mahometanism, or Islamism, as the religion established by Mahomet was called. As neither Jews nor Christians would assist him, he persecuted both; obliging the former to wear some outward mark to distinguish them, and point them out as objects for hatred and insult. He commanded their synagogues to be closed, and tried to force them to follow the new religion, of which he wanted to be the head. After a time, however, he allowed them to return to the practice of their own rites and ceremonies. Towards the middle of the eleventh century, an Eastern Caliph determined to get rid of the Jews altogether. He shut up their academies or schools; banished the teachers; and killed the Prince of the Captivity, with all his family. This cruel persecution drove many of the Jews into the deserts of Arabia; but most of them took refuge in the western countries; and by the end of the eleventh century, they had become numerous and powerful in different towns of Germany. Some of the Jews, driven out of the East, passed through Africa into Spain, and there joined their brethren, who, having helped the Saracens to conquer Spain, were now greatly favoured by the Caliphs, and were a wealthy and flourishing people. Hatred of the Christians was a bond of union between the Jews and the Mahometans; but when one of the rabbis tried to convert the Saracens of Grenada to the Jewish religion, the king was so enraged, that he caused the rabbi to be seized and put to death at once. This was followed by a terrible persecution of the Hebrew race.
The Jews, however, suffered still greater miseries in those parts of Spain which were under the rule of Christian princes. One of these, called Ferdinand, having declared war against the Saracens, resolved, in the first place, to destroy all the Jews in his dominions, expecting by such an act of cruelty to obtain the favour and blessing of God! but the clergy of his kingdom objected to the execution of such a scheme; and the Pope himself wrote, and blamed Ferdinand for such unchristianlike zeal, so that the design was given up.