‘’Richard and John did little to protect the status of Jews in England in 1189-1216.’’ How far do you
agree?
One factor that agrees with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status of
Jews in 1189-1216’ is the pogroms that happened from 1189-1190.The trigger for the start of the
pogroms happened in 1189 when the Jews tried to present King Richard with a gift on the 3 rd of
September 1189 but were slaughtered by Christians as they thought they were mocking the King.
However, the biggest pogrom recorded was on the 16/17 th March 1190 in York where all of York’s
Jewish population was killed. This shows that King Richard did very little to protect the Jews as he did
not punish all the Christians that killed the Jews and rumours even went as far that apparently King
Richard ordered the Christians to kill the Jews. He also did not give the Jews any protection from the
pogroms and allowed 150 Jews to be killed throughout Medieval England. However, even if Jews did
survive the pogroms, they still had to undergo the heavy taxations.
Another reason that agrees with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status
of Jews in 1189-1216’ was that John exploited the Jews by taxation. In 1194, the Jews were required
to pay £3,375 towards Richard’s ransom and in 1207; King John demanded a tallage of £2,700 and
even in 1210 started arresting Jews and demanded that all Jewish communities collect a tallage of
£44,000 and that everyone contributed. This confirms that King Richard and John did very little to
protect the status of Jews as even the poorest of Jews were expected to contribute to the tallage
and some historians even claim it took the Jews over a decade to recover financially from this
demand which shows that both Kings didn’t really care for the Jew’s situation. Nonetheless, most
Jews still had a source of income through money-lending.
One factor that disagrees with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status of
Jews in 1189-1216’ was that the Jews had legal status. In 1201, all Jews lived under the protection of
the King by the Royal Charter which John confirmed meaning they did not have to pay tolls and
customs duties. Their jobs were also protected by the King as most Jews were money lenders -which
was a big part of the medieval economy- and were also allowed to charge interest (which was
viewed as un-Christian). This displays protection from John as he sheltered the Jews from paying
customs duties and even secured their jobs as money lenders leading them to be quite rich which is
proved by the fact that Aaron of Lincoln had to have a separate exchequer set up to deal with the
debts he owed to the Jews after his death.
In conclusion I agree with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status of Jews
in 1189-1216’ as they imposed heavy taxes on Jews which was much more than the rest of society
and also let 150 Jews be killed during the pogroms as well as the whole Jewish population of York.
Furthermore, even though John secured the Jew’s money-lending services, in 1194 a law was passed
that if a Jewish lender died without making a will, the King was able to collect all debts owed to him
making their profession beneficial to the King which is why the Kings did protect the Jews a little bit
as they would prosper from them.
agree?
One factor that agrees with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status of
Jews in 1189-1216’ is the pogroms that happened from 1189-1190.The trigger for the start of the
pogroms happened in 1189 when the Jews tried to present King Richard with a gift on the 3 rd of
September 1189 but were slaughtered by Christians as they thought they were mocking the King.
However, the biggest pogrom recorded was on the 16/17 th March 1190 in York where all of York’s
Jewish population was killed. This shows that King Richard did very little to protect the Jews as he did
not punish all the Christians that killed the Jews and rumours even went as far that apparently King
Richard ordered the Christians to kill the Jews. He also did not give the Jews any protection from the
pogroms and allowed 150 Jews to be killed throughout Medieval England. However, even if Jews did
survive the pogroms, they still had to undergo the heavy taxations.
Another reason that agrees with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status
of Jews in 1189-1216’ was that John exploited the Jews by taxation. In 1194, the Jews were required
to pay £3,375 towards Richard’s ransom and in 1207; King John demanded a tallage of £2,700 and
even in 1210 started arresting Jews and demanded that all Jewish communities collect a tallage of
£44,000 and that everyone contributed. This confirms that King Richard and John did very little to
protect the status of Jews as even the poorest of Jews were expected to contribute to the tallage
and some historians even claim it took the Jews over a decade to recover financially from this
demand which shows that both Kings didn’t really care for the Jew’s situation. Nonetheless, most
Jews still had a source of income through money-lending.
One factor that disagrees with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status of
Jews in 1189-1216’ was that the Jews had legal status. In 1201, all Jews lived under the protection of
the King by the Royal Charter which John confirmed meaning they did not have to pay tolls and
customs duties. Their jobs were also protected by the King as most Jews were money lenders -which
was a big part of the medieval economy- and were also allowed to charge interest (which was
viewed as un-Christian). This displays protection from John as he sheltered the Jews from paying
customs duties and even secured their jobs as money lenders leading them to be quite rich which is
proved by the fact that Aaron of Lincoln had to have a separate exchequer set up to deal with the
debts he owed to the Jews after his death.
In conclusion I agree with the statement that ‘Richard and John did little to protect the status of Jews
in 1189-1216’ as they imposed heavy taxes on Jews which was much more than the rest of society
and also let 150 Jews be killed during the pogroms as well as the whole Jewish population of York.
Furthermore, even though John secured the Jew’s money-lending services, in 1194 a law was passed
that if a Jewish lender died without making a will, the King was able to collect all debts owed to him
making their profession beneficial to the King which is why the Kings did protect the Jews a little bit
as they would prosper from them.
