Very different was the fate of the Jews under Chris- tian rulers. Few were the monarchs of Christendom who rose above the barbarism of the Middle Ages. By considerable pecuniar^' sacrifices only could the sons of Israel enjoy tolerance. In Italy their lot had always been most severe. Kow and then a Roman pontiff would afford them his protection, but, as a rule, they have received only intolerance in that country. Down even to the time of the deposition of Pius IX from the temporal power, it has been the barbarous custom, on the last Saturday before the Carnival, to compel the Jews to proceed " en masse" to the capitol, and ask permission of the pontiff to reside in the sacred city another year. At the foot of the hill the petition was refused them, but, after much entreaty, they were granted the favor when thej' had reached the summit, and, as their residence, the Ghetto was assigned them.
Their circumstances were most favorable among the Franks. Charlemagne is said to have had implicit confidence not only in the ability, but also in the integ- rity of the Jewish merchants in his realm, and he even sent the Jew Isaac as his ambassador to the court of Haroun Alraschid. To Isaac's faithfulness and ability may perhaps be attributed the great privileges which the Jews enjoyed under Louis le Debonnaire, who is said to have made them " all-powerful." But if these two Christian rulers were )ioble and generous towards the Jews, the clergy of their day by no means shared the same feeling towards the despised race. Many a bishop of the Church of Rome, and many a member of the lower orders, were heard before the throne and be- fore the people complaining of the kind treatment which the Jews received. One prelate hesitated not to con- demn the Jews because the "country people looked upon them as the only people of God !" Hence we can- not wonder that after the decease of these two noble monarchs, when the weaker Carlovingians began to rule, and the Church to advance >vith imperious strides, a melancholy change ensued— kings, bishops, feudal bar- ons, and even the municipalities, all joined in a carni- val of persecution, and the history of the Jews became nothing else than a successive series of massacre. (See below, 5 ; Brit, and For. Rev. 1842, p. 459 sq.)
In I^igland the Jews made their first appearance during the period of the Saxons. They are mentioned in the ecclesiastical constitutions of Egbert, archbish-
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op of York, A.D. 740; they are also named in a charter to tlie monks of Croyland, A.D. 833. They enjoyed many privileges imder William the Conqueror and his son, William Kufiis, who favored them in many ways. The lands of the vacant bishoprics were farmed out to them, which proves that the Jews must have been ag- riculturists at this time: while in the schools they held many honorable positions. Thus, at Oxford, even at this time a great seat of learning, they possessed them- selves three halls— Lombard Hall, Moses Hall, and Ja- cob Hall, to which Christians as well as Jews went fur instruction in the Hebrew tongue. They enjoyed these and other privileges until the period of the Crusades suddenly changed everybody against them. (See below.)
In Germany their position was perhaps more servile than in any other European country. They were re- garded as the sovereign's property (l-ummerhiechte, chamber-servants), and were bought and sold. They had come to that country as early as the days of Con- stantine, but they did not become a numerous class until the days of the Crusaders, and we therefore postpone further treatment to the next section.
In Spain their circumstances at tirst were most for- tunate. Especially during the whole brilliant period of ]Moorish rule in the Peninsula they shared the same favorable condition as in aU other countries to which the Moslem arms had extended ; " they enjoyed, indeed, what must have seemed to them, in comparison with their ordinary lot, a sort of Elysian life. They were al- most on terms of equality with their Mohammedan mas- ters, rivalled them in civilization and letters, and prob- ably surpassed them in wealth. The Spanish Jews were consequently of a much higher type than their brethren in other parts of Europe. They were not reduced to the one degrading occupation of usury, thougli they fol- lowed that too; on the contrary, they were husband- men, landed proprietors, physicians, linanoial adminis- trators, etc.; they enjoyed special privileges, and had courts of justice for themselves. Nor was this state of things confined to those portions of Spain under the sovereignty of the Moors; the C'.iristian monarchs of the north and middle gradually came to appreciate the value of their services, and we find them for a time pro- tected and encouraged by the rulers of Aragon and Cas- tile. But the extravagance and consequent poverty of the nobles, as well as the increasing power of the priest- hood, ultimately brought about a disastrous change. The estates of the nobles, and, it is also believed, those attached to the cathedrals and churches, were in many cases mortgaged to tlie Jews; hence it was not difficidt for 'conscience' to get up a persecution, when goaded to its ' duty' by the pressure of want and shame. Grad- ually the Jews were deprived of the privilege of living where they pleased ; their rights were diminished, and their taxes augmented" (Chambers). More in the next paragraph.