Hello and welcome to today's lesson looking at Jewish migration in mediaeval England.

This lesson is part of a broader inquiry looking at how migration impacted mediaeval England.

We'll cover lots of different things in the course of the inquiry, but for today, we are just going to be focusing on Jewish migration.

Now, in order to do that, you're going to need a piece of paper and a pen.

If you don't have one, absolutely fine, just pause the video now, go and get everything you need and then come back and press play when you're ready to get started with the lesson.

Great.

Now that you've got everything you need, we can get started, and let's get started by looking at our lesson outcome.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say that you can explain the reasons for and the impact of Jewish migrants on mediaeval England, as well as the experiences of Jewish settlers.

But in order to do that, we're going to need some keywords.

We've only got two for today.

The first is usury, which is the action of lending money and charging interest, which was declared a sin by the Pope in the mediaeval period.

And our second key word is antisemitism, which is the hatred of or discrimination towards Jewish people.

Now that we've got some keywords when we see them in the context of the lesson, they'll make lots more sense, but for now, we can just get started.

And in order to do that, we're going to start by looking at why Jewish people migrated in the first place.

So you may have already learned in history at some other point about the Norman Conquest of England, which happened in 1066.

But when the Norman's conquered England in 1066, King William I, previously the Duke of Normandy, soon realised that he would need several different groups of European workers in order to boost the English economy.

And not only did the Normans want to improve the economy in England, they also had grand plans for building huge cathedrals, castles and loads of other buildings as a statement of their power.

Now, to do this, they would need a lot of money, money that they absolutely didn't have.

And I guess the seemingly obvious solution would've been to take a loan in order to pay for the buildings, but that just wasn't an option for William.

And that's because of one of our key words, usury, and the Pope had deemed this a sin.

So Christians were not allowed to lend money at interest.

So it seemed that there was no way for William to be able to get the money he needed for his huge building projects, especially considering that the Normans were devout Christians, therefore, they had to abide by the Pope's laws.

So this left William looking for a way around this problem, and the solution it seemed would lay outside of the Christian community.

Now in Rouen, a place in Normandy, there was a group of Jewish people who worked as moneylenders.

And since they were not Christian, the decrees of the Pope did not apply to them.

So as a result, William declared in 1070 that Jewish people were free to migrate to England and lend money with interest to the Norman elite.

Some Jewish migrants, such as Aaron of Lincoln, became famous for lending money to monarchs even after the end of the Norman rule.

His money made the impressive Lincoln Cathedral possible.

So remember, it was because usury was declared a sin by the Pope that Norman leaders needed members outside of the Christian community to migrate to England who could lend them the money for their huge building projects.

The most famous of which built after the Normans was the very impressive Lincoln Cathedral.

However, it's important to know that we shouldn't make massive generalisations like all Jewish people are moneylenders because not all Jewish people who migrated to mediaeval England were moneylenders.

So essentially, not all Jewish people were moneylenders, and not all moneylenders were Jewish.

Some Jewish people migrated to work as doctors, goldsmiths, pawn brokers, and even ladder makers, literally making ladders.

There were also Jewish artists, fishmongers, crossbowmen, cheese makers, and rabbis, that is a Jewish religious teacher.

They were all living in England following the Norman Conquest.

So we can see that yes, primarily, Norman rulers invited Jewish migrants to work as moneylenders, but we know that not all of them worked as moneylenders, and they took up a variety of other jobs when they settled in England.

Now, before we go on to look at what life was like for them, their experiences as Jewish people in mediaeval England, we're just going to pause and check our understanding so far, and then put what we've learned into practise.

So firstly, I'd like you to tell me why did Norman rulers not take loans from their noblemen to build their grand castles and cathedrals? Pause the video now, jot down a couple of reasons or one explanation if you can put it all together, and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Great.

So hopefully your answer looked a little something like this.

Lending money with interest was deemed usury, which the Pope had declared a sin, so they could not take loans as they followed Christianity.

If you were able to get that down, really well done.

Let's have a look at another question.

So I'd like you to tell me whether this statement is true or false.

All Jewish migrants worked as moneylenders.

Pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Excellent.

We know that this statement is false, but again, we need to think about why.

Is it false because some worked in other jobs such as artists and cheese makers? Or B, because most were unemployed on arriving in England? Again, pause the video, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant, it's false because some worked in other jobs, e.

g as artists or cheese makers.

Now we're gonna put what we've learned into practise.

So I'd like you to write me one paragraph explaining why Jewish people migrated to England in the mediaeval period.

And I'd like you to make sure that you include the following details in your response, Norman rulers, cathedrals, usury, Rouen in Normandy.

Now pause the video, have five to 10 minutes to write your paragraph and then come back and press play when you're done.

Brilliant.

Let's have a look at what your paragraph might have looked like.

So you might have said Jewish people migrated to mediaeval England for economic reasons.

As Norman rulers took control in 1066, they needed more money to pay for the cathedrals, castles, and other grand buildings they intended to use as a statement of their power.

As usury was a sin and they were Christians, they could not use loans from their own noblemen.

The solution to their problem was to invite Jewish moneylenders from Rouen, Normandy, to settle in England and to provide the loans needed.

However, other Jewish people also migrated to work in a range of other jobs such as Cheese makers, artists and rabbis, among others.

Hopefully you got those key details in there.

Really well done.

If there's a few things that you've missed that you'd like to add to your paragraph, just pause the video now and give yourself a couple of minutes to do so.

Great work so far.

Now we've had a look at why Jewish people migrated.

We're going to move on to look at the experience of Jewish migrants in mediaeval England.

So in the mediaeval period, migrants were typically considered as aliens.

Jewish people did not have this status though as they were initially invited as servants of the crown.

This meant that they had the protection of the monarch, but it did also make them completely dependent on their relationship with the authorities for protection.

At first, though, this didn't seem to be much of a problem as the monarchs and the nobles needed the wealth of Jewish migrants, they were continually offered great protection.

In fact, if anyone were to harm a Jewish migrant, they would've been punished for damaging the king's property.

Many were also able to settle across England and assimilate into society, living fairly typical and undisturbed lives in the early 1100s.

However, things were far from positive overall, Jewish migrants were usually taxed by the Normans at a far higher rate than other subjects.

And after their death, at least one third of all they owned went to the monarch to ensure their profits continued to benefit the monarch.

These taxes soon became a method the monarch would use to target and persecute the Jewish community.

In the late 1100s, taxes would reach unsustainable rates as the monarchs realised that they could make more money from taxing Jewish people at higher rates.

Many monarchs had also started taking loans from Italian bankers, and so no longer needed the support of Jewish moneylenders.

So we can see at first, largely positive, but things became increasingly negative as time went on, as taxes increased, and these Norman monarchs and noblemen found Italian bankers to use as moneylenders instead of the Jewish community.

Now, before we go on to look at how things changed even further, we're going to pause and check our understanding with a quick couple of questions.

So first I'd like you to answer this question.

Jewish people were invited to England as servants of the crown.

How did this initially benefit Jewish migrants? Pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant.

We know that they were offered great protection.

Now, I'd like you to have a short discussion.

If you're doing this lesson on your own, not to worry, just have a go at articulating a response out loud or writing one down for me.

But if you're doing this lesson in a classroom or with other people, you can do this in pairs.

So I'd like you to discuss the following question.

Why did the experience of Jewish migrants soon become negative? Pause the video now, give yourself enough time to articulate a response out loud or for both of you to contribute to the discussion and then come back and press play when you're done.

So your discussions might have included some of the following points.

That they were taxed at a much higher rate than other migrants and local people.

That the taxes were used as a method of persecution.

That after their death, a third of all they owned went to the monarch.

And then finally, Jewish moneylenders were no longer needed as they were replaced by Italian bankers.

Really well done if you were able to get all those points in your discussion.

Now, we've already looked at how the experience of Jewish migrants began to decline as taxes increased, and Italian bankers were used as moneylenders instead.

But this situation only got worse.

As the Crusades raged across Europe, the persecution of non-Jewish groups increased.

In England, this meant a rapid increase in antisemitism.

This antisemitism came not only from local English communities, but also from authorities.

By 1275, the Jewish community had lost all protection that had been offered by the crown.

There were forced to wear a badge known as the tabula to distinguish them as Jewish people.

Those living in Leicester, Lincoln, Warwick, Southampton, Nottingham, and Newbury were also forced to leave their hometowns.

Then in 1287, all Jewish people were arrested and held until they paid a 20,000 mark tax.

293 of those who were arrested were hung.

In 1290, antisemitism reached its peak in mediaeval England as all Jewish people were expelled from England by King Edward I, they were given only four months to leave and only allowed to take what they could carry.

It would be nearly 400 years before they were permitted to return.

However, it is worth noting that not all English people supported the persecution of Jewish people.

Bishop Hugh of Lincoln is one of several examples of people who were willing to intervene and protect Jewish communities against violent mobs as he did in Norwich in 1190.

So while the persecution of Jewish people in mediaeval England was widespread, it was not supported by everyone.

So before we move into the third and final part of the lesson, we're going to check our understanding so far and put what we've learned into practise.

So starting with the earliest, I'd like you to sort these events into chronological order with one as the earliest event.

So pause the video now, have a read through each of these different events, put them in order with one as the earliest, and then come back and press play when you're done.

Brilliant work.

Let's have a look now at what your completed timeline would look like.

So we know that first the Crusades led to an increase in antisemitism.

Then we know that Jewish people were forced to wear the tabula.

Then we know that those living in Leicester, Luton, and Warwick were expelled.

And then finally, all Jewish people were expelled from England and given only four months to leave, that was in 1290.

So we know that the antisemitism and persecution that Jewish people faced reached a climax in 1290 with the expulsion of all Jewish migrants in England.

Now, I'd like you to tell me if this statement is true or false.

The persecution of Jewish people in mediaeval England was supported by everyone.

So pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant, we know that this statement is false, but you need to think about why.

Is it false because King Edward I did not support the persecution of Jewish people? Or is it false because B, Bishop Hugh of Lincoln protected the Jewish community in Norwich in 1190? Pause the video now, make a decision and then come back and press play when you've got an answer.

Brilliant, we know this statement is false because Bishop Hugh of Lincoln protected the Jewish community in Norwich in 1190.

Really well done.

Now, what I'd like you to do for our practise task here is to look at this statement.

The experience of Jewish migrants in mediaeval England was overwhelmingly negative, and I'd like you to explain to me how far you agree with this statement.

And in order to do that, I'd like you to write two paragraphs in response.

And in doing that, make sure to explain to me both your judgement , but also why someone might disagree with you.

Because a good historical argument is always able to make a clear judgement , but also acknowledge where somebody else might be coming from, even if you think it's not as valid as your point.

So pause the video now, give yourself about 10 to 15 minutes to complete this task, and then come back and press play when you're done.

Really great work.

Let's have a look at what your two paragraphs might have looked like.

So you might have said, I agree with this statement as Jewish migrants soon experienced extreme antisemitism that often turned violent and eventually led to their expulsion from England in 1219.

By the late 1100s, taxes began to be used as a form of persecution, as Jewish people started to be taxed at unsustainable rates when Jewish moneylenders were gradually replaced with Italian bankers.

This persecution continued as the Jewish community lost all protection from the crown by 1275, being forced to where the tabula to distinguish them from non-Jewish people.

By 1287, many had been forced to leave their hometowns, and 293 had been hanged following arrest.

All this evidence demonstrates that their experiences were overwhelmingly negative.

However, some might disagree with the statement and suggests it underplays the initial experience of Jewish migrants in England as Jewish migrants were invited to England as servants of the crown.

They were given great protection by authorities, for instance, if anyone were to harm them, they would receive the same punishment as someone who damaged the king's property.

In addition to this, Jewish migrants were often able to settle across England and assimilate into English society, living fairly typical and undisturbed lives in the early 1100s.

However, this argument neglects the extreme violence and persecution many Jewish migrants faced by the end of the century.

So if you were able to get this down, really well done because you've made your judgement really clear, you've explained why someone might disagree with you and given evidence to support, but ended with a really clear explanation as to why that point of view is less valid, pointing out what it neglects, underplays, or downplays.

Really well done.

Now we can move on to the third and final part of our lesson.

And in this part of the lesson, we'll be looking at the impact of Jewish migrants in mediaeval England.

Now, despite a largely negative experience as a result of growing antisemitism, Jewish migrants in the mediaeval period had a large impact on England, both on the English economy and the built environment.

For example, Jewish migrants worked in a wide variety of professions as cheese makers, goldsmiths, and doctors to name a few.

In these roles, Jewish migrants were able to support the growing English economy.

Additionally, as moneylenders, they supported local businesses, owners and shopkeepers.

This further contributed to the economy by helping keep these businesses running across England.

So in all those jobs that we mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, we were talking about why Jewish migrants came in those jobs, they were able to support the growing English economy, not just as moneylenders, but also in all of these other professions because all of these other businesses were really important to keep the economy running and growing.

But in addition, the built environment was also directly impacted by Jewish arrivals.

As several famous Jewish migrants contributed to landmarks in England.

The loans from Aaron of Lincoln contributed not only to the Lincoln Cathedral, but also to the Peterborough Cathedral.

There were also others too, such as David of Oxford and Abraham of York, who lent money to monarchs to allow them to build various castles and religious buildings across the country.

So we can see here that they impacted not just the economy, but also the built environment.

And if we have a look at the slide, we can see a painting of Lincoln Cathedral in the 1800s.

So really well done.

We've covered lots about Jewish migrants in mediaeval period today.

But we're going to pause for now, check our understanding one last time and have a go at our final practise task for today.

So first, I'd like to have a discussion with all the same rules as earlier.

If you're doing a session by yourself, not to worry, you can have a go at articulating it out loud.

But again, if you're in a classroom or doing this with someone else, this can now be a paired discussion.

So the topic of the discussion is how were Jewish migrants able to contribute to the economy in mediaeval England? So pause the video now and give yourself enough time to articulate out loud or have a conversation with the person next to you, giving both of you enough time to contribute.

So hopefully your discussions or your articulation out loud include some of these points.

The Jewish migrants worked as cheese makers, goldsmiths and doctors, as well as other jobs, all contributing to the economy, but also that Jewish migrants worked as moneylenders to support local businesses and shopkeepers, and that in turn contributed to the economy.

Really well done.

If not, you've got a reminder here, so not to worry.

Second and final discussion, I'd like you to have a go at explaining how were Jewish migrants able to contribute to the built environment in mediaeval England? So pause the video now, have that discussion, making sure that you're both able to contribute or that you are able to fully articulate a beautiful response out loud.

I'll pause the video now and give you some time to do that.

So hopefully in your discussions you mentioned that Jewish migrants gave loans that contributed to several landmarks in England.

Or that Aaron of Lincoln contributed to the Lincoln Cathedral and the Peterborough Cathedral.

And really well done if you're able to mention both.

Great work.

Now let's move on to our final practise task.

And for this task, I'd like you to explain how Jewish migrants impacted mediaeval England.

And in order to do that, you're going to need the following details in your response.

Cheese makers, doctors, moneylenders, and Lincoln Cathedral.

So pause the video now, give yourself five to 10 minutes to complete this task, and then come back and press play when you're done.

Great work.

So your answer might have looked a little something like this.

Jewish migrants impacted various areas of life in mediaeval England, the most significant impact was on the economy.

This was because Jewish migrants worked in various industries that contributed to the economy.

For example, some migrants worked as cheese makers, goldsmiths, and doctors, while others worked as moneylenders to support local business owners and shopkeepers.

Jewish migrants also contributed to the built environment as they provided loans to monarchs and church leaders to build several landmarks in England.

These include Lincoln Cathedral and Peterborough Cathedral.

Really well done if you were able to get all those key details in.

Now, we've covered lots and lots this lesson, and you've done some brilliant work.

But let's have a look at a quick summary before we finish.

So today we've learned that Jewish people were invited to England by Norman rulers.

We learned that many Jewish people were encouraged to work as moneylenders because usury was said to be a sin, although there were also many who worked in other professions.

We learned that as a result of increasing antisemitism, particularly after the outbreak of the Crusades, Jewish people faced greater discrimination from the late 1100s.

And finally, we learned that Jewish people were expelled by Edward I in 1290, not to return for nearly 400 years.

Absolutely brilliant work this lesson.

You've done so well, really well done.