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Event

Expulsion of the Jews from England, 1290

Edict of 18 July 1290 by Edward I ordering all Jews to leave England by 1 November.

5 links, 5 backed by primary records

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Dates
18 Jul 1290 – 1 Nov 1290
Also known as
Edict of Expulsion, 1290
Wikidata
Q29662

Connections 5

involved

  • Edward I of England ordered it; the crown took their houses. His letter of 5 November 1290 gives his charge, that Jews had turned lending into a worse kind, and calls them perfidious, meaning faithless Primary record 1
  • London where the sheriffs sent them to cross the sea Primary record 1
  • Kingdom of England numbers disputed Primary record 12

caused by

Timeline 1 date
  1. 18 Jul 1290 – 1 Nov 1290 Expulsion of the Jews from England, 1290
Proof 3 sources
  1. Jews in England in 1290 (teaching resource with transcribed and translated royal records), The National Archives (UK). Primary record
    the Jews afterwards, maliciously discussing amongst themselves, changed the kind of usury into a worse kind
    as a result the king, for this reason and for the honour of Christ, has caused the Jews to leave his realm as perfidious men
    perfidious faithless and untrustworthy scot or lot a tax paid to the borough for local or national purposes Pleas of the Forest These records preserve the legal proceedings from forest eyres (the proceedings that dealt with offences concerning the royal forests).
    On 18th July 1290, Edward I issued what came to be called the Edict of Expulsion.
    writs (letters) were issued to the sheriffs of every county outlining that all Jews should leave England by All Saint’s Day (1 November 1290)
    Jews were allowed to take their possessions with them, but the vast majority had their houses forfeited to the king.
    In 1287, in the duchy of Gascony (an area of modern-day France under English rule), King Edward ordered the local Jews to be expelled. All their property was seized by the crown and all outstanding debts owed to Jews were transferred to the king’s name.
    direct their steps towards London in order to cross the sea, provided that before they leave they restore the pledges of Christians in their possession to those to whom they belong.
    Altogether, it is estimated that around 3,000 Jews were forced to leave England.
    The expulsion of the Jews was the price he agreed to pay.
  2. Expulsions (Encyclopaedia Judaica), Encyclopaedia Judaica, via Encyclopedia.com. Scholarship & press
    The expulsion from England in 1290 (the number of expelled has been estimated at 16,000) removed the Jews from its borders until after 1650.
    Some of these were "general expulsions" which removed the Jews from the territory of a whole country for an extended period.
    The political fragmentation of these countries during the Middle Ages usually enabled the Jews to settle within the proximity of the baronage or town from which they had been expelled and to return there after a short interval.
  3. Jews in England: From Expulsion (1290) to Readmission (1656), by Ariel Hessayon, Jewish Communities and Records UK (JCR-UK); article by Ariel Hessayon, Goldsmiths, University of London, 2006. Scholarship & press
    Several reasons have been suggested for why Edward I expelled Jews from England in 1290.
    once Jews were barred from usury in 1275 their wealth declined and consequently they became less useful to the Crown as a source of revenue through taxation.
    engaged in usury disguised as trading in grain and wool.
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