Recalled, THEY were however recalled eight years after, by his fucA. C. ceffor Lewis, furnamed the Hutin or Mutin, in order to re1314. plenifh his empty coffers, recover his finances, and make trade flourish. He exacted alfo great fums of them for their liberty, which they readily granted; and, in consequence of it, lived very peacably during his reign; but that proving short, they were again expofed to new troubles ». We have already taken notice of what they fuffered in Spain and France, under Perfecuted the fecond invafion of the enthufiaftic fhepherds. This mifafresh, fortune was foon followed by another, pretended to have A. C. been occafioned by their fuffering themselves to be bribed by 1330. the Saracen king of Granada to poison all the rivers, wells, and refervoirs of water; which they not daring to do, as being too much fufpected, committed the execution of it to a number of lepers, whom they hired by dint of money, and the profpect of the rich fpoils of the dead (P). The waters п SOLOM. BEN VIRG. p. 149, & feq. (P) This accufation appears from many circumftances, with which it is tranfmitted to us, to be altogether falfe. Such as, that the lepers convened four general councils of the deputies from every lazaretto in Chrif tendom, in which they difpofed before-hand of all the dignities, estates, &c. of those that were to be poisoned by those waters; the depofition made by one of them, before the lord of Pernay, in which was contained the receipt for poifoning them, viz. human blood and urine, three forts of weeds, and a confecrated wafer, which were to be tied in a bag, and flung into them; and fome others equally ridiculous and incredible. Befides, if the Saracen king had hired any fees for fuch a black deed against the Chriftians, he would, doubtlefs, have ordered it to be done in Spain, where they were most obnoxious to them, and not in France and were Germany, where he had nothing to fear. It must be owned, that there reigned then fuch a mortality in both these countries, as carried off more people than any peftilence had ever done. It began, we are told,atRheims, and spread itself through France and Germany; and, as the phyficians were unable to difcover the caufe of it, they had everywhere recourfe to the old fuperftitious notion of the waters, &c. being poifoned by magic, and of the Jews being the authors of it; which was eafily credited by the reft, who were always fond of the notion of wizards and magicians being the authors of fuch public calamities. However a late author of theirs hath undertaken to confirm the ftery of the waters being poisoned, and to juftify the feverities which were used against the Jews; though he hath done it in fuch a manner as will con vince were accordingly found poifoned in France and Germany and a leper having depofed, that a certain rich few had hired him to it, the information was fent to court, and the lepers were all either imprifoned, or confined to their lazarettos; and the people in feveral provinces, especially in Lan- in Languedoc, without ftaying for farther orders or proceedings, guedoc, fell foul on the Jews, and maffacred them in fuch a barba- &c. rous manner as cannot be read without horror; whilft the pretended criminals marched to the flames, and other cruel executions, with fuch intrepidity and joy, as if they had gone to a wedding. Those of Paris were used with more equity, where they only put the guilty to death. Others were banished, and the rich fort imprisoned till they had discovered all their treasures and effects; by which Philip, furnamed the Long, proved a very confiderable gainer: Great numbers of them were likewife maffacred in Dauphine, and their ef- Dauphi fects confifcated, and yielded to the dauphin of France ?. CHARLES, whilft dauphin of Viennois and duke of Recalled, Normandy, was forced afterwards to recall them, during his father's imprisonment, and the disorders that reigned in his dominions; and, upon his mounting the throne, confirmed their former privileges, and only obliged them to wear fome mark of diftinction 9. But being afterwards grown fenfelefs, or, as some affirm, having been bewitched, the Jews began again to be accused of committing fome murders, and other outrages; for which fome of them were hanged, others whipt, and the fynagogues fined; which obliged many of them to turn Chriftians. At length came out, two years Banifhed after, that edict which for ever banished their whole nation for ever from the French dominions; and it is from that fad epocha; out of 9 Continuat. Chron. GUIL. DE NAUGIS, ub. fup. p. 691, & feq. P Memoires pour fervir a l'hiftoire du Dauphine, ap. BASNAGE, ub. fup. §. 7, & feq. 9 Id. ibid. DU HAILAU, Hist, de France, lib. xvii. fub. an. 1395. JUVENAL DES URSINS, Hift. de Chari. VI. p. 129. BASNAG. ub. fup. & feq. vince very few of his readers, unless they are as partial as he (29); as thofe that read him in the place above quoted will eafily own. He likewife there affirms, that the Jewish nation were for ever banished that (29) P. Daniel Hit. de France fub Philip le Long, an. 1321. p. 414, & seq. ap. Bafnag. ub. fup. §. 13. ne. A. C. 1356. France. B. XVI. Obtain that they have fince reckoned their years (Q). We must, their pri- however, except the city of Metz in Lorrain, in which they vileges at have preferved their ancient privileges and fynagogue; that Metz. city being then an imperial one, where they had therefore the fame liberty as in all others of the empire. This was afterwards confirmed to them by Lewis XIII. and an edit granted in their favour, by which all criminal caufes relating to them, were to be referred to the council, and their ancient privileges confirmed: which edict, given at St. Germain, bears date 1617. (Q) But for all this edict, they ftill kept a confiderable intereft in the nation, by means of the money which they lent to private perfons; the management of which they committed to one Nicholas Flamel, a citizen of Pontoife, allowing him half the profit; by which he became fo rich, that he was fuppofed to have found out the philofopher's ftone; built feveral churches in Paris, particularly that called St. Joques de la Boucherie, where he and his wife Prenella lie buried, and their tomb is ftill to be feen. He is faid to have been a philofopher, painter, and poet. We read moreover of fome eminent Jerus that were fince then tolerated in France, tho' they had not the fame full liberty as formerly; and among them Profanus, a celebrated aftronomer, who taught at Mont pelier about the middle of the 15th century. Montallo, another famed Jew, was fent for to Paris to be phyfician to Mary de Medicis, who obtained of Henry IV. full liberty of religion for himself and family; infomuch that being fent for by fome great patient at fome dif tance, they furnished him with fresh relays, that he might reach him before the Sabbath be gan (30). They have been fince, in great numbers in Gascony, whence Ifaac Caftro de Tartas being gone into Brafil, and taken by the Portuguese, was condemned to the йames. A Jewish writer adds, that it was upon his account, that the law for burning them alive was abrogated in Portugal; for that all the time he continued alive in the flames, he was heard to fay, Hear, O Ifrael, the Lord our God is one Lord! which fo surprised those that heard him, that they repeated the fame words after him, and became Jews, without knowing how (31). We could inftance in many others; but it is fufficiently known, that they still live there, though in difguife, to avoid the feverity of the laws against them; infomuch, that they have got admittance into fome of the highest places in church and ftate, as we shall have farther occafion to fhew towards the end of this chapter. (30) De hoc vid. Barris. Relacion de los poetas, p. 55. Balompierre. Memoirs Montallo, an. 1615. Bafnag.ub. fup. lib. ix. c. 21. §. 20, £ feq. (31) Car. dafo, Las Excellencias, p. 324, IT turies, IT is now time to pafs into Italy, and other parts of Eu- Jews in rope, during thefe two centuries. We begin with Italy, Italy, duwhere we find the pope ftill very favourable and kind to ring the them, both in his own territories, and where-ever his autho- 13th and rity reached (R). We have feen these pontifs receive with 14th cen open arms thofe whom Ferdinand X. and other zealous favoured princes, had banished out of their dominions; though at the by the pope. fame time they feemed to commend their zeal against them. Gregory IX. now on the papal throne, followed the steps of his predeceffors; and, tho' he was a zealous promoter of the holy war, yet obferving, that the crufaders began their pious work in divers places with the massacre of the Jews, took all the proper methods of preventing fuch butcheries. They were grown very numerous alfo in the kingdom of Naples, = particularly in that capital, and the city of Trani; where Naples. By the king of they had very learned rabbies and good poets, who were protected and careffed by the king, on account of fome signal fervices they had done him. He likewife recommended them at his death to his states; but these thought it a greater kindnefs to try to convert them, than to give them the full enjoyment of their religion; fo that, to avoid the impending perfecution, they promised to turn Christians, with a permiffion included to marry the daughters of the richest and noblest families in the kingdom. Every body was surprised at such Massacred a compromise (except the clergy, who were willing to con- at Trani. vert them at any price); and much more ftill to fee fuch marriages permitted in favour of converfions fo little to be depended upon for those who could not thus marry to ad (R) Thus we find pope Nicholas interpofing with the emperor Rodolphus in favour of R. Meir, a German, whom he had caufed to be imprifoned, in hopes of extorting a large fum. from him; and told that prince, that if Meir had been guilty of no other crime, than that of ftiffly adhering to his religion, he deferved no punishment for it; and therefore expected, that he should fet him at liberty. We have seen a little higher, how Gregory IX. put a stop to the perfecution raised againft them in France and Spain. And though there was then a mifun derftanding between him and the At Na ples. Peaceable vantage, made no fcruple to relapfe. It was therefore upon this last account, that a monk of Trani took it into his head to punish them; and having buried a crofs in a dunghill, charged a few of that city with the fact. This was enough to raise the fury of the zealots, who immediately butchered all the Jews they could lay hands on. The riot paffed from thence to Naples, where they would likewife have been murdered, had not the chief of the nobility interpofed, and concealed the most wealthy, and confequently the moft obnoxious, in their houses, and thereby faved them from the fury of the populace. Pope Alexander IV. who then feiged at Rome, was fo far from being fufpected to encourage that perfecution, that he endeavoured to fupprefs it; but his interpofition proved fruitlefs, and he died foon after. However, as the nobility had done it fo effectually, there was the less need of his intervention. THE marquifate of Ancona, though not then in the pope's at Anco- poffeffion, had likewife been very favourable to them, and na. A. C. allowed them full liberty of confcience (S). And here it i 1280. was that the famed R. Menahem, a native of Ricina Nova, did, by fome kind of miracle, from a most stupid dunce, beA. C. come one of the greateft cabbalifts of that age (T). We 1320 have lately feen, how Clement V. who had moved the papal feat to Avignon, ftrove to stop the perfecution of the thepherds against them, as far as his anathemas could do it; he was no lefs industrious to promote their inftruction; and ordered that every univerfity fhould have profeffors to teach the Hebrew tongue, and to bring up men that fhould be able to difpute with and convince them by their own books *, SOLOMON BEN VIRG. p. 123. (5) The popes did not be. a draught, before he found come mafters of this territory,elf as learned as he had till an. 1532; when Clement VII. fent his troops to feize on it, in order to protect it against the Turks. before ignorant. He is commonly known by the name of Recanati, from the place of his birth; and wrote feveral learned treatifes in the cabbalistical way (32). We do not vouch for his miraculous change, but mention it chiefly to fhew, that the Jews flourished in this age in most parts of Italy. (32) Shalfheleth, p. 61. Bartslot, ub. fup. Wolf, N. 1457. p. 775. Bf#age, & alib. |