190 RABBINS-THE MISCHNA—THE TALMUD. off its hallowed heights. This interdiction, however, did not extend to the more peaceful Christians. The Jewish people had hitherto, in the course of their history, been four several times nearly exterminated. Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, Titus, Hadrian, had successively put forth their utmost efforts to extinguish not merely the political existence of the state, but even the separate being of the people. Yet the great peculiarity of the race continued, namely, their isolation and distinct existence in the various regions which they occupied. Before the close of the second century, not sixty years after the war under Hadrian, the Jews present the extraordinary spectacle of two regular and organized communities-the one under the Patriarch of Tiberias, the other under the Prince of the Captivity, as has been already mentioned. Under the former were included all of Israelitish descent who inhabited the Roman empire. To the latter all the eastern Jews paid their allegiance. Under the more indulgent emperors who followed, the Jews in the empire were restored to many of their ancient privileges. This circumstance may account, in part, for their returning prosperity after such desolations of their land, and such interruptions of their institutions. New synagogues were frequently erected in the principal cities of the empire, and they became, through the indulgence or indifference of their masters, more submissive and peaceful subjects. The rabbins, who had been hunted down with remorseless cruelty, after danger was over began to creep forth from their places of concealment, and soon not only made their public appearance, but reestablished their schools and synagogues. Prosperity began to attend these means of religious improvement and knowledge, and though, under Marcus Aurelius (A. D. 169 to 180,) some severe laws were enacted against the Jews, on account of symptoms of disaffection, yet they were either speedily annulled, or never put in force. The rabbinical dominion gradually increased, and perhaps, in this interval, the Sanhedrim fixed its pontifical throne at Tiberias, where it maintained its supremacy for several ages. In every region of the west, in every province of the Roman empire, the Jews of every rank readily submitted to the sway of their spiritual chief. His supplies were levied without difficulty in Rome, in Spain, in Africa; and his power, according to Origen, was little less than that of a king. That the Jews, at this period, were scattered over most countries, is obvious from all the accounts that have been handed down respecting them; yet their origin, in particular localities, is frequently obscure, as in Italy, or even Rome itself. It is usually ascribed, in respect to Rome, to the vast number of slaves brought to the capital by Pompey, after his conquest of Jerusalem; these, almost without exception, are said to have been emancipated by their tolerant masters. It is supposed that there were already in Rome many opulent commercial Jews, who purchased, to the extent of their means, their unhappy countrymen, and enabled them to settle in freedom in the great metropolis. The hopelessness of escape, from the imperial power, of any one who fell under its displeasure, when Rome swayed the sceptre of the whole civilized world, is forcibly drawn by Gibbon. He illustrates it by relating the fact, that when the court poet, Ovid, had grievously offended the emperor, he was simply told to go and reside at Tomi, on the northern shore of the Black Sea. No guard was needed - no precautions; if wanted, he could, at any moment, be grasped by some one of the ten thousand arms of government. They were occasionally expelled—often oppressed. Still, here, as elsewhere, persecution seemed not to be the slightest check to their increase. Of their establishment in other provinces of the Roman empire, no certain information is possessed. The probability is, that the Jews spread with the dominion of the Roman arms, part as slaves, part as freemen, with commercial objects, and seeking only an eligible settlement. It is by no means certain at what time the Princes of the Captivity commenced their dynasty. Towards the latter part of the second century after Christ, the schools of Babylonia and Palestine fell into an open schism concerning the calculation of the paschal feast. The western patriarch determined to assert the superiority of the patriarchate of Tiberias over his disobedient brethren. At length, the authority was universally recognized. It continued till the political separation of the Babylonian from the western Jews, on the restoration of the Persian monarchy. Antecedently to that event, the patriarch of Tiberias maintained his uncontested supremacy over the whole Jewish commonalty. Not much remains to be said of the Palestinian Jews at this period, as connected with their Roman masters. The laws of Severus (A. D. 194,) were favorable to the Jews. The edict of Antoninus was reënacted, though still with its limitation against circumcising proselytes. The Jews were permitted to undertake the pupilage of pagans, - an evidence that they continued to enjoy the privileges of Roman citizenship, and that they were exempt from burdens incompatible with their religion. Still they were not permitted to approach the walls of the holy city, and their general condition was that of dispersion and exile of estrangement from the sympathies of man. kind. For several reigns, (A. D. 211–234,) Judaism, though to this extent proscribed, might boast its influence on the imperial throne. "Among the strange medley of foreign superstitions, with which the filthy Heliogabalus offended even the easy and tolerant religion of his Roman subjects, he adopted the Jewish usages of circumcision and abstinence from swine's flesh; and, in the reign of the good Alexander Severus, that beautiful oasis in this desert period of the imperial history, the Jews enjoyed the equal protection and favor of the virtuous monarch." At this era, the patriarchal throne was held by the most famous of the rabbinical sovereigns, Jehuda, son of Simon. His whole life was one of the most spotless purity, and to him is to be ascribed a new constitution for the Jewish people. He embodied, in his celebrated Mischna, all the authorized interpretations of the Mosaic law, the traditions, the decisions of the learned, and the precedents of the courts or schools. As this work was afterwards commented on, it was at length superseded by the more voluminous Talmud. In the mean time, the rival throne in Babylonia, that of the Prince of the Captivity, was rapidly rising to that palmy state which it did not fully attain till the era of the Persian monarchs. But the accounts of the Oriental Jews, at this early period, are so obscure, or so nearly fabulous, that they may be passed over. The period between the death of Jehuda and the accession of the emperor Constantine, A. D. 306, is barren of important events in Jewish history. The patriarchate THE DISPERSION DURING THE DARK AGES. | 191 of Tiberias seems gradually to have sunk in estimation. | tribute, they were permitted the freedom of commerce. The exactions of the pontiff and the rabbins became They were, however, prohibited the possession of titmore and more burdensome to the people. Jehuda ular dignities and of civil and military offices, all of was succeeded in the patriarchate by his son Gamaliel, which were interdicted them by the Roman emperors. who confirmed his father's Mischna, and died, A. D. 229. Theodosius, in particular, protected them against the His son Judah did nothing worthy of notice, except- Christian zealots, and would permit no compulsory ing that he left his dignity to his son Hillel II., a per- means for their conversion. son of great excellence and learning. This patriarch was the first who computed the years from the creation. The cycle of nineteen years was also invented by him, in order to cause the course of the sun and moon to agree. Before his death, Hillel was converted to the Christian faith. The last who bore the patriarchal office was a grandson of Hillel, the emperor Theodosius having abolished it, A. D. 429, after it had continued in the same family during thirteen generations. The emperor Constantine was under the necessity of enacting several severe laws against the Jews, to prevent their attempt at proselytism, and to suppress their insolence against the Christians. The Persian Jews, at this era, it is said, cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ, by exciting the prejudices of the court against the Eastern Christians, so that Christianity was nearly obliterated in that quarter. The same severity of treatment that Constantine had exercised against the Jews was felt to be necessary by Constans, and for the same cause, — with the addition of their insurrection in Judea, fear that they might coöperate with the Persians against the empire. The emperor, being a Christian, and also inflamed with resentment against the Jews, enacted laws of still greater severity than ever, with a view to crush their rebellious temper. Every Jew that married a Christian, or circumcised a slave, was punished with death. From Julian, (A. D. 361,) the Jews received very sensible marks of favor and distinction. He not only exempted them from taxes, and allowed them the undisturbed exercise of their religion, but permitted them to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, furnishing them with men and materials for the work. The attempt, with all the zeal that was manifested, proved unsuccessful. Divine Providence completely defeated their designs. Such a series of astounding and dreadful events followed the undertaking, that the Jews were compelled to desist from their proceedings, and the prediction of our Savior, on the subject, acquired additional force from this abortive attempt. The Jews were favored, under Valentinian and Valens, A. D. 364; but, becoming insolent and seditious, the emperor Theodosius saw fit to punish | them, and, by severe edicts, to restrain their propensity to persecute the Christians of the empire. Under the government of Honorius, the Jews enjoyed the full exercise of their religion. That emperor had enacted a law which displayed his liberal and extensive views, and which imported that the real glory of a prince consisted in permitting all his subjects the peaceable enjoyment of their rights, even though he could not agree with them in matters of religion. Upon the overthrow of the Roman empire by the Vandals, it might have been expected that the Jews would have been worse treated than others of the people, by that fierce and barbarous nation. But they enjoyed the same privileges, and only participated in the common miseries which are the usual attendants of great revolutions. They were allowed the unrestricted exercise of their religion; and, on the payment of a secution CHAPTER CII. A. D. 476 to 1453. The Dispersion during the Dark Ages-Jews under the Greek Empire-Justinian's PerJews massacre Christians, and suffer in Turn-Cruelties at Antioch-Golden Age of the Dispersion -Jewish Commerce and Wealth under Charlemagne, &c. Crusades Their Learning, scientific Attainments, and Influence - Magic Flourish in Spain - Persecuted - Jews in Hungary, Germany, Bohemia - Sufferings from the Crusaders - Oppressed and favored alternately throughout Europe - Massacres in Germany-Jews in England - Banished, repeatedly - Also from France and Spain - A similar Catalogue of Wrongs in the East. THE Jews in the West, under the Roman emperors at Constantinople, soon after the beginning of the sixth century, found their condition to be that of an oppressed and miserable people. The Greek empire, though it lingered on for several centuries after this period, was rapidly verging to decay. The imperial court was a scene of intrigue and licentiousness, more like that of an Asiatic sultan than of the heir of the Roman name. It was splendid, but effeminate. The Jews, probably by their industry as traders, and their connection with their brethren in the East, ministered considerably to the luxury of the court; but the fall of the patriarchate, and the dispersion of the community in Palestine, lowered the whole race in general estimation; they sank into a sect, little differing from other religious communities, which refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the established Christian church. The first cause of their complaint against Justinian, (A. D. 527,) who assumed to decide in all matters of religion, was the edict of that emperor, which prohibited them from celebrating the passover according to their own calculation, and enjoined the observance of this feast at the same time with the church. This edict was soon after followed by others still more severe, forbidding the education of their children in the Jewish faith, and even the exercise of their religion in a certain district. A revolt was the consequence of these stern edicts. A certain Julian, reported to have been a robber chieftain, and who pretended to be the Messiah, and assumed the title of king, appeared at the head of thousands of the inhabitants of Palestine, and led them against the Christians, at that time expecting no hostilities from this quarter. All around Neapolis, they wasted the possessions of the Christians with fire and sword, burned the churches, and treated the priests with shameless in 192 CONDITION OF THE JEWS IN THEIR DISPERSION. dignities. By one account, Julian is said to have entered Neapolis while the games were celebrating. Nicias was the name of the victor. Julian summoned him before his presence, and demanded his religion. On his reply that he was a Christian, he struck his head off at a blow. The whole district was made a desert one bishop had fallen in the massacre, and many priests were thrown into prison, or torn in pieces. A great force was sent into the province, and after a bloody battle, the insurgents were defeated, Julian slain, and thus was the revolt terminated. Some time after, (A. D. 555,) the Jews at Cæsarea rebelled against the Roman government, and were, on this occasion, - a rare occurrence in their history, -joined by the Samaritans. Their united forces attacked and destroyed many of the churches, and massacred great numbers of the Christians, and particularly Stephanas, the prefect, in his palace. His wife fled to Constantinople. Adamantius was commissioned to inquire into the origin of the tumult, and to proceed against the guilty with the utmost rigor. Adamantius condemned the insurgents, executed many, confiscated the property of the most wealthy, and reduced the whole province to peace. When, however, a war occurred in Italy, about this time, the Jews joined with the Goths against Justinian and his general Belisarius, and, in conjunction with the Gothic forces, they defended the city of Naples with such obstinacy, that the Roman soldiers became exceedingly exasperated against them. Upon the capture of the city, though Belisarius endeavored to inspire his troops with sentiments of clemency and pity, the Jews, without any distinction of age, sex, or rank, were barbarously put to death. This dreadful severity overawed the devotees of Judaism for a time, and, during the two subsequent reigns, we read of neither revolt nor persecution. But under Phocas, (A. D. 602,) at Antioch, where they had become numerous and wealthy, they raised an insurrection against the Christians, who, not being sufficiently powerful to offer any resistance, were made to suffer the most shocking cruelties. Great numbers of the latter were burned in their houses; and the bishop, Anastasius, and many others, after having endured the greatest indignities, were thrown into the fire and destroyed. But the emperor inflicted a condign punishment upon the perpetrators of such cruelties, although his previous severity in compelling many of their brethren to receive Christian baptism, was the occasion of their rash insurrection. Pope Gregory the Great, who reigned about this time, anticipating the conversion of the Jews, exhorted his clergy and flock to treat them with candor and kindness. But their condition became worse after the emperor Heraclius (A. D. 610–641) had concluded a peace with the Persian monarch, Chosroes. Yet we have no account of great severities, except that the law of Hadrian was reenacted, which prohibited the Jews, who had gained access to Jerusalem, from approaching within three miles of the city-a law which, in the exasperated state of the Christians at that time, in consequence of their suffering from the Jews, might be a measure of security or mercy, rather than of oppression. Palestine continued to own the sway of the Greek emperor till the rise of the Arabian power in the East. The followers of Mahomet, extending their doctrines and their dominion by fire and sword, rapid ly subdued Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, when, about the year 637, the victorious Omar turned his arms against Jerusalem. After a siege of four months, during which the Arabs suffered extremely from the inclemency of the winter, a capitulation was proposed and agreed to, when the conqueror entered the city, seated on a red camel, which carried a bag of corn and dates - - and without guards or any other precaution. Palestine afterwards became a scene of devastation and trouble from the contests between the Ommiades, Abbasides, and Fatimite khalifs. In 848, Jerusalem was taken by Achmet, a Turk, but recovered, in 906, by the khalifs of Bagdad. It passed several times from one power to the other, but the khalifs held it when the crusaders first appeared in the Holy Land. In some of the countries which had been lost to the Empire of the West in consequence of the irruption of the barbarians, as France and Spain, the Jews at length became the objects of dislike, on account either of their restive temper, or of their practices, particularly as traders and usurers. Under Bathilda, the widow of Clovis, (A. D. 565,) the capitation tax was abolished in France, because it restrained people from marrying, and obliged many to sell their children, that they might avoid paying the impost. The Jews, who had become odious and detested by their traffic in those children, whom they sold to barbarous nations, were obliged to restore the captives that they had in possession, and forbidden that cruel and unnatural commerce for the future. In general, however, the times were becoming more propitious to the professors of Judaism, and in the succeeding century, they may be said to have enjoyed the golden age of their dispersion. Under Charlemagne, (A. D. 768-814,) the Jews enjoyed much favor. We shall have occasion to notice the curious circumstance of his receiving the keys of Jerusalem from the Arabian khalif. His empire gave this busy people a wide field for their commercial operations. From the ports of Marseilles and Narbonne, their vessels kept up a constant communication with the East. In Narbonne, they were so flourishing, that of the two prefects, or mayors, of the city, one was always a Jew, and the most regular and stately part of the city of Lyons was the Jewish quarter. In a period when nobles and kings, and even the clergy, could not always write their names, the superior intelligence and education of the Jews fitted them to become the physicians and ministers of finance to nobles and monarchs. Only one instance is on record where the Jews became the objects of Charlemagne's displeasure. When Charlemagne had defeated the Saracens, he determined to put to death those Jews who had favored the Saracenic invasion, and occasioned so much bloodshed. He was, however, prevailed on to commute their punishment, and only the principal and most guilty persons among that people suffered death. The remainder, who inhabited the city of Narbonne, were condemned to receive a box on the ear, and to pay a perpetual fine of thirteen pounds of wax. The golden age of the Jews endured in still increasing prosperity, during the reign of Charlemagne's successor, Louis le Debonnaire, or the Pious, (A. D. 815.) Such was their influence at court, that their interest was sought by the presents of nobles and princes. The emperor's most confidential adviser was a Jewish physician, named Zedekiah. The people, in JEWS IN FRANCE, SPAIN, HUNGARY. 193 their wonder, attributed his influence over the emperor | carried it by assault, with a prodigious slaughter of to magic, in which he was considered a profound adept. the garrison and inhabitants, which was continued for With every sign of awe-struck sincerity, the monkish three days, without respect either to age or sex. Eight historians relate tales of his swallowing a whole cart days after, the Latin chiefs elected Godfrey to preside of hay, horses and all, and flying in the air like Simon over their conquests in Palestine. In a fortnight, he Magus of old. was called out to defend his capital against the powerful The Jews had the liberty of erecting new syna- army of the sultan of Egypt, and overthrew him at the gogues, and obtained such great and extensive privileges battle of Ascalon. The four cities of Hems, Haunder this prince, that they became extremely haughty mah, Damascus, and Aleppo, were soon the only relics and insolent. Agobard, the bishop, indignant at the of the Mahometan conquests in Syria. The feudal consequence they had obtained, began to impose re-institutions of Europe were introduced into this kingstrictions upon them. He forbade their purchase of dom in all their purity, and a code of laws estabChristian slaves, and the observation of their Sabbath. lished. In addition to this, he interdicted the Christians from buying wine and from carrying on any traffic with them, during the time of Lent. But the Jews, having complained of these edicts, were immediately restored to their former privileges, and Agobard could obtain no redress. Under Charles the Bald, the condition of the Jews was not, in every respect, so agreeable and easy. The conversion of Jewish children being the effect of measures taken by the bishop of Lyons, the Jews removed their offspring to Vienne, Macon, and Arles, where there was less zeal. Remigius, the bishop, announced his success to the king, and desired that the bishop of Arles might be admonished to follow the example of his zeal. The councils began again to launch their thunders; that of Meaux reenacted the exclusion of the Jews from all civil offices. This decree was followed up by that of Paris. But in the distracted state into which the kingdom soon fell, probably these ordinances were not executed. Crusaders. In 1099, the crusaders, having the year before taken Nice and Antioch, laid siege to Jerusalem, and The defeat and dispersion of the armies of the second crusade tended greatly to weaken the Christian cause in the Holy Land, and shake the foundations of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Treason and dissension also contributed to its overthrow. In the midst of them, Sultan Saladin, a prince uniting refined humanity to valor, policy, and military skill, assailed the kingdom. His complaints of the pillage of the caravans of pilgrims being unheeded, he invaded Palestine with eighty thousand horse and foot. In a decisive battle at the siege of Tiberias, the Christians were completely overthrown, with the loss of thirty thousand men. Following up his victory, Jerusalem was taken by the sultan after a siege of fourteen days; and the Latin kingdom, though, for a time, sustaining itself on the coast, and even regaining Jerusalem, was at last put an end to at the capture of Acre by the Mamelukes, about 1250. Palestine continued under Egypt, with two short exceptions, till it fell under the Turks, who have held it for the last three hundred years. During the wars that subsisted between the Saracens and the Christians in the tenth century, the rabbinical schools in Spain were in a flourishing condition, and the Jews in that country became numerous and wealthy. Indeed it was in Spain, that the golden age of the Jews shone with the brightest and most enduring splendor. The wars in this kingdom continued during the eleventh century. Rabbi Samuel Levi, being secretary and prime minister to the king of Granada, was by him created chief of the Jewish nation, and used his utmost endeavors to promote the honor and advantage of that people. But on their attempting to make converts to the Jewish religion, the king of Granada caused the principal offenders to be taken and hanged; and such a persecution of the Jews immediately commenced, that one hundred thousand families felt its dreadful and destructive effects. The iron age of Judaism had now come both in the West and East. They had risen but to be trampled down by the fiercer and heavier heel of oppression and perse cution. The Jews flourished, during the latter part of the eleventh century, in Hungary, where St. Ladislaus, who then reigned, convening a synod, had several regulations entered into, which imported that if a Jew should marry a Christian woman, or purchase a Christian slave, they should on proof of the fact, be set at liberty, and their price confiscated to the bishop. Coloman, his son and successor, forbade the Jews to make use of Christian slaves; but he permitted them to buy and cultivate lands within the jurisdiction of a bishop. These laws sufficiently demonstrate that they were then numerous and powerful in the kingdom, The number and power of the Jews had also become great in Germany and Bohemia, where they had 194 PERSECUTIONS OF THE JEWS. created many stately synagogues. They suffered indeed grievous persecutions in several parts of those kingdoms from the zealots of other persuasions. But that which chiefly contributed to excite the fury and resentment of others against them, was the march of the crusaders through the several cities of Germany. Of all people, the zealous Jews must have beheld with the greatest amazement the course of this fanaticism, when the whole Christian world, from the king to the peasant, was suddenly seized with the resolution to conquer the Holy Land of their fathers, in order to secure the desecrated sepulchre of Jesus Christ! But the occasion must have opened a most extensive field for traffic and usury; and no doubt the Jews, suppressing their astonishment, were forward to avail themselves of such a golden opportunity for gain. Nothing was so valuable, or dear, or sacred, but that it might be disposed of to equip the soldier of the cross. Arms and money must be had, and the merchant or usurer might dictate his own terms. But little did this prudent people foresee the storm which impended over them. When the first horde of crusaders, of the lowest order, assembled near the city of Treves, a murmur spread rapidly through the camp, that, while they were advancing to recover the sepulchre of Christ from the infidels, they were leaving behind worse unbelievers-the murderers of the Lord. With one impulse, the crusaders rushed to the city, and commenced a relentless plunder, violation, and massacre, of every Jew they could find. In this dreadful day, men were seen to slay their own children, to save them from the worse treatment of these wretches; women, having deliberately tied stones round themselves that they might sink, plunged from the bridge, to save their honor and escape baptism! Such scenes were repeated in Metz, in Cologne, in Mentz, in Worms, in Spires. The outrageous character of these proceedings was, however, perceived by some who had power and influence, as the bishop of Spain, and the emperor Henry the Fourth. The latter issued an edict, permitting such Jews as had been baptized by force to resume their religion, and ordered their property to be restored. At this period, many took refuge in Silesia and Poland, A. D. 1097. Half a century elapsed for the devoted race of Israel to multiply its numbers, and to heap up new treasures to undergo the doom of pillage and massacre. A second storm swept over them with terrible effect in many parts of Europe, though in Germany its force. was broken by the kindness and interposition of the emperor. During the twelfth century, two of the popes in succession, Innocent and Alexander III., befriended this miserable people, who on this account flourished exceedingly; and the town of Cozzi, in Milan, and other places in Italy, produced many learned rabbins. In France, at this period, the Jews were both numerous and wealthy; but the imputation of many odious crimes, probably in most instances false, subjected them to cruel suspicions and recriminations. To avenge some alleged diabolical acts, King Philip, surnamed the August, (A. D. 1180,) under pretence of piety and zeal for the honor of God, not only banished them his dominions, but confiscated all their wealth and effects, insomuch that they were reduced to the greatest misery. Many fell victims to these oppressive and tyrannical proceedings. The king's real object, in this infamous procedure, was to relieve his own burdened subjects. But the treasures thus wickedly obtained from this unhappy race did not enrich the kingdom in the least. Before twenty years had elapsed, France beheld her haughty monarch recalling this people; for their presence was deemed important to the purposes of thrift and trade. It was not till twenty years after, that an edict was issued to regulate their usurious exactions, especially as to the persons to whom it might be lawful to lend money. Under Louis, VIII. and Louis IX. commonly called St. Louis-(1223–1271,) the Jews suffered the usual evils incident to their race -plunder and oppression. Under St. Louis, frightful ravages were committed, in 1239, upon the Jewish quarter in Paris an example which was followed in Orleans, and many other cities. The great vassals also were not behind in lawless barbarity. The king endeavored to root out the religion of the Jews. By an edict, the volumes of the Talmud were destined for destruction, and, as the consequence, four and twenty carts full of ponderous tomes were committed to the flames in Paris! The professors of Judaism were treated with kindness by Philip the Bold, (A. D. 1275,) who recalled them from the exile to which St. Louis had, in the end, subjected them. Philip was induced to this measure by their known and acknowledged usefulness, in the promotion of commerce and the circulation of money, which could not fail of improving the finances of the nation. They became powerful and wealthy under the reign of this monarch. They were again expelled the French dominions under Philip the Fair, A. D. 1300. It is generally allowed that his motive in this act was the enriching of himself by plunder. Many of them died, through want, in exile. But they were soon recalled under Louis, his successor, again to enrich the country by their trade, commerce, and unwearied industry. Thus was this wretched people banished and recalled, as the freaks of monarchs or the exigences of the state demanded-ever the sport of the most unstable and cruel fortune. As this was the tenor of their history afterward in France, where, for the most part, they endured untold deprivations, miseries, and wrongs, with alternate prosperity and favor, it need not be rehearsed; except to say that toward the close of the fourteenth century, the whole Jewish community, with the exception of those in the city of Metz, by the edict of Charles VI., crossed for the last time the borders of France, for a long and indefinite period of banishment. A great similarity is found in regard to the history of the Western Jews in other parts of Europe. scarcely necessary to repeat the story of their oppres sions and persecutions, or of that fanatical and usurious disposition which, in some instances at least, provoked retaliation. In Italy, the popes were generally favorable and kind to the race of Israel. Gregory X. (A. D. 1227–1244) imitated the example of his predecessors; and though he was a zealous promoter of the holy war, yet observing that the crusaders commenced their pious work with the massacre of this people, he took every method to prevent such barbarity. But at length they became the objects of persecution in Naples. It is In Spain, the Jews suffered, at an early period, more than the common oppressions of the race. The crusaders there, under the impression that to wreak their vengeance on the enemies of Christ the Jews was an infallible method of obtaining the blessing of Heaven on their enterprise, made such |