|
During the Middle Ages there was a Jewish community in Worcester, a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. that mainly provided money lending services to the non-Jewish citizens. The city suffered the fate of other Jewish communities in the Middle Ages and were finally expelled with the rest of the British Jewry in 1290. The community was reestablished many centuries later during the second World War. After the war the community dwindled and the synagogue was closed in 1973. == The Jews in Worcester in the Middle Ages == Worcester, like most important boroughs, contained a Jewry as early as the 12th century..〔(), Medieval(Pre-1290)Jewish Communities in the English Midlands - Jewish Communities and Records〕 The first reference to a presence of Jews in Worcester is from 1154 when a few Jewish families are known to have lived there. Presumably they earned their living by providing money lending services to the local population, as was the case in other English centres. In 1184 a Jew name Bonefei was fined one mark of gold to the King's court. 〔http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42913], A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4, William Page, J.W.Willis-Bund (editors), 1924, Pages 376-390.〕 A few years later there is evidence of a money lender named Leo the Jew who lent money to the abbot of Pershore. He was imprisoned for a forcible entry into the hospital of Worcester, doubtless in the attempt to make good some legal claim. Worcester was one of the 26 Jewish centres of these days to have an Archa.〔http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/pre-1290/background.htm, JCR-UK Historical Background and Glossary of Terms in connection with the Medieval (pre-1290) Jewish Communities of England & Wales〕 The archa was an official chest, provided with three locks and seals, in which a counterpart of all deeds and contracts involving Jews was to be deposited in order to preserve the records. The introduction of archae was part of the reorganization of English Jewry ordered by King Richard I in light of the massacres of Jews that took place in 1189-1190 at, and shortly following, his coronation.These massacres, resulted in a heavy lose of Crown revenue partly as a result of Jewish financial records being destroyed by the murderous mob (in order to conceal evidence of debts due to the Jews). The archae were intended to safeguard the royal rights in case of future disorder. All Jewish possessions and credits were to be registered and certain cities were designated to serve as the centres for all future Jewish business operations and the registration of Jewish financial transactions, each such city having an archa. In each centre, a bureau was set up consisting of two reputable Jews and two Christian clerks, under the supervision of a representative of the newly established central authority that became known as the Exchequer of the Jews. The right of Jews to live in Worcester was expressly confirmed by King Henry III who came to the throne in 1216. There is some evidence that there may have been a Jewish Quarter in the area of Cooken or Coken Street (now Copenhagen Street), in St. Andrew's parish in the city.〔 http://www.worcester.gov.uk/index.php?id=550, History of Worcester in the Middle Ages, Worcester City Council website〕 In 1241 Henry III summoned a “Jewish parliament” in Worcester. The Jews, feeling flattered, gladly accepted the invitation to attend only to discover that the king’s real intention was to assess each community’s ability to pay a large tax which he had decided to levy on the Jews. In 1263, during the baronial revolt of Simon de Montfort, the rebel Robert Ferrers, earl of Derby led an attack on Worcester. He allowed his soldiers to sack the city and destroy the Jewish community. In 1272 Edward I became King of England. On his marriage in 1275 to Eleanor, Edward gave her 'by way of dower’, to the cities of Worcester, Bath and Gloucester together with certain other towns. Edward I issued a writ that no Jew may dwell or abide in any of the towns which the queen has for her dower, so the Jews of Worcester were moved to Hereford.〔http://www.wildolive.co.uk/hereford_history.htm, The Jewish Community in Hereford (England), up to 1290, Wildolive〕 The Jews of Worcester were finally expelled from England, as were all other Jews, in 1290. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jewish community of Worcester」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|