So what relevance has any of this for today? In the narrowest of senses, very little because practically nothing from the Great Charter is still on the statute books in Britain today. But more broadly it does shine a light into our medieval history and specifically the role played by the Jews in medieval England. In recent years there has been a concerted attempt to depict Jews as a peaceful open community pursuing a wide variety of occupations. But as Andrew Joyce has so brilliantly shown in the Occidental Observer this is no more than a fiction concocted to hide the less salubrious truth. For the Jews of medieval England were occupied entirely as moneylenders and enjoyed great privileges and the special protection of the King. Not only were they exempt from the usury ban on Christians, they were able to move about the country without paying tolls and special weight was attributed to a Jew’s oath, which was valid against that of 12 Christians.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 13:59:48 +0000