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TheExchequerOfTheJews 4 - 14 Nov 2014 - Main.InbarAsif
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EXCHEQUER OF THE JEWS | | | Also within the jurisdiction power and duty of the Exchequer of the Jews, was to assess the contributions of the Jews to the royal treasury in reliefs, escheats, fines, and tallages (general taxes applied arbitrarily by the king). [13] | |
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< | Periodically the Justices would order a "scrutiny" ("_scrutinium_") to be made of the lists of the debts (many such lists still exist) that were contained in the archae. [14] Each archae had 3 locks and a set of keys for each lock. Each set of keys was held by different designated people (one set by two Jews, one by two Christians, and the third by two royal clerks) so that the chests could only be opened if all three were present [15] After "scrutiny" of the lists of the debts was made, the Justices sent a report to the king describing the capability of the Jewry to bear further tallage. [The king constantly applied additional tallage, which if not paid, the Jew’s wife and children were often imprisoned as hostages or the Jew himself was sent to the Tower and his lands and chattels were detained]. [16] | >
> | Periodically the Justices would order an audit ("_scrutinium_" as it was alternately called) to be made of the lists of the debts (many such lists still exist) that were contained in the archae. [14] Each archae had 3 locks and a set of keys for each lock. Each set of keys was held by different designated people (one set by two Jews, one by two Christians, and the third by two royal clerks) so that the chests could only be opened if all three were present [15] After "scrutiny" of the lists of the debts was made, the Justices sent a report to the king describing the capability of the Jewry to bear further tallage. [The king constantly applied additional tallage, which if not paid, the Jew’s wife and children were often imprisoned as hostages or the Jew himself was sent to the Tower and his lands and chattels were detained]. [16] | | | Documentation in the form of The Plea Rolls of the Exchequer of the Jews survive for 1219–20, 1244, 1253, and in a virtually continuous series from 1266 to 1287. These include details from various pleas entered by Jews or Christians which dealt with the rate of interest, its lapse during the minority of an heir, alleged forgeries of Chirographs.[17] A volume of the more important of these pleas was published in 1902 jointly by the Selden Society and the Jewish Historical Society of England. [18]
At first the selected justices were men of some distinction who were usually appointed from among the king's favorites. But later on, from 1272-1287 they were dismissed for corruption and bribery. [19]
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< | The expulsion of England’s Jewry in 1290 signaled the end of the office of Exchequer of the Jews, though cases with references to the debts of the Jews occurred in the year-books during some of the reign of Edward II (1284-1327). [20] | >
> | The expulsion of England’s Jewry in 1290 signaled the end of the office of Exchequer of the Jews, though cases with references to the debts of the Jews occurred in the year-books during some of the reign of Edward II (1307-1327). [20] | | | *******
[1] Charles Gross, "The Exchequer of the Jews of England in the Middle Ages"- a lecture delivered at Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition at Royal Albert Hall, 5 (9th of June, 1887). |
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