1- Migration in the Middle Ages c1000-c1500

Question 1

1000-1500 Groups

Answer 1

The Normans

Jews

Flemish Weavers (low countries)

Lombardy Bankers (Italy)

Hanseatic League (Germany)

Question 2

Timeline overview

Answer 2

1066: Norman Conquest
1070: First written account of Jews in England

1189: First massacre of Jews in London

1265: Italian bankers allowed to charge interest

1270: Henry II ordered expulsion of all non-weavers

1290: Expulsion of Jews

1440-89: ‘Alien subsidies’-taxation of foreigners

Question 2

What did the Normans do?

Answer 2

land ownership

daily life

religion

names

language

law and order

rebellion

Question 3

Normans: land ownership

Answer 3

Seized most land from Anglo-Danish lords

Gave it to Norman lords

Question 4

Normans: daily life

Answer 4

For most, it didn’t change

Most still had few rights and little or no land of their own

Around 70% were serfs, forced to work on the land and in constat conflict with the local landholders and the Law

Question 5

Normans: religion

Answer 5

William took control of the Church, replacing Anglo-Danish bishops with Norman ones

Question 6

Normans: names

Answer 6

William took control of the Church, replacing Anglo-Danish bishops with Norman ones

Question 7

Normans: language

Answer 7

Introduced new language, a dialect of Old French, althought for some time only the conquerors would have understood it

There was one language fro the rulers and another for the ruled

Over time, Old English and Old French came together in one language

Question 8

Normans: law and order

Answer 8

Introduced ‘murdrum’

Question 9

Normans: rebellion

Answer 9

Raced rebellion in 1069 in York and Durham which resulted in the Harrying of the North

Question 10

William’s reaction to the Norman rebellion

Answer 10

Violence:
Burned and destroyed land and crops: Harrying of the North

Deprived rebels of a livelihood and resulted in 100,000 deaths through starvation

Murdrum :
Special law dating from the time of the Danes

If Norman was assassinated, collective fine was imposed on all those living in the area unless the murder was caught within 5 days

Put pressure on the population

Question 11

Invitation and settlement

Answer 11

1070s-1189

Jews were invited by William I

Jews were encouraged to become money lenders

Charter of Liberties

Views towards Jews changed

Blood Libel

rumors weren’t crushed

Question 12

Jews invited by William I to settle in England

Answer 12

They could read, write and do accounts at a time when not even kings were literate

Need them to help control land he had seized

Jews were the only religious minority and lived in towns together called Jewries

Question 13

Jews encouraged to be money lenders

Answer 13

Kings and bishops wanted to borrow money to build castles and cathedrals but Christians thought it was a sin to lend money

Laws were introduced that banned Jews from any other occupation

Some like Aaron in Lincoln and Licoricia in Oxford became very rich

Many poorer Jews worked in occupations like fishmonger, doctor, goldsmith, crossbow maker, artist, ladder-maker, cheese-maker

Question 14

Charter of Liberties

Answer 14

Jews could use them to trade and mix freely

Monarchs protected them by allowing them access to castles if in danger

In return that had to pay higher taxes

This meant they had to charge high rates of interest and Christians felt Normans hated them

Ill feelings grew and all Jews were seen as ‘the other’ as they were not Christian

1095: Christians fought in Crusades to try to expel Jerusalem’s Muslim inhabitants

Question 15

views towards Jews changed

Answer 15

Jews had to charge higher interest

The Crusades started

Question 16

The Blood Libel 1144

Answer 16

Norwich, Good Friday: dead boy was murdered and local priest and boy’s family accused the Jews

Jews were given protection in castles by sheriff as townspeople turned on them

Local monk Thomas of Monmouth wrote a book full of hatred and attacking Jews

Claimed to have insider knowledge that Jews were planning to ritually murder a Christian child every Good Friday to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus

Demanded the dead boy was a saint and Jews had bribed the sheriff

Church encouraged this rumor through propaganda and paintings of the boy as a saint or murdered by Jews were made

All over Europe, Jews were accused of child killings and were murdered

The government also spread propaganda

Question 17

Rumors weren’t crushed

Answer 17

Jews are implicated in the death of Jesus

Churches and king borrowed money from the Jews so didn’t want to pay them back

Question 18

post-blood libel key dates up to 1300s

Answer 18

1210: King John seized Jewish property, killing or torturing those who resisted

1218: Jews were made to wear a distinctive yellow cloth

1255: a new ‘Blood Libel’ when the body of a boy called High was found at the bottom of a well in Lincoln. All Jews were accused of planning ritual murder. Henry III arrested 90 Jews and hanged those who protested taking their property.

1264: 1000 Jews beaten to death in London

1275: Edward I made a law (the Statute of Jewry) that Jews were not allowed to collect interest. Most became so poor that they were forced to ‘clip’ the edges of coins and melt down the metal to sell.

1290: All Jews expelled from England-Edward I profited from the expulsion of the Jews by seizing their homes and taking their money

Question 19

Flemish Weavers: when, why, what, help given, hostility

Answer 19

1331

refugees whose land was torn apart by war, skilled craftsmen and women who wanted better life/wages

Settles first in south-east then across country becoming local artisans, prospered and set up guild of Flemish weavers that reached agreement with local workers

King Edward III restricted wool exports in order to build cloth-making industry, Flemings had the skills to kick-start a manufacturing economy, they were welcomes and became wealthy

Growing hostility towards foreign migrants (threatening English jobs)

Question 20

Hanseatic League: when, why, what, help given, hostility

Answer 20

1303

Edward I granted the League a Merchant’s Charter, giving it certain tax and customs privileges

Were here to make money, had significant impact on England’s economy, helping it become a rich manufacturing and trading nation, traded materials and food

Members were given special protection like the Bardis family from Florence

Great Rebellion (1381) and in 1492, London Steelyard was destroyed in anti-foreigner riots, people felt league negatively effected jobs and profits, hated their control of wool and cloth trade, felt League got special treatment. 1598: Queen Elizabeth I closed down the Steelyard

Question 21

Lombardy Bankers

Answer 21

1220s

To make profit from growing wool trade, Pope ruled Italian banks could charge interest on loans so they offered to lend money to Henry III who was turning against Jewish money lenders

Set up business and London got richer and richer until Edward III’s debt crisis, they were invested in boosting England’s economy

Letters of protection

London merchants demanded controls and restrictions, foreigners were disliked, believed they would make money then leave

Question 22

cultural migration

Answer 22

Muslims brought advanced ideas in science, medicine, mathematics, philosophy and astronomy

Important education centres were established where the English travelled to for latest ideas

Crusades over 200 years

Also brought new food, music and musical instruments