1.
History of the Jews in England
–
The history of the Jews in England goes back to the reign of William the Conqueror. The first written record of Jewish settlement in England dates from 1070, the Jewish presence continued until King Edward Is Edict of Expulsion in 1290. After the expulsion, there was no Jewish community, apart from individuals who practised Judaism secretly, while Cromwell never officially readmitted Jews to Britain, a small colony of Sephardic Jews living in London was identified in 1656 and allowed to remain. The Jewish Naturalisation Act of 1753, an attempt to legalise the Jewish presence in England, at the insistence of Irish leader Daniel OConnell, in 1846 the British law De Judaismo, which prescribed a special dress for Jews, was repealed. Due to the lack of violence in Britain in the 19th century, it acquired a reputation for religious tolerance. In the 1930s and 1940s, some European Jews fled to England to escape the Nazis, Jews faced anti-Semitism and stereotypes in Britain, and anti-Semitism in most cases went along with Germanophobia to the extent that Jews were equated with Germans in the early 20th century. This led many Jewish families to Anglicise their often German-sounding names, Jews in Britain now number 300,000, and England contains the second largest Jewish population in Europe and the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide. There is no evidence of Jews residing in England before the Norman Conquest, the few references in the Anglo-Saxon Church laws relate to Jewish practices about Easter. William of Malmesbury states that William the Conqueror brought Jews from Rouen to England, at first the status of Jews was not strictly determined. Henry granted a charter to Rabbi Joseph, the chief Rabbi of London, special weight was attributed to a Jews oath, which was valid against that of twelve Christians. The sixth clause of the charter was especially important, it granted to Jews the right to move wherever they wanted, as if they were the kings own property. Gentile-Jewish relations in England were disturbed under King Stephen, who burned down the house of a Jew in Oxford because he refused to pay a contribution to the kings expenses. In 1144 came the first report in history of the blood libel against Jews, Anthony Julius finds that the English were endlessly imaginative in inventing anti-Semitic allegations against the Jews. He says that England became the promoter, and indeed in some sense the inventor of literary anti-Semitism. In his book, Julius argues that blood libel is the key, because it incorporates the themes that Jews are malevolent, constantly conspiring against Christians, powerful, variations include stories about Jews poisoning wells, twisting minds, and buying and selling Christian souls and bodies. While the Crusaders were killing Jews in Germany, outbursts against Jews in England were, according to Jewish chroniclers, with the restoration of order under Henry II, Jews renewed their activity. Within five years of his accession Jews were found at London, Oxford, Cambridge, Norwich, Thetford, Bungay, Canterbury, Winchester, Newport, Stafford, Windsor, and Reading. Yet they were not permitted to bury their dead elsewhere than in London and their spread throughout the country enabled the king to draw upon their resources as occasion demanded
2.
Edict of Expulsion
–
In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. The expulsion edict remained in force for the rest of the Middle Ages, the edict was not an isolated incident, but the culmination of over 200 years of increased persecution. Oliver Cromwell permitted Jews to return to England in 1657, over 360 years after their banishment by Edward I, the first Jewish communities of significant size came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. Under the lords were further subjects such as serfs, who were bound and obliged to their lords, merchants had a special status in the system as did Jews. Jews were declared to be subjects of the King, unlike the rest of the population. This was an ambivalent legal position for the Jewish population, in that they were not tied to any particular lord and this could at times prove advantageous and at other times disadvantageous. Every successive king formally reviewed a royal charter granting Jews the right to remain in England, Jews did not enjoy any of the guarantees of the Magna Carta of 1215. Economically, Jews played a key role in the country, the church at the time strictly forbade the lending of money for profit. This created a vacuum in the economy of Europe that Jews filled due to discrimination in every other economic area. Canon law was not considered applicable to Jews, and Judaism does not forbid loans with interest between Jews and non-Jews, in consequence, some Jews made large amounts of money. Taking advantage of their status as his direct subjects, the King could appropriate Jewish assets in the form of taxation. He levied heavy taxes on Jews at will without having to summon Parliament, Jews acquired a reputation as extortionate moneylenders which made them extremely unpopular with both the church and the general public. While an anti-Jewish attitude was widespread in Europe, medieval England was particularly anti-Jewish, in frequent cases of blood libel, Jews were said to hunt for children to murder before Passover so they could use their blood to make the unleavened matzah. Anti-Jewish attitudes sparked numerous riots in which many Jews were murdered, the situation only got worse for Jews as the 13th century progressed. In 1218, Henry III of England proclaimed the Edict of the Badge, between 1219-72,49 levies were imposed on Jews for a total of 200,000 marks, a vast sum of money. The first major step towards expulsion took place in 1275, with the Statute of the Jewry, the statute outlawed all lending at interest and gave Jews fifteen years to readjust. In the duchy of Gascony in 1287, King Edward ordered the local Jews expelled, all their property was seized by the crown and all outstanding debts payable to Jews were transferred to the King’s name. By the time he returned to England in 1289, King Edward was deeply in debt, the next summer he summoned his knights to impose a steep tax
3.
William of Norwich
–
William of Norwich was an English boy whose death was, at the time, attributed to the Jewish community of Norwich. It is the first known medieval accusation against Jews of ritual murder, William was an apprentice tanner who regularly came into contact with Jews and visited their homes as part of his trade. His death was unsolved, the community of Norwich attributed the boys death to the Jews. William was shortly thereafter acclaimed as a saint in Norwich, with miracles attributed to him, Williams story was told in The Life and Miracles of William of Norwich, a multi-volume Latin work by Thomas of Monmouth, a monk in the Norwich Benedictine monastery. Thomas started The Life in 1149/50, he completed volume 7 by 1173, Augustus Jessopp, one of the editors of the first printed edition of Thomas work, describes Thomas as belonging to the class of those who are deceivers and being deceived. Since most information about Williams life comes only from Thomas, it is difficult to distinguish the facts of the case from the story of martyrdom created around it by Thomas, Thomas wrote that William was born on 2 February 1132 to a local Anglo-Saxon couple, Wenstan and Elviva. He was apprenticed to a skinner and tanner of hides, often dealing with local Jews, shortly before his murder, Williams mother was approached by a man who claimed to be a cook working for the Archdeacon of Norwich. He offered William a job in the Archdeacons kitchens, Williams mother was paid three shillings to let him go. William later visited his aunt in the company of this man and his aunt was apparently suspicious, and asked her daughter to follow them after they left. They were then entering the house of a local Jew. This was the last time William was seen alive, it was Holy Tuesday, on Holy Saturday, the twelve-year-old Williams body was found in Mousehold Heath, part of Thorpe Wood, outside Norwich. A local nun saw the body, but did not initially contact anyone, a forester named Henry de Sprowston then came across it. He noted injuries which suggested a violent death and the fact that the boy appeared to have been gagged with a wooden teazel, William was wearing a jacket and shoes. After consultation with the local priest, it was decided to bury the body on Easter Monday, in the meanwhile, local people came to look at it, and William was recognised. The body was buried at the murder site, and the following day, members of Williams family, one of whom was a priest. They exhumed it and then reburied it with proper ceremony, the Christians of Norwich appeared to have quickly blamed local Jews for the crime, and to have demanded justice from the local ecclesiastical court. He then took the Jews into protection in the castle, after the situation had calmed down, they returned to their homes. The issue was revived two years later, when a member of the Jewish community was murdered in an unrelated incident, King Stephen agreed to look into the matter, but later decided to let it drop
4.
Harold of Gloucester
–
Saint Harold was a child martyr who was reported to have been slain by Jews in Gloucester, England, in 1168. The claims arose in the aftermath of the circulation of the first blood libel myth following the murder of William of Norwich. A cult of Harold was briefly promoted in Gloucester, but soon died out, contemporary assumptions made about the circumstances of their deaths evolved into the blood libel. The accusations following Harolds death came after widely circulated claims of Jewish ritual child-murder in the case of William of Norwich, the stories created about Harolds death were followed by similar claims about Robert of Bury. The phenomenon culminated in the trials and executions occasioned by the death of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, Harolds body was apparently found floating in a river. They proceeded to identify marks on the body which were supposed to suggest that the child had made to wear a crown of thorns and had been subject to some form of crucifixion. All of these were features of the mythology created around the death of William of Norwich in Easter 1144, the story was given credence because Jews had apparently been congregating in Gloucester at the time for a Brit milah circumcision ceremony. The ritual spilling of a blood in circumcision was symbolically linked in the minds of Christians to the Crucifixion. There is no evidence that any Jews were ever arrested or charged with a crime, the story hardened into fact in later retellings. The attempt to establish a cult of Harold seems to have been unsuccessful and it was never officially supported and died out long before the Reformation. Within three years the first ritual murder charge was made in France
5.
Robert of Bury
–
Saint Robert of Bury was an English boy, allegedly murdered and found in the town of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1181. His death at a time of rising anti-Semitism was blamed on local Jews, though a hagiography of Robert was written, no copies are known, so the story of his life is now unknown beyond the few fragmentary references to it that survive. His cult continued until the English Reformation, contemporary assumptions made about the circumstances of their deaths are typical of blood libel. The first of these was William of Norwich, whose death, tradition states that Robert was kidnapped and then killed on Good Friday 1181. By the 1190s Robert had become the focus of a martyr cult, jocelin de Brakelond, a monk of Bury St. Edmunds, later wrote a chronicle covering this period. He also mentions writing a book about the life and miracles performed by the boy saint, information about the circumstances of his death remains unclear. John of Taxster is the source for the date, another record merely states that he was martyred at Easter by Jews. A later record refers to him as a boy crucified by the Jews, john Lydgate wrote a poem entitled Prayer for St. Lydgate says he was scourged and nailed to a tree. An illustration to a Latin prayer to Robert depicts him lying dead in a ditch beside a tree, with a nearby shooting an arrow upwards. Another image shows a woman holding the child over a well with the inscription the old woman wished and this may be the nurse obliquely mentioned in Lydgates poem, possibly the Christian accomplice. Alternatively, she may be a Jewish woman trying to hide the body after the murder, nothing more is known about the supposed events surrounding his death, or about Roberts identity, life or family. Historian Robert Bale argues that the cult of Robert arose because of the influence of the cult of William of Norwich. It established a pattern quickly taken up elsewhere, within three years the first ritual murder charge was made in France. Bale, referring to the research of Hillaby, suggests that the cult was promoted at a time when the abbey at Norwich was attempting to assert authority over Bury. He argues that Samson of Tottington, Abbot of Bury from 1182 to 1211 and it may have also been linked to local political rivalries, as Samson was trying to undermine his rival William the Sacrist who had business links with the towns Jews. The cult of Robert may have served as a factor in the later violent attack upon the Jews of Bury St Edmunds on Palm Sunday 1190. The whole surviving Jewish community was immediately expelled from the town by order of Abbot Samson
6.
Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln
–
Hugh of Lincoln was an English boy whose death was falsely attributed to Jews. Hugh is sometimes known as Little Saint Hugh to distinguish him from Saint Hugh of Lincoln. Hugh became one of the best known of the blood libel saints, Little Sir Hugh was never actually canonised. The nine-year-old Hugh disappeared on 31 July, and his body was discovered in a well on 29 August, a man called John of Lexington appears to have suggested that Jews were responsible. Hughs friends apparently claimed that Copin, a local Jew, had imprisoned Hugh, during which time he tortured and it was said that the body had been thrown into the well after attempts to bury it failed, when the earth had expelled it. Copin was arrested and, under torture, confessed to killing the child and he later appears to have implicated the Jewish community as a whole. He was executed, and the story would have ended there were it not for a series of events coincided with the child Hughs disappearance. Some six months earlier, King Henry III had sold his rights to tax the Jews to his brother, Richard, having lost this source of income, he declared that if a Jew was convicted of a crime, any money he had would then belong to the king. As a result, some ninety Jews were arrested in connection with Hughs disappearance and death and held in the Tower of London and this story clearly influenced the myth that developed around Hugh. Eighteen of the Jews were hanged for refusing to participate in the proceedings by throwing themselves on the mercy of a Christian jury and it was the first time ever the civil government handed out a death sentence for a conviction of ritual murder. King Henry promptly expropriated the property of those convicted, the others were pardoned and set free, most likely because Richard, who saw a potential threat to his own source of income, intervened on their behalf. And after tormenting him in ways they crucified him. When the boy was dead, they took the body down from the cross, shortly after news was spread of his death, miracles were attributed to Hugh, and he was rushed toward sainthood. Hugh became one of the youngest individual candidates for sainthood, with 27 July unofficially made his feast day, over time, however, the issue of the rush to sainthood was raised, and Hugh was never canonized. He never appeared in Butler’s Lives of the Saints, the Vatican never included the child Hugh in Catholic martyrology. His traditional English feast day is not celebrated, Lincoln Cathedral benefited from the episode, however, since, saint or not, Hugh was regarded as a Christian martyr, and sites associated with his life became objects of pilgrimage. The legend surrounding Hugh that emerged became part of popular culture, geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales makes reference to Hugh of Lincoln in The Prioresss Tale. In 1955, the Anglican Church placed a plaque at the site of Little Hughs former shrine at Lincoln Cathedral, bearing these words, trumped up stories of ritual murders of Christian boys by Jewish communities were common throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and even much later
7.
Sir Hugh
–
Sir Hugh is a traditional British folk song, Child ballad #155, Roud #73, a folkloric example of a blood libel. Some boys are playing with a ball, in Lincoln and they accidentally throw it over the wall of a Jews house. The daughter of the Jew comes out, dressed in green and he replies that cannot do this without his playmates. She entices him in with fruit and a gold ring, once he has sat down on a throne, she stabs him in the heart like a sheep. When the boy fails to come home, his mother concludes that he is skylarking and she sets out to find him, with a rod to beat him. From beyond the grave, the boy asks his mother to prepare a funeral winding sheet, in some versions he asks that if his father calls for him, the father is to be told that he is dead. In some versions the boys corpse shines like gold, in some versions the Jews daughter catches the blood in a basin and puts a prayerbook at his head and a bible at his feet. The song has found in England, Scotland, Canada. It was still popular in the nineteenth century. In medieval times such anti-Semitic tales were common, Jews had been expelled from England in 1290, and did not return until 1658. It seems unlikely that crude propaganda would be deliberately concocted and spread in the late 17th century, there is a tale that in 1255 a boy was kidnapped by Jews, and crucified. His body was found in a well, and a blood libel was built around this and used to lynch and murder many Jews in medieval Lincoln. The story appears in Annals of Waverley, according to Roud and Bishop, The subject matter, however, is disturbing, and reminds us that folklore is not always nice and cosy. The artist and poet Matthew Paris has a Latin fragment of this ballad in his Chronicle, thomas Percys Reliques has a version from Scotland. David Herd had a version, and so did Robert Jameison, the idea of a corpse speaking to the living occurs in the ballad The Murder of Maria Marten, The Cruel Mother and in The Unquiet Grave. Gruesome killings are common in Child ballads. Several Scottish versions have the boys playing with a ball in Scotland, a version from Northamptonshire says the boy was killed like a swine. A version from Northumberland sets the events at Easter, there is an Anglo-Norman version and a fragment in Latin
8.
British Jews
–
British Jews are British people of who are ethnically and/or religiously Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, the number of identifying Jews in England and Wales has risen slightly over the past decade, indicating a stability which contrasts with the usual impression of relentless diaspora decline. The growth is due to the rapid growth of the Charedi community. The Lost Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles recounts the journey of the Apostle Paul to Britain during the 1st Century AD, two hundred years later the Jews were no longer welcome. When,15 years later, Edward found that many of these provisions were ignored and they emigrated to countries such as Poland which protected them by law. A small English community persisted in hiding despite the expulsion, Jews were not banned from Scotland, which until 1707 was an independent kingdom. Gradually Jews eased back into England, first visiting for trade, then staying longer periods, benjamin Disraeli, of Jewish birth although he joined the Church of England, served in government for three decades, twice as prime minister. In 2006, the Jewish community celebrated the 350th anniversary of the resettlement in England, according to the 2011 census,263,346 people answered “Jewish” to the voluntary question on religion, compared with 259,927 in the previous count of 2001. However, this figure is considered an undercount. By comparison, the Jewish Virtual Library estimated a Jewish population of 291,000 in 2012, the 2001 Census included a religion question for the first time in its history,266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. However, the subject of who is a Jew is complex, the religion question appeared in the 2011 Census, but there was still no explicit option for Jewish in the ethnic-group question. The Board of Deputies had encouraged all Jews to indicate they were Jewish, from 1990 to 2006, the Jewish population showed a decrease from 340,000 Jews to 270,000. According to the 1996 Jewish Policy Review, nearly one in two are marrying people who do not share their faith, from 2005 to 2008, the Jewish population increased from 275,000 to 280,000, attributed largely to the high birth rates of Haredi Jews. Research by the University of Manchester in 2007 showed that 75 percent of British Jewish births were to the Haredi community, ultra-Orthodox women have an average of 6.9 children, and secular Jewish women 1.65. About two-thirds of the UKs Jews live in Greater London or contiguous parts of South Hertfordshire, substantial communities outside the London area include Greater Manchester, home to some 30,000 Jews, and Leeds, although the Leeds Jewish community became smaller in the late 20th century. Other substantial communities include Gateshead, Glasgow and Liverpool, as well as former industrial cities. Barnet and Hertsmere councils in the London borders polled as the first and second most Jewish local authorities in England, with Jews composing one in five, the British Jewish population has a substantially older profile than that of the general population. In England and Wales, the age of male Jews is 41.2, while the figure for all males is 36.1, Jewish females have a median age of 44.3
9.
History of the Jews in Ireland
–
The history of the Jews in Ireland extends back nearly a thousand years. Although the Jewish community has always been small in numbers, it is established and has generally been well-accepted into Irish life. Jews in Ireland have historically enjoyed a relative tolerance that was absent elsewhere in Europe. The earliest reference to the Jews in Ireland was in the year 1079, the Annals of Inisfallen record Five Jews came from over sea with gifts to Toirdelbach, and they were sent back again over sea. They were probably merchants from Normandy, Toirdelbach was the grandson of Brian Boru, a previous High King of Ireland. No further reference is found nearly a century later in the reign of Henry II of England. That monarch, fearful lest an independent kingdom should be established in Ireland, strongbow, however, went in defiance of the kings orders and, as a result, his estates were confiscated. This grant contains the instruction that all Jews in Ireland shall be intentive. The Jews of this period probably resided in or near Dublin, in the Dublin White Book of 1241, there is a grant of land containing various prohibitions against its sale or disposition by the grantee. Part of the prohibition reads vel in Judaismo ponere, the last mention of Jews in the Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland appears about 1286. As the next paragraph illustrates, Jews were certainly living in Ireland long before Oliver Cromwell revoked the English Edict of Expulsion nearly 400 years later, a permanent settlement of Jews was definitely established in the late fifteenth century. Following their expulsion from Portugal in 1497, some of these Sephardic Jews settled on Irelands south coast, one of them, William Annyas, was elected mayor of Youghal, County Cork, in 1555. Francis Annyas, was a three-time Mayor of Youghal in 1569,1576 and 1581, Irelands first synagogue was founded in 1660 near Dublin Castle. A plot of land was acquired in 1718 as a ground, called Ballybough Cemetery. It is situated in the Fairview district of Dublin, where there was a small Jewish colony, in December 1714, the Irish philosopher John Toland issued a pamphlet entitled Reasons for Naturalizing the Jews in Great Britain and Ireland. In 1746 a bill was introduced in the Irish House of Commons for naturalising persons professing the Jewish religion in Ireland and this was the first reference to Jews in the House of Commons up to this time. Another was introduced in the year, agreed to without amendment and presented to the Lord Lieutenant to be transmitted to England. These Irish bills, however, had one important result, namely, the formation of the Committee of Diligence
10.
History of the Jews in Scotland
–
The earliest date at which Jews arrived in Scotland is not known. It is possible that Jews visited Scotland at the time of the Roman Empires conquest of southern Britain, the earliest concrete historical references to Jews in Scotland are from the late 17th century. The vast majority of Scottish Jews today are Ashkenazi who mainly settled in Edinburgh, most histories of Jews in Scotland deal with the subject from a British perspective, thus tending to marginalise any distinctly Scottish dimension. Evidence of Jews in medieval Scotland is scanty, in 1180, the Bishop of Glasgow forbade churchmen to ledge their benefices for money borrowed from Jews. In the Middle Ages, much of Scotlands trade was with Continental Europe, the wool of the Border abbeys being the main export to Flanders. Scottish merchants from Aberdeen and Dundee had close trading links to Baltic ports in Poland and it is possible therefore that Jews may have come to Scotland to do business with their Scottish counterparts, although no direct evidence of this exists. The first recorded Jew in Edinburgh was one David Brown who made an application to reside and trade in the city in 1691. Most Jewish immigration appears to have occurred post-industrialisation, and post-1707, oliver Cromwell readmitted Jews to the Commonwealth of England in 1656, and would have had influence over whether they could reside north of the border. Scotland was under the jurisdiction of the Jew Bill, enacted in 1753, the first graduate from the University of Glasgow who was openly known to be Jewish was Levi Myers, in 1787. Unlike their English contemporaries, Scottish students were not required to take a religious oath, in 1795, Herman Lyon, a dentist and chiropodist, bought a burial plot in Edinburgh. He had moved to Scotland from Germany in 1788, the presence of the plot on Calton Hill is no longer obvious today, but it is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1852 as Jews Burial vault. The first Jewish congregation in Edinburgh was founded in 1816, and that of Aberdeen was founded in 1893. The Jewish cemetery in Dundee indicates that there has been a Jewish congregation in that city since the 19th century, isaac Cohen, a hatter resident in Glasgow, was admitted a burgess of the city on 22 September 1812. The first interment on the Glasgow Necropolis was that of Joseph Levi and this occurred in the year before the formal opening of the burial ground, a part of it having been sold to the Jewish community beforehand for one hundred guineas. Glasgow-born Asher Asher was the first Scottish Jew to enter the medical profession and he was the author of The Jewish Rite of Circumcision. By 1878, Jews became attached to the Scottish aristocracy when Hannah de Rothschild, born in England, married Archibald Primrose and her son, Harry, would become Secretary of State for Scotland in 1945 during Winston Churchills postwar Caretaker Government. In order to avoid persecution in the Russian Empire, Jews settled in the cities of Britain, including Scotland. A smaller community existed in Edinburgh and even smaller groups in Dundee, Aberdeen, Greenock, Russian Jews tended to come from the west of the empire, especially the Baltic countries, in particular Lithuania, hoping to use Scotland as a stopping post en route to North America
11.
Jews in Wales
–
The history of the Jews in Wales begins in the Middle Ages. In the 13th century, shortly after the English conquest of Wales, except for one exceptional record, between 1290 and the formal return of the Jews to England in 1655, there is no official trace of Jews on Welsh soil. Major Jewish settlement in Wales dates from the 19th century, although there are records of Jewish communities in the 18th century. Like the rest of Western Europe, medieval Wales was a Christian country, the clergyman and author Gerald of Wales wrote an account of his journey through Wales in 1188 in order to recruit soldiers for the Third Crusade. During the thirteenth century there are records of Jews in Abergavenny, Caerleon and Chepstow and it is likely that most if not all Jews left Wales after Edward Is act of 1290, although the writ of the English king would not have run in many of the Marcher Lordships. The Welsh chronicle Brut y Tywysogion refers to the act but only in the context of the Jews in neighbouring England, but there is a remarkable record of an unnamed Jew in the commote of Manor Deilo in Carmarthenshire in 1386/7. There is no evidence for Wales. The BBC notes, The oldest non-Christian faith to be established was Judaism, Jewish communities were formed in the next century in Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd and Tredegar. The rapid expansion of the mining industry in the 19th century lead to major economic growth. The Jews were one group who immigrated to Wales in large numbers during this period, leading to the founding of new Jewish communities, particularly in the heavily industrialised South Wales Valleys. A synagogue was founded in Merthyr Tydfil in 1875, and by the end of the century, most towns in the Valleys were home to small Jewish communities, generally, these communities appear to have been well tolerated, though there were some notable exceptions. In 1911 antisemitic sentiment came to a head in the Tredegar area, early 20th-century Welsh Jewish society is featured in the 1999 film Solomon & Gaenor, which is set at the time of the Tredegar riots. Some of these topics were covered in the documentary The Kosher Comedian presented by Jewish/Welsh writer comedian Bennett Arron, Jews continue to flourish in Wales, being augmented by refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe in the late 1930s. The modern community in South Wales is centred in the Cardiff Reform Synagogue, the synagogue of Merthyr Tydfil, the major one north of Cardiff, ceased to hold regular services in the 1970s and was later sold. It is a Listed Building originally listed by the ex chief of Welsh Judaism Lara Gowing, troubled Eden, an Anatomy of British Jewry, pp. 59–61. The Chosen People, Wales and the Jews, seren ISBN 1-85411-309-7 ISBN 978-1854113092 Henriques, U. R. Q. The Jews of South Wales, Historical Studies, Cardiff, University of Wales Press Roth, C. The Rise of Provincial Jewry,1950, p.104 Jordan, G. Heyman, hineni, Life Portraits from a Jewish Community
12.
Norman conquest of England
–
Williams claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged Williams hopes for the throne. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, within days, William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to confront him, leaving a significant portion of his army in the north, Harolds army confronted Williams invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings, Williams force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement. Although Williams main rivals were gone, he faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated, some of the elite fled into exile, to control his new kingdom, William granted lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strongpoints throughout the land. More gradual changes affected the classes and village life, the main change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery. There was little alteration in the structure of government, as the new Norman administrators took over many of the forms of Anglo-Saxon government. In 911 the Carolingian French ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings under their leader Rollo to settle in Normandy as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for the land, the Norsemen under Rollo were expected to provide protection along the coast against further Viking invaders and their settlement proved successful, and the Vikings in the region became known as the Northmen from which Normandy and Normans are derived. The Normans quickly adopted the culture, renouncing paganism and converting to Christianity. They adopted the langue doïl of their new home and added features from their own Norse language, in 1002 King Æthelred the Unready married Emma of Normandy, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandys ambitions for the English throne. When King Edward died at the beginning of 1066, the lack of a clear heir led to a succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England. Edwards immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, Harold was immediately challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. William and Harald at once set about assembling troops and ships to invade England, in early 1066, Harolds exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson, raided southeastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, later joined by other ships from Orkney. Threatened by Harolds fleet, Tostig moved north and raided in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but he was back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia. Deserted by most of his followers, he withdrew to Scotland, King Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in early September, leading a fleet of more than 300 ships carrying perhaps 15,000 men. Haralds army was augmented by the forces of Tostig, who threw his support behind the Norwegian kings bid for the throne
13.
Easter
–
It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension. The First Council of Nicaea established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the council. No details for the computation were specified, these were worked out in practice and it has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary. Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, in many languages, the words for Easter and Passover are identical or very similar. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection, traditionally decorates the area of churches on this day. Additional customs that have associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades. There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally, however, it is possible that Bede was only speculating about the origin of the term since there is no firm evidence that such a goddess actually existed. In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Πάσχα, Pascha, the word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek, Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration. The New Testament states that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith, the resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness. For those who trust in Jesus death and resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory, any person who chooses to follow Jesus receives a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Through faith in the working of God those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation. Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the room during the Last Supper he prepared himself. He identified the matzah and cup of wine as his soon to be sacrificed
14.
Commerce
–
Commerce is the activity of buying and selling of goods and services, especially on a large scale. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural and technological systems that are in operation in any country or internationally, commerce is derived from the Latin commercium, from cum, together, and merx, merchandise. Some commentators trace the origins of commerce to the start of transaction in prehistoric times. Apart from traditional self-sufficiency, trading became a facility of prehistoric people. Historian Peter Watson and Ramesh Manickam dates the history of commerce from circa 150,000 years ago. In historic times, the introduction of currency as a money, facilitated a wider exchange of goods. Numismatists have collections of these tokens, which include coins from some Ancient World large-scale societies. For example, if a man who makes pots for a living needs a new house, he/she may wish to hire someone to build it for him/her. But he/she cannot make an equivalent number of pots to equal this service done for him/her, because if the builder could build the house. During the Middle Ages, commerce developed in Europe by trading luxury goods at trade fairs, wealth became converted into movable wealth or capital. Banking systems developed where money on account was transferred across national boundaries, hand to hand markets became a feature of town life, and were regulated by town authorities. Today commerce includes as a subset a complex system of companies which try to maximize their profits by offering products and services to the market at the lowest production cost
15.
Capital (economics)
–
In economics, capital goods, real capital, or capital assets are already-produced, durable goods or any non-financial asset that is used in production of goods or services. Adam Smith defines capital as That part of a stock which he expects to afford him revenue. The term stock is derived from the Old English word for stump or tree trunk and it has been used to refer to all the moveable property of a farm since at least 1510. In Middle Ages France contracted leases and loans bearing interest specified payment, how a capital good is maintained or returned to its pre-production state varies with the type of capital involved. In most cases capital is replaced after a period as newer forms of capital make continued use of current capital non profitable. It is also possible that advances make a form of capital practical again. Capital is distinct from land in that capital can be increased by human labor, at any given moment in time, total physical capital may be referred to as the capital stock. Capital is an input in the production function, homes and personal autos are not usually defined as capital but as durable goods because they are not used in a production of saleable goods and services. In Marxist political economy, capital is used to buy something only in order to sell it again to realize a financial profit. In more contemporary schools of economics, this form of capital is referred to as financial capital and is distinguished from capital goods. Classical and neoclassical economics regard capital as one of the factors of production, all other inputs to production are called intangibles in classical economics. This includes organization, entrepreneurship, knowledge, goodwill, or management and this is what makes it a factor of production, The good is not used up immediately in the process of production unlike raw materials or intermediate goods. The good can be produced or increased and these distinctions of convenience have carried over to contemporary economic theory. There was the clarification that capital is a stock. As such, its value can be estimated at a point in time, by contrast, investment, as production to be added to the capital stock, is described as taking place over time, thus a flow. Since at least the 1960s economists have increasingly focused on forms of capital. These terms lead to questions and controversies discussed in those articles. It is in the form of assets, traded in financial markets
16.
William the Conqueror
–
William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward, after a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, by Roberts mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, during his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke and for their own ends. In 1047 William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy and his marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointments of his supporters as bishops and his consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighbouring county of Maine. In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066 and he made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 Williams hold on England was mostly secure, Williams final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France and his reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, Williams lands were divided after his death, Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, and his second surviving son, William Rufus, received England. Norsemen first began raiding in what became Normandy in the late 8th century, permanent Scandinavian settlement occurred before 911, when Rollo, one of the Viking leaders, and King Charles the Simple of France reached an agreement surrendering the county of Rouen to Rollo. The lands around Rouen became the core of the duchy of Normandy. Normandy may have used as a base when Scandinavian attacks on England were renewed at the end of the 10th century. In an effort to improve matters, King Æthelred the Unready took Emma of Normandy, sister of Duke Richard II, as his second wife in 1002
17.
Rouen
–
Rouen is a city on the River Seine in the north of France. It is the capital of the region of Normandy, formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy during the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th to the 15th centuries. The population of the area at the 2007 census was 532,559. People from Rouen are known as Rouennais, Rouen and its metropolitan area of 70 suburban communes form the Agglomeration community of Rouen-Elbeuf-Austreberthe, with 494,382 inhabitants at the 2010 census. Rouen was founded by the Gaulish tribe of Veliocasses, who controlled an area in the lower Seine valley. The Gauls named the settlement Ratumacos and the Romans called it Rotomagus, Roman Rotomagus was the second city of Gallia Lugdunensis, after Lugdunum. In the 5th century, it became the seat of a bishopric, in the 10th century Rouen became the capital of the Duchy of Normandy and the residence of the dukes, until William the Conqueror established his castle at Caen. During the early 12th century the population reached 30,000. In 1150, Rouen received its charter, which permitted self-government. During the 12th century, Rouen was probably the site of a Jewish yeshiva, at that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the total population. The well-preserved remains of a medieval Jewish building, that could be a yeshiva, were discovered in the 1970s under the Rouen Law Courts. In 1200, a destroyed part of Rouens Romanesque cathedral, leaving just St Romains tower, the side porches of its front. New work on the present Gothic cathedral of Rouen began, in the nave, transept, choir, on 24 June 1204, Philip Augustus entered Rouen and annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. The fall of Rouen meant the end of Normandys sovereign status and he demolished the Norman castle and replaced it with his own, the Château Bouvreuil, built on the site of the Gallo-Roman amphitheatre. A textile industry developed based on wool imported from England, competing with the northern County of Flanders, the city found its market niche in the Champagne fairs. Rouen also depended on the traffic of the Seine for its prosperity. Wine and wheat were exported to England, with tin and wool received in return, in the late 13th century urban strife threatened the city, in 1291, the mayor was assassinated and noble residences in the city were pillaged
18.
Normandy
–
Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
19.
Artisan
–
Artisans practice a craft and may through experience and aptitude reach the expressive levels of an artist. The adjective artisanal is sometimes used in describing hand-processing in what is viewed as an industrial process. Thus, artisanal is sometimes used in marketing and advertising as a word to describe or imply some relation with the crafting of handmade food products, such as bread. Many of these have traditionally been handmade, rural or pastoral goods but are now commonly made on a larger scale with automated mechanization in factories. Artisans were the dominant producers of products prior to the Industrial Revolution. In ancient Greece, artisans were drawn to agoras and often built workshops nearby, during the Middle Ages, the term artisan was applied to those who made things or provided services. It did not apply to unskilled manual labourers, Artisans were divided into two distinct groups, those who operated their own businesses and those who did not. Those who owned their businesses were called masters, while the latter were the journeymen, one misunderstanding many people have about this social group is that they picture them as workers in the modern sense, employed by someone. The most influential group among the artisans were the masters, the business owners, the owners enjoyed a higher social status in their communities. Shokunin is a Japanese word for artisan or craftsman, which implies a pride in ones own work. In the words of shokunin Tashio Odate, Shokunin means not only having technical skill, a social obligation to work his best for the general welfare of the people, obligation both material and spiritual. Applied art Artist Arts and Crafts movement Caste — Tarkhan Guild Handicraft The dictionary definition of artisan at Wiktionary History of Artisans
20.
Medicine
–
Medicine is the science and practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. The word medicine is derived from Latin medicus, meaning a physician, Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness. Medicine has existed for thousands of years, during most of which it was an art frequently having connections to the religious and philosophical beliefs of local culture. For example, a man would apply herbs and say prayers for healing, or an ancient philosopher. In recent centuries, since the advent of modern science, most medicine has become a combination of art, while stitching technique for sutures is an art learned through practice, the knowledge of what happens at the cellular and molecular level in the tissues being stitched arises through science. Prescientific forms of medicine are now known as medicine and folk medicine. They remain commonly used with or instead of medicine and are thus called alternative medicine. For example, evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture is variable and inconsistent for any condition, in contrast, treatments outside the bounds of safety and efficacy are termed quackery. Medical availability and clinical practice varies across the world due to differences in culture. In modern clinical practice, physicians personally assess patients in order to diagnose, treat, the doctor-patient relationship typically begins an interaction with an examination of the patients medical history and medical record, followed by a medical interview and a physical examination. Basic diagnostic medical devices are typically used, after examination for signs and interviewing for symptoms, the doctor may order medical tests, take a biopsy, or prescribe pharmaceutical drugs or other therapies. Differential diagnosis methods help to rule out conditions based on the information provided, during the encounter, properly informing the patient of all relevant facts is an important part of the relationship and the development of trust. The medical encounter is then documented in the record, which is a legal document in many jurisdictions. Follow-ups may be shorter but follow the general procedure. The diagnosis and treatment may take only a few minutes or a few weeks depending upon the complexity of the issue, the components of the medical interview and encounter are, Chief complaint, the reason for the current medical visit. They are in the patients own words and are recorded along with the duration of each one, also called chief concern or presenting complaint. History of present illness, the order of events of symptoms. Distinguishable from history of illness, often called past medical history
21.
Money lending
–
A moneylender is a person or group who typically offers small personal loans at high rates of interest and is distinct from banks and financial institutions that typically provide such loans. The high interest rates charged by them is justified in many cases by the risk involved and they play an active role in lending to people with less access to banking activities, such as the unbanked or underbanked or in situations where borrowers do not have good credit history. They sometimes lend to people like gamblers and compulsive shoppers who often get into debt, many countries have laws in place that require moneylenders to be registered, and set limits on the interest rates that may be charged. For example, in India licensed moneylenders are governed by Money Lenders Acts of respective states, a paper from the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab found that people living in poverty tend to borrow money from moneylenders rather than banks. For example, in the Udaipur sample they used, 18% of those who borrowed money borrowed from moneylenders compared to 6. 4% from a formal source, in the urban Hyderabad sample, 52% of those who borrow money borrow from moneylenders compared to 5% from commercial banks. Bank Loan shark Microfinance Money changer Payday lenders Predatory lending Term deposit Usury
22.
Interest
–
Interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum. It is distinct from a fee which the borrower may pay the lender or some third party, in the case of savings, the customer is the lender, and the bank plays the role of the borrower. Interest differs from profit, in that interest is received by a lender, whereas profit is received by the owner of an asset, the rate of interest is equal to the interest amount paid or received over a particular period divided by the principal sum borrowed or lent. Compound interest means that interest is earned on prior interest in addition to the principal, due to compounding, the total amount of debt grows exponentially, and its mathematical study led to the discovery of the number e. In practice, interest is most often calculated on a daily, monthly, or yearly basis, according to historian Paul Johnson, the lending of food money was commonplace in Middle Eastern civilizations as early as 5000 BC. The argument that acquired seeds and animals could reproduce themselves was used to justify interest, early Muslims called this riba, translated today as the charging of interest. The First Council of Nicaea, in 325, forbade clergy from engaging in usury which was defined as lending on interest above 1 percent per month, ninth century ecumenical councils applied this regulation to the laity. Catholic Church opposition to interest hardened in the era of scholastics, in the medieval economy, loans were entirely a consequence of necessity and, under those conditions, it was considered morally reproachable to charge interest. For the same reason, interest has often been looked down upon in Islamic civilization, medieval jurists developed several financial instruments to encourage responsible lending and circumvent prohibitions on usury, such as the Contractum trinius. In the Renaissance era, greater mobility of people facilitated an increase in commerce, given that borrowed money was no longer strictly for consumption but for production as well, interest was no longer viewed in the same manner. The first attempt to control interest rates through manipulation of the supply was made by the Banque de France in 1847. The latter half of the 20th century saw the rise of interest-free Islamic banking and finance, a movement that applies Islamic law to financial institutions, some countries, including Iran, Sudan, and Pakistan, have taken steps to eradicate interest from their financial systems. All financial transactions must be asset-backed and it does not charge any interest or fee for the service of lending, in economics, the rate of interest is the price of credit, and it plays the role of the cost of capital. Over centuries, various schools of thought have developed explanations of interest and interest rates, the School of Salamanca justified paying interest in terms of the benefit to the borrower, and interest received by the lender in terms of a premium for the risk of default. In the sixteenth century, Martín de Azpilcueta applied a time preference argument, accordingly, interest is compensation for the time the lender forgoes the benefit of spending the money. On the question of why interest rates are normally greater than zero, in 1770, French economist Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, for the land value to remain positive and finite keeps the interest rate above zero. Adam Smith, Carl Menger, and Frédéric Bastiat also propounded theories of interest rates, in the 1930s, Wicksells approach was refined by Bertil Ohlin and Dennis Robertson and became known as the loanable funds theory. Other notable interest rate theories of the period are those of Irving Fisher, simple interest is calculated only on the principal amount, or on that portion of the principal amount that remains
23.
Sin
–
In a religious context, sin is the act of violating Gods will by transgressing his commandments. Sin can also be viewed as any thought or action that endangers the ideal relationship between an individual and God, or as any diversion from the ideal order for human living. To sin has been defined as to miss the mark, the word derives from Old English syn, for original *sunjō. The stem may be related to that of Latin sons, sont-is guilty, in Old English there are examples of the original general sense, ‘offence, wrong-doing, misdeed. e. In the Baháí Faith, humans are considered good, fundamentally spiritual beings. Human beings were created because of Gods immeasurable love, however, the Baháí teachings compare the human heart to a mirror, which, if turned away from the light of the sun, is incapable of receiving Gods love. Buddhism believes in the principle of karma, whereby suffering is the consequence of greed, anger. While there is no direct Buddhist equivalent of the Abrahamic concept of sin, the concept of Buddhist ethics is consequentialist in nature and is not based upon duty towards any deity. Karma means action, and in Buddhist context, motivation is the most important aspect of an action, whether karma done with mind, body and/or speech is called good or bad, depends on whether it would bring pleasant or unpleasant results to the person who does the action. One needs to purify negative karma Four Satipatthanas to free oneself from obstacles to liberation from the circle of rebirth. The purification reduces suffering and in the end one reaches Nirvana, an enlightened being is free of all the suffering and karmas, and will not be automatically born again. In the Old Testament, some sins were punishable by death in different forms, christians consider the Old Covenant to be fulfilled by the Gospel. In the New Testament however, the forgiveness of sin is effected through repentance which involves confessing the sin, Sin is forgiven, when the sinner acknowledges, confesses, and repents for their sin. The unregenerate man is expected to confess his sins to God through repentance in order to be restored to relationship with God. The unregenerate man has never before been in a relationship with God. When, as a part of his salvation, he is forgiven, he enters into a union with God which abides forever. In the Epistle to the Romans 6,23, it is mentioned that the wages of sin is death, in Jewish Christianity, sin is believed to alienate the sinner from God even though He has extreme love for mankind. It has damaged and completely severed the relationship of humanity to God and that relationship can only be restored through acceptance of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross as a satisfactory sacrifice for the sins of humanity
24.
Usury
–
Usury is, as defined today, the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. Originally, usury meant interest of any kind, a loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors. Historically in Christian societies, and still in many Islamic societies today, someone who practices usury can be called a usurer, but a more common term in contemporary English is loan shark. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning, taking advantage of others misfortunes—or in a legal sense where interest rates may be regulated by law, historically, some cultures have regarded charging any interest for loans as sinful. Some of the earliest known condemnations of usury come from the Vedic texts of India, similar condemnations are found in religious texts from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. At times, many nations from ancient China to ancient Greece to ancient Rome have outlawed loans with any interest, though the Roman Empire eventually allowed loans with carefully restricted interest rates, the Christian church in medieval Europe banned the charging of interest at any rate. Banking during Roman times was different from modern banking, during the Principate, most banking activities were conducted by private individuals, not by large banking firms like the ones that exist today. Since almost all moneylenders in the Empire were private individuals, anybody that had any additional capital and wished to lend it out could easily do so. The annual rates of interest on loans varied in the range of 4–12 percent, the apparent absence of intermediate rates suggests that the Romans may have had difficulty calculating the interest due on anything other than mathematically convenient rates. They quoted them on a basis, and the most common rates were multiples of twelve. Monthly rates tended to range from simple fractions to 3–4 percent, moneylending during this period was largely a matter of private loans advanced to persons short of cash, whether persistently in debt or temporarily until the next harvest. Mostly, it was undertaken by exceedingly rich men who were prepared to take on a risk if the profit looked good. Investment was always regarded as a matter of seeking personal profit, Banking was of the small, back-street variety, run by the urban lower-middle class of petty shopkeepers. By the 3rd century, acute currency problems in the Empire drove them into decline and it was evident that usury meant exploitation of the poor. The First Council of Nicaea, in 325, forbade clergy from engaging in usury, at the time, usury was interest of any kind, and the canon forbade the clergy to lend money at interest rates even as low as 1 percent per year. Later ecumenical councils applied this regulation to the laity, Lateran III decreed that persons who accepted interest on loans could receive neither the sacraments nor Christian burial. Pope Clement V made the belief in the right to usury a heresy in 1311, pope Sixtus V condemned the practice of charging interest as detestable to God and man, damned by the sacred canons and contrary to Christian charity. Theological historian John Noonan argues that the doctrine was enunciated by popes, certain negative historical renditions of usury carry with them social connotations of perceived unjust or discriminatory lending practices
25.
Westminster Abbey
–
It is one of the United Kingdoms most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral, since 1560, however, the building is no longer an abbey nor a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England Royal Peculiar—a church responsible directly to the sovereign. The building itself is the abbey church. According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at the site in the 7th century, at the time of Mellitus, construction of the present church began in 1245, on the orders of King Henry III. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have held in Westminster Abbey. There have been at least 16 royal weddings at the abbey since 1100, two were of reigning monarchs, although, before 1919, there had been none for some 500 years. The first reports of the abbey are based on a tradition claiming that a young fisherman called Aldrich on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter near the site. This seems to be quoted to justify the gifts of salmon from Thames fishermen that the abbey received in later years, in the present was, the Fishmongers Company still gives a salmon every year. The proven origins are that in the 960s or early 970s, Saint Dunstan, assisted by King Edgar, between 1042 and 1052, King Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peters Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in the Romanesque style, the building was completed around 1090 and was consecrated on 28 December 1065, only a week before Edwards death on 5 January 1066. A week later, he was buried in the church, and, nine years later and his successor, Harold II, was probably crowned in the abbey, although the first documented coronation is that of William the Conqueror later the same year. The only extant depiction of Edwards abbey, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is in the Bayeux Tapestry, construction of the present church was begun in 1245 by Henry III who selected the site for his burial. The abbot and monks, in proximity to the royal Palace of Westminster, the abbot often was employed on royal service and in due course took his place in the House of Lords as of right. The abbey built shops and dwellings on the west side, encroaching upon the sanctuary, the abbey became the coronation site of Norman kings. The Confessors shrine subsequently played a part in his canonisation. The work continued between 1245 and 1517 and was finished by the architect Henry Yevele in the reign of Richard II. Henry III also commissioned the unique Cosmati pavement in front of the High Altar, Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1503. Much of the came from Caen, in France, the Isle of Portland
26.
Disputation
–
In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences. Fixed rules governed the process, they demanded dependence on traditional written authorities, a significant category of disputations took place between Christian and Jewish theologians as a form of both theological and philosophical debate and proselytization. Often, the Christian side was represented by a recent convert from Judaism, the only way for the Jewish side to win was to force a draw by drawing the Christian side into a position in which it was necessary to deny the Old Testament to win, committing heresy. The commission of Christian theologians condemned the Talmud to be burned and on June 17,1244,1263 – the Disputation of Barcelona before King James I of Aragon, between the monk Pablo Christiani and Rabbi Moses ben Nachman. At the end of disputation, king awarded Nachmanides a monetary prize, nevertheless, the Dominicans claimed the victory and Nachmanides was exiled and his report of the proceedings was condemned and burned. A committee appointed by the king censored the passages from the Talmud they deemed offensive,1375 – public disputations held at Burgos and Avila by Moses Cohen de Tordesillas with converts from Judaism John of Valladolid and Abner of Burgos. 1413 – the Disputation of Tortosa in Spain, staged by the Antipope Benedict XIII, as a result, the Pope gave instructions by which all books of the Talmud would be handed over to his functionaries for censorship. Martin Luther opened the Protestant Reformation by demanding a disputation upon his 95 theses,31 October 1517, although presented as a call to an ordinary scholastic dispute, the oral debate never occurred. During a convention held at Heidelberg in April,1518, Luther directed a dispute on 28 theological and 12 philosophical theses and he was successful in winning over Johannes Brenz and the Dominican Martin Bucer. Johann Eck became involved in a literary contest with Andreas Karlstadt, Eck came to Leipzig with one attendant, Luther and Karlstadt entered the city accompanied by an army of adherents, mostly students. From 27 June to 4 July Eck and Karlstadt debated the subject of free will, Eck forced his antagonist to make admissions which stultified the new Lutheran doctrine, whereupon Luther himself came forward to assail the dogma of Roman supremacy by divine right. The debate on papal primacy was succeeded by discussions of purgatory, indulgences, penance, on 14 and 15 July, Karlstadt resumed the debate on free will and good works. Finally, Duke George declared the disputation closed, and each of the departed, as usual. Luther gained the support of Melanchthon, the Leipzig Disputation was the last occasion on which the ancient custom of swearing to advance no tenet contrary to Catholic doctrine was observed. In all subsequent debates between Catholics and Protestants, the text of Holy Writ was taken as the authority. This placed the Catholics in a disadvantageous position and this was particularly the case in Switzerland, where Zwingli and his lieutenants organized a number of one-sided debates under the presidency of town councils already won over to Protestantism. Such were the disputations of Zurich,1523, of Swiss Baden,1526, in all of these the result was the abolition of Catholic worship and in their opinion the desecration of churches and religious institutions. The Emperor Charles V tried to bring the religious troubles of Germany to a speedy, as the plague was raging in that city the conference took place in Hagenau
27.
Mainz
–
Mainz is the capital and largest city of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It was the capital of the Electorate of Mainz at the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The city is famous as the home of the invention of the printing press. Until the twentieth century, Mainz was usually referred to in English by its French name, Mainz is located on the 50th latitude, on the west bank of the river Rhine, opposite the confluence of the Main with the Rhine. The population in the early 2012 was 200,957, an additional 18,619 people maintain a primary residence elsewhere but have a home in Mainz. The city is part of the Rhein Metro area comprising 5.8 million people, Mainz can easily be reached from Frankfurt International Airport in 25 minutes by commuter railway. Mainzs history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to the Rhine river historically handling much of the regions waterborne cargo, todays huge container port hub allowing trimodal transport is located on the North Side of the town. The river also provides another positive effect, moderating Mainzs climate, after the last ice age, sand dunes were deposited in the Rhine valley at what was to become the western edge of the city. The Mainz Sand Dunes area is now a reserve with a unique landscape. When the Mainz legion camp was founded in 13/12 BC, the buildings near the Rhine River, historical sources and archaeological findings both prove the importance of the military and civilian Mogontiacum as a port city on the Rhine. The Roman stronghold or castrum Mogontiacum, the precursor to Mainz, was founded by the Roman general Drusus perhaps as early as 13/12 BC. As related by Suetonius the existence of Mogontiacum is well established by four years later, although the city is situated opposite the mouth of the Main river, the name of Mainz is not from Main, the similarity being perhaps due to diachronic analogy. Main is from Latin Menus, the name the Romans used for the river, linguistic analysis of the many forms that the name Mainz has taken on make it clear that it is a simplification of Mogontiacum. The name appears to be Celtic and ultimately it is, however, it had also become Roman and was selected by them with a special significance. Mogontiacum was an important military town throughout Roman times, probably due to its position at the confluence of the Main. The town of Mogontiacum grew up between the fort and the river, the castrum was the base of Legio XIIII Gemina and XVI Gallica, XXII Primigenia, IIII Macedonica, I Adiutrix, XXI Rapax, and XIIII Gemina, among others. Mainz was also a base of a Roman river fleet, the Classis Germanica, remains of Roman troop ships and a patrol boat from the late 4th century were discovered in 1982/86 and may now be viewed in the Museum für Antike Schifffahrt. A temple dedicated to Isis Panthea and Magna Mater was discovered in 2000 and is open to the public
28.
Henry I of England
–
Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death. Henry was the son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin. On Williams death in 1087, Henrys elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but William and Robert deposed him in 1091. Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert, Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100, and he seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of Williams less popular policies. Henry married Matilda of Scotland but continued to have a number of mistresses. Robert, who invaded in 1101, disputed Henrys control of England, the peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life, following Henrys victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England, Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henrys system were new men of obscure backgrounds rather than families of high status. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury. He supported the Cluniac order and played a role in the selection of the senior clergy in England. Henrys only legitimate son and heir, William Adelin, drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, Henry took a second wife, Adeliza, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. In response to this, Henry declared his daughter, Matilda, his heir, the relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness, despite his plans for Matilda, the King was succeeded by his nephew, Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy. Henry was probably born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year, possibly in the town of Selby in Yorkshire. His father was William the Conqueror, who had originally been the Duke of Normandy and then, following the invasion of 1066, became the King of England, the invasion had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel. These Anglo-Norman barons typically had close links to the kingdom of France, Henrys mother, Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, and she probably named Henry after her uncle, King Henry I of France. Henry was the youngest of William and Matildas four sons, physically he resembled his older brothers Robert Curthose, Richard and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, short, stocky and barrel-chested, with black hair
29.
Royal charter
–
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organisations such as cities or universities, Charters should be distinguished from warrants and letters of appointment, as they have perpetual effect. Typically, a Royal Charter is produced as a high-quality work of calligraphy on vellum, the British monarchy has issued over 980 royal charters. Of these about 750 remain in existence, the earliest was to the town of Tain in 1066, making it the oldest Royal Burgh in Scotland, followed by the University of Cambridge in 1231. Charters continue to be issued by the British Crown, a recent example being that awarded to the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, Charters have been used in Europe since medieval times to create cities. The date that such a charter is granted is considered to be when a city is founded, at one time, a royal charter was the sole means by which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means are generally used nowadays instead. In the period before 1958,32 higher education institutes had been created by royal charter and these were typically engineering or technical institutions rather than universities. Royal decrees can therefore no longer grant higher education status or university status. A Royal Charter is granted by Order in Council, either creating an incorporated body and this is an exercise of the Royal Prerogative, and, in Canada, there are hundreds of organisations under Royal Charters. Such organisations include charities, businesses, colleges, universities, today, it is mostly charities and professional institutions who receive Royal Charters. Application for a charter is a petition to the Queen-in-Council, however, meeting these benchmarks does not guarantee the issuance of a Royal Charter. Companies, corporations, and societies in Canada founded under or augmented by a Royal Charter include, Royal Charter was issued in August 1826 to purchase and develop lands. Purchased the Crown Reserve of 1,384,413 acres, cities under Royal Charter are not subject to municipal Acts of Parliament applied generally to other municipalities, and instead are governed by legislation applicable to each city individually. The Royal Charter codifies the laws applied to the particular city, the Universitys Pontifical Charter was granted by Pope Leo XIII in 1889. Several Canadian private schools were founded or reconstituted under Royal Charter, the Royal Gibraltar Post Office was granted Royal Charter in 2005. The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club obtained Royal Charter in 1959 and it is one of the three banknote-issuing banks in Hong Kong. The Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Chartered originally in 1847, disbanded 1859, the Institution of Engineers was incorporated by royal charter in 1935. A number of Irish institutions retain the Royal prefix, even though Republic of Ireland severed all remaining connections between the state and the British monarch in 1949, the University of South Africa received a Royal Charter in 1877
30.
London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
31.
Toll road
–
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private roadway for which a fee is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the cost of road construction, the amount of the toll usually varies by vehicle type, weight, or number of axles, with freight trucks often charged higher rates than cars. Tolls are collected at points known as toll booths, toll houses, plazas, stations, bars, some toll collection points are unmanned and the user deposits money in a machine which opens the gate once the correct toll has been paid. To cut costs and minimize time delay many tolls today are collected by some form of automatic or electronic toll collection equipment which communicates electronically with a toll payers transponder, Toll booths are usually still required for the occasional users who do not have a transponder. The tolls are often prepaid or collected automatically from a credit card service. Some toll roads have automated toll enforcement systems that take photos of drivers who do not pay the tolls and they typically get the toll bill delivered to them in the mail. Criticisms of toll roads include the time taken to stop and pay the toll, automated toll paying systems help minimize both of these. Others object to paying twice for the road, in fuel taxes. In addition to roads, toll bridges and toll tunnels are also used by public authorities to generate funds to repay the cost of building the structures. Some tolls are set aside to pay for maintenance or enhancement of infrastructure, or are applied as a general fund by local governments. This is sometimes limited or prohibited by government legislation. Also road congestion pricing schemes have been implemented in a number of urban areas as a transportation demand management tool to try to reduce traffic congestion. Toll roads have existed for at least the last 2,700 years, as tolls had to be paid by travellers using the Susa–Babylon highway under the regime of Ashurbanipal, aristotle and Pliny refer to tolls in Arabia and other parts of Asia. In India, before the 4th century BC, the Arthasastra notes the use of tolls, germanic tribes charged tolls to travellers across mountain passes. A 14th-century example is Castle Loevestein in the Netherlands, which was built at a point where two rivers meet. River tolls were charged on boats sailing along the river, in 14th-century England, some of the most heavily used roads were repaired with money raised from tolls by pavage grants. Widespread toll roads sometimes restricted traffic so much, by their high tolls, tolls were used in the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 20th century, road tolls were introduced in Europe to finance the construction of motorway networks and specific transport infrastructure such as bridges, Italy was the first European country to charge motorway tolls, on a 50 km motorway section near Milan in 1924
32.
Jury trial
–
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact, which then direct the actions of a judge. It is distinguished from a trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Only the United States makes routine use of trials in a wide variety of non-criminal cases. The availability of a trial by jury in American jurisdictions varies, as a result, this practice continues in American civil laws, but in modern English law, only criminal proceedings and some inquests are likely to be heard by a jury. Jury trials are of far less importance in countries that do not have a common law system, ancient Athens had a mechanism, called dikastaí, to assure that no one could select jurors for their own trial. For normal cases, the courts were made up of dikastai of up to 500 citizens. For capital cases—those that involved death, loss of liberty, exile, loss of civil rights, in such large juries, the unanimity rule would be unrealistic, and verdicts were reached by majority. Jurists cast a ceramic disk with an axle in its middle, thus the way they voted was kept secret because the jurists would hold their disk by the axle by thumb and forefinger, thus hiding whether its axle was hollow or solid. Since Periclean times, jurists were compensated for their sitting in court, the institution of trial by jury was ritually depicted by Aeschylus in the Eumenides, the third and final play of his Oresteia trilogy. In the play, the innovation is brought about by the goddess Athena, the god Apollo takes part in the trial as the advocate for the defendant Orestes and the Furies as prosecutors for the slain Clytaemnestra. In the event the jury is split six to six, and Athena dicates that in such a case, capital trials were held in front of juries composed of hundreds or thousands of people in the commitias or centuries, the same as in Roman trials. Roman law provided for the selection of judices, who would be responsible for resolving disputes by acting as jurors. High government officials and their relatives were barred from acting as judices and those previously found guilty of serious crimes were also barred as were gladiators for hire, who likely were hired to resolve disputes through trial by combat. A Swabian ordinance of 1562 called for the summons of jurymen, and various methods were in use in Emmendingen, Oppenau, and Oberkirch. Hauensteins charter of 1442 secured the right to be tried in all cases by 24 fellow equals, the modern jury trial was first introduced in the Rhenish provinces in 1798, with a court consisting most commonly of 12 citizens. In Constance the jury trial was suppressed by decree of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1786, an 1873 draft on criminal procedure produced by the Prussian Ministry of Justice proposed to abolish the jury and replace it with the mixed system, causing a significant political debate. In the Weimar Republic the jury was abolished by the Emminger Reform of 4 January 1924 and they had no professional lawyers, but many of their farmer-warriors, like Njal, the truth-teller, were learned in folk custom and in its intricate judicial procedure. A Danish town in England often had, as its main officers and these juries differed from the modern sort by being self-informing, instead of getting information through a trial, the jurors were required to investigate the case themselves
Jacobs, Joseph (1903). "England". In Singer, Isidore; et al. Jewish Encyclopedia. 5. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company. p. 161-174.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jacobs, Joseph (1903). "England". In Singer, Isidore; et al. Jewish Encyclopedia. 5. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company. p. 161-174.