England's Jews

"In thirteenth-century England, Jews played important roles in English society. Yet Church authorities feared the consequences of Jewish contact with Christians and tried to limit it, to little avail. Some circulated vicious rumors, accusing Jews of capturing and crucifying Christian children. All of these factors led Edward I to expel the Jews from England in 1290. Paradoxically, thirteenth-century England is both the theater of deep and fruitful economic and social exchange between Jews and Christians and one of the crucibles of European Antisemitism"--