2. STARTER:- Think, Pair, Share! Europe today is a tolerant society... We are a diverse society, with many hundreds of different religious and ethic groups living here... Our diversity is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. (1) What does TOLERANT mean? (2) What does DIVERSE mean? (3) What does ETHNIC mean? (4) What are Human Rights?

3. But it wasn’t always this way... Key Question:- Why were the Jews abused in the Middle Ages?

4. Almost everyone was Christian In Europe, during the Middle Ages, almost everyone was Christian; But there were some Jewish people, who lived in small communities across Europe; They had been expelled from Israel by the Romans in 153AD; It was not easy being Jewish – the Jews were always seen as outsiders;

5. Being DIFFERENT... Because the Jewish people were different, they were treated badly; The Christians blamed the Jewish people for the crucifixion of Jesus, calling them the ‘Christ-Killers’; The Christians were afraid that the Jews would spread their teachings; Jewish books and scriptures, like the Torah, were often destroyed; Even though the Jewish people were some of the most skilful tradesmen in all of Europe, they were not allowed to do most jobs.

6. Separation The Jewish people were always made to live in a separate area of the town or village; They dressed differently to the Christians, so it was easy to distinguish them from the others; The Jews were always seen as outsiders who didn’t belong; The Jewish people were attacked and killed because their difference meant they were easy targets.

7. Blame... Right across Europe, the Jewish people were blamed for any problems which the people did not understand or could not control; The Jews became the ‘scapegoats’ of their communities; A bad harvest or illnesses was the fault of the Jews; Crazy stories were spread, that Jews held rituals in which they sacrificed Christian children.

8. The Black Death In the 14 th Century the Great Plague came to Europe from the East; It was called the Black Death and there was no cure; Right across Europe people blamed the Jews for the Black Death; Many thousands of Jews were attacked and put to death during the plague years; In Strasbourg the Jews were rounded up and 2,000 of them were burned to death.

9. Massacre of Jews from a Medieval German woodcut

10. Task One 1.Describe what it means to live in a tolerant and diverse society. 2. Explain how the Jews were different to the rest of the people of medieval Europe. 3.Describe the ways that the Jews were discriminated against and persecuted during the Middle Ages.

11. The Jews of England The Jews came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. He brought them with him because Christians were not allowed to work as money- lenders, but Jews were. William knew that money- lenders would be needed as part of his conquest of England. Over the next 100 years, in every town, Jews became a vital source of funding. Christians were perfectly happy to borrow from the Jews... but there could be problems when it came to paying the money back...

12. Task Two: Read the source carefully... “When the Jews of York were massacred in 1190, among the first things to be destroyed was the list of debts they held. It is possible that the hatred and murder was driven by money more than race...” Source A, taken from “Bloody Foreigners” by Robert Winder, 2004. What does Source A tell us about why the Jews of York were murdered in Clifford’s Tower?

13. Expulsion of the Jews of England William had brought the Jews to England and from then on they relied on the protection of the King and his heirs, to survive in England; Then in 1272, Edward I became King and the protection came to an end; First of all Edward banned the Jews from lending money, and since they could not do other jobs, many of them began to leave England; Then Edward said that all the Jews had to wear a yellow patch on their clothes; Next Edward made it illegal for the Jews to worship, even in their own homes; Finally, in 1290, Edward expelled all the Jews – who had to leave by 1 st November or be executed.

14. Task Three Imagine you are a Jewish girl, who has lived in England all her life. Explain what happens to you and your family after Edward I comes to the throne in 1272.

15. Extension Task: Read Source B. Why do you think the Captain left the Jews to drown? Explain in your own words “In 1290, as the Jews were leaving England, one of the boats paid to take them away struck a sandbar. The captain told his passengers to get off the boat and stretch their legs. He then sailed gleefully off the mud-flat, shouting that the Jews should seek help from Moses. Maybe they tried. But no one came to their aid. The sea did not part. Every man, woman and child died.” Source B, taken from “Bloody Foreigners” by Robert Winder, 2004.