Henry III. died in 1272, and Edward I. was proclaimed King. Edward as heir-apparent had distinguished himself by his piety, no less than by his valour and public spirit, and at the time of his accession he was actually fighting the infidels in the Holy Land. His loyalty to the Church prejudiced him against the Jews both as “enemies of Christ” and as usurers. His scrupulous regard for the interests of his subjects was calculated to deepen the prejudice. Edward’s political ideal was a harmonious co-operation and contribution of all classes to the welfare of the State. The Jewry, as constituted under his predecessors, formed an anomaly and a scandal. Measures of restriction had already been taken against the Jews, and supplied a precedent for further proceedings in the same direction. One of these measures was the statute of 1270, which forbade the Jews to acquire houses in London in addition to those which they already possessed, to enjoy a freehold howsoever held, to receive rent-charges as security, and obliged them to return to the Christian debtors, or to other Christians, the lands which they had already seized, on repayment of the principal without interest. A petition, preferred by the victims of this Act, to be allowed the full privileges which accompanied the tenure of land under the feudal system--namely, the guardianship of minors, the right to give wards in marriage, and the presentation to livings--had elicited an indignant protest from the Bishops, who expressed their outraged feelings in language that was wanting neither in clearness nor in vigour. The “perfidious Jews” were reminded that their residence in England was entirely due to the King’s grace--a sentiment with which Prince Edward had fully concurred. ♦1274♦ On his return from Palestine, he resumed the work of administrative reform which he had commenced as heir-apparent.