The Castle of Bristol was formerly of great extent and strength, and is repeatedly mentioned by historians for the gallant defences it has made, and the noble prisoners it has held in safe custody; but it was not till the time of Charles the First that it belonged to the city, when being found to be a harbour and receptacle for rogues and vagabonds, it was first added to the jurisdiction of the county of the city of Bristol, and afterwards sold to the mayor and burgesses for 959_l._, to be held under the manor of East Greenwich in Kent, at the yearly fee-farm rent of 40_l._ Both Henry the Second and Henry the Third, during their minorities, were placed at Bristol as a place of security, at which they might receive their education. It was here, in the year 1211, that the following infamous act of tyrannic cruelty was exercised by King John. That monarch having laid a heavy tax upon all the Jews throughout his dominions, one of that race, named Abraham, having refused to pay the tax, was fined in the sum of ten thousand marks; this the obstinate Jew likewise refused to pay, which so much exasperated the King, that he commanded one of his teeth to be drawn every day till the sum was paid; the unfortunate Jew had seven of them taken out of his head, and then submitted to the payment, rather than lose his last tooth, he having but one left. Bristol sends two members to Parliament; the first regular summons by writ was issued by King Edward the First, directing that two proper persons should be sent as its representatives to the Parliament at Shrewsbury. “King Henry the Seventh visited Bristol in 1490, and held his court in St. Augustine’s Back, when the citizens, willing to shew the King all the respect they could during his residence, arrayed themselves in their best clothes; the King thinking some of their wives rather too well dressed for their station, ordered that every citizen who was worth 20_l._ in goods, should pay twenty shillings, for that their wives went so sumptuously apparelled.”