In the morning a renewed assault was made, and then came the fearful discovery of what had taken place. The conduct of the victors fully justified the forebodings of the Rabbi; the few who had shrunk from death at the hands of their countrymen were dragged out of their hiding-places and butchered. Then the work of plunder began. The gold and jewels were carefully secured, but the papers, of which there was a great store, were burned. This was an unhappy mistake for the rioters. The papers were mostly bonds and acknowledgments of debts, the reversion of which, by the law, became the property of the Crown. Consequently, by this act, large sums were forfeited which would have enriched the royal treasury. The reader will not be surprised to hear that a commission of inquiry was straightway sent down to York. But the papers had been hopelessly destroyed, and the ringleaders of the outrage had fled to Scotland. The chief citizens entered into recognizances for the better observance of order; but it does not appear that any of the perpetrators of this horrible murder of 500, or some say 1500, innocent persons ever underwent any legal penalty. When Richard returned from his captivity, however, he resolved to place the affairs of the Jews in a more satisfactory condition. He found that during his absence the utmost lawlessness had prevailed. The Norman baron had been in the habit of seizing on any wealthy Jew, carrying him to his castle, and inflicting any amount of torture on him, till he paid the sum demanded of him.[109] He forbade this, declaring the Jews to be the chattels of the Crown, with which it would be treason to meddle. A special court in the king’s Exchequer was set apart for the management of Jewish finances. The amount of property belonging to every Jew was duly registered and assessed. This was no doubt arbitrary and extortionate, but still it was better than lawless pillage, and probably did not prevent the Jews from continuing to amass large fortunes. During the remainder of his short reign they experienced no further persecution.