“And if a Jew should hereafter happen to receive from any Christian a feoffment of any fee or tenement, contrary to this _present statute_, the said Jew shall absolutely forfeit the said tenement or fee, and the same shall be taken into, and safely kept in our hands; and the Christians or their heirs may recover the said lands or tenements out of our hands; but upon condition that they pay to us the whole money which they received from the said Jews for such a feoffment. Or if they have not sufficient wherewithal to do this, they shall then pay yearly to us and our heirs, at our exchequer, the true yearly value of those tenements or fees, according to a just and reasonable assessment, until we have had full satisfaction of the said money or consideration. “And with regard to the nurses of Jewish children, and the bakers, brewers, and cooks of the Jews, as they and the Christians are different in their faith and worship, we provide and enact, that no Christian man or woman shall presume to serve them in any of these capacities. “And because the Jews have long since been accustomed to receive, by the hands of Christians, certain rents something like fee-farm rents, out of the lands and tenements of Christians, which likewise have been called fees, we will and ordain that the statute relating to them heretofore by us made, shall remain in full force, nor shall any way be derogated from by this present act; therefore _we command_ and strictly charge you, that you cause the said provision, ordinance, or statute, to be publicly proclaimed, and duly observed and obeyed, throughout your whole bailiwick. “In testimony whereof we have caused to be issued these our letters patent. Witness self at Westminster, 24th day of July, and of our reign the 54th year.”¹ ¹ I have here borrowed a couple of pages from John Elijah Blunt.――See Appendix U. One would have fancied that such a statute as was just read, would have been the crown’s crowning act of violence towards the poor Jews; and since they had suffered so much of murder, plunder, and robbery both from the king and his subjects, a little respite, at least, would have been granted to them. But various as their oppressions were, so were they also incessant. Soon after the above decree was proclaimed, Prince Edward proceeded to the Holy Land, “that grave of immense treasures and innumerable lives.” His expenses were heavy; the Jews were therefore taxed at 6,000 marks. Now it was high time, after all their endurances, to be completely drained of their silver and gold, as they really were; they were therefore unable to raise the demanded sum with the promptitude with which it was required. Earl Richard came forward again, and advanced the money on the security of the Jews. But they seem to have been mortgaged to him in the present instance for one year only, for the next year they were again very heavily taxed. Several individuals were assigned over to Prince Edward, who had to pay £1000.