Chronology of Jewish History - Part 1
c. 970 BCE - 1399
Chronology of Jewish History - Parts 1-9
Chronology of Jews in Denmark
Note: Some of the content in this chronology on Jewish history is based on a Wikipedia entry, with editing.
The history of the Jews dates back more than 2,500 years.
Biblical Period
c. 970 BCE–c. 931 BCE
King Solomon
c. 960 BCE
Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem completed
c. 931 BCE
Split between Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and the Kingdom of Judah
c. 931 BCE–c. 913 BCE
King Rehoboam of Judah
c. 931 BCE–c. 910 BCE
King Jeroboam of Israel
840 BCE
Mesha inscription describes Moabite victory over a son of King Omri of Israel.
c. 740 BCE–c. 700 BCE
Prophecy of Isaiah
c. 740 BCE–c. 722 BCE
The Assyrian captivity (or the Assyrian exile) is the period in the history of Ancient Israel and Judah during which several thousand Israelites of ancient Samaria were resettled as captives by Assyria. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
c. 715 BCE–c. 687 BCE
King Hezekiah of Judah
c. 649 BCE–c. 609 BCE
King Josiah of Judah institutes major reforms
c. 626 BCЕ – c. 587 BCE
Prophecy of Jeremiah
597 BCE
First deportation of Jews to Babylon
586 BCE
During the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II, the Neo-Babylonian Empire destroys the temple in Jerusalem, and captures the Kingdom of Judah and 10,000 Jewish families.
539 BCE
Jews allowed to return to Jerusalem, by permission of Cyrus
520 BCE
Prophecy of Zechariah
c. 520 BCE
Zerubbabel leads the first group of Jews from captivity back to Jerusalem
516 BCE
Second Temple consecrated
c. 475 BCE
Often associated with Xerxes I of Persia, Queen Esther revealed her identity to the king and began to plead for her people, pointing to Haman as the evil schemer plotting to destroy them.
c. 460 BCE
Seeing anarchy breaking out in Judea, Xerxes' successor Persian King Artaxerxes sent Ezra to restore order.
Post-biblical history
332 BCE
Alexander the Great conquers Phoenicia and Gaza.
332 BCE?
According to Josephus, Alexander visits Judea and seeks out the high priest Jaddus. He shows Alexander the prophecy of Alexander's own life and conquests found in the Book of Daniel. This story is considered apocryphal and created centuries later, perhaps in the early Hasmonean period, though.[3]
200 BCE–100 CE
At some point during this era the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is canonized. Jewish religious works that were explicitly written after the time of Ezra were not canonized, although many became popular among many groups of Jews. Later works that were included in the Greek translation of the Bible (the Septuagint) become known as the deuterocanonical books.
175 BCE–165 BCE
The Deuterocanonical First and Second Books of the Maccabees record that Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempts to erect a statue of Zeus in Jerusalem. The festival of Hanukkah commemorates the uprising of the Maccabees against this attempt.
167–140 BCE
The Maccabean Revolt against the Greek Syrian Seleucid Empire, led by Judas Maccabeus, resulting in victory and installation of the Hanukkah holiday.
140–63 BCE
The Hasmonean dynasty rules Judea. The Hasmonean kingdom expands outward to Idumea, Samaria, Perea, Galilee, and Gilead due to weakness and dissolution within the Seleucid Empire.
139 BCE
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Hispanus expels all Jews from the city of Rome.
124 BCE
The woman with seven sons was a Jewish martyr, described in 2 Maccabees 7 (2 Maccabees was written c. 124 BCE) and other sources. Although unnamed in 2 Maccabees, she is known variously as Hannah, Miriam, and Solomonia. 2 Maccabees states that shortly before the revolt of Judas Maccabeus (2 Maccabees 8), Antiochus IV Epiphanes arrested a mother and her seven sons, and tried to force them to eat pork. When they refused, he tortured and killed the sons one by one. The narrator mentions that the mother "was the most remarkable of all, and deserves to be remembered with special honor. She watched her seven sons die in the space of a single day, yet she bore it bravely because she put her trust in the Lord." Each of the sons makes a speech as he dies, and the last one says that his brothers are "dead under God's covenant of everlasting life". The narrator ends by saying that the mother died, without saying whether she was executed, or died in some other way.
The Talmud tells a similar story, but with the refusal to worship an idol replacing the refusal to eat pork. Tractate Gittin 57b cites Rabbi Judah saying that "this refers to the woman and her seven sons" and the unnamed king is referred to as the "Emperor" and "Caesar". The woman commits suicide in this rendition of the story: she "also went up on to a roof and threw herself down and was killed".
Other versions of the story are found in 4 Maccabees (which suggests that the woman might have thrown herself into the flames, 17:1) and Josippon (which says that she fell dead on her sons' corpses).
63 BCE
Pompey lay siege to and entered the Temple; Judea became a client kingdom of Rome. 12,000 Jews die and many more are sent into the diaspora as a result of Pompey's conquest of the East.
59 BCE
Cicero criticizes Jews for being too influential in public assemblies. He also refers to Jews and Syrians as "races born to be slaves."
40 BCE–4 BCE
Herod the Great appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate, replacing the Hasmonean dynasty with the Herodian dynasty.
1st Century CE
6 CE
Province of Roman Judea created by merging Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea.
10 CE
Hillel the Elder, considered the greatest Torah sage, dies, leading to the dominance of Shammai till 30 CE,
19 CE
Roman Emperor Tiberius expels Jews from Rome. Their expulsion is recorded by the Roman historical writers Suetonius, Josephus, and Cassius Dio.
26–36 CE
Trial and crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans.
30 CE
Helena of Adiabene, a vassal Parthian kingdom in Mesopotamia, converts to Judaism. Significant numbers of Adiabene population follow her, later also providing limited support for Jews during Jewish-Roman wars. In the following centuries, the community mostly converts to Christianity.
30–70 CE
Schism within Judaism during the Second Temple era. A sect within Hellenized Jewish society starts Jewish Christianity,
38 CE
Thousands of Jews killed by mobs in the Alexandrian pogrom, as recounted by Philo of Alexandria in Flaccus. Synagogues are defiled, Jewish leaders are publicly scourged, and the Jewish population is confined to one quarter of the city.
50 CE
Jews are ordered by Roman Emperor Claudius "not to hold meetings", in the words of Cassius Dio (Roman History, 60.6.6). Claudius later expelled Jews from Rome, according to both Suetonius ("Lives of the Twelve Caesars", Claudius, Section 25.4) and Acts 18:2.
66 CE
Under the command of Tiberius Julius Alexander, Roman soldiers killed about 50,000 Jews in the Alexandria riot.
66–70 CE
The First Jewish–Roman War ended with destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem. 1,100,000 Jews are killed by the Romans during the siege, and 97,000 captured and enslaved. The Sanhedrin is relocated to Yavne by Yochanan ben Zakai, see also Council of Jamnia. Fiscus Judaicus levied on all Jews of the Roman Empire whether they aided the revolt or not.
70–200 CE
Period of the Tannaim, rabbis who organized and elucidated the Oral Torah. The decisions of the Tannaim are contained in the Mishnah, Beraita, Tosefta, and various Midrash compilations.
73 CE
Final events of the First Jewish–Roman War – the fall of Masada. Almost all historical information on Masada is from first-century Jewish Roman historian Josephus. A Roman governor had a legion lay siege to Masada, a mountain fortress. They built a 114 m (375 ft) high assault ramp, during probably two to three months of siege, and then breached the fortress with a battering ram on 16 April. According to Josephus, presumably based upon Roman commander commentaries accessible to him, when Romans entered the fortress they found its defendants had set all buildings but food storerooms ablaze and committed mass suicide or killed each other, 960 men, women, and children in total. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of staff, Moshe Dayan, began having the swearing-in ceremony of Armored Corps soldiers on top of Masada, ending with, "Masada shall not fall again.".
Christianity starts off as a Jewish sect and then develops its own texts and ideology and branches off from Judaism to become a distinct religion.
94 CE
Fabrications of Apion in Alexandria, Egypt, including the first recorded case of blood libel. Juvenal writes anti-Jewish poetry. Josephus picks apart contemporary and old anti-semitic myths in his work Against Apion.
96 CE
Titus Flavius Clemens, nephew of the Roman Emperor Vespasian and supposed convert to Judaism is put to death on charges of atheism.
2nd Century
100 CE
Tacitus writes anti-Jewish polemic in his Histories (book 5). He reports on several old myths of ancient antisemitism (including that of the donkey's head in the Holy of Holies), but the key to his view that Jews "regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies" is his analysis of the extreme differences between monotheistic Judaism and the polytheism common throughout the Roman world.
115–117
Kitos War (Revolt against Trajan) – a second Jewish-Roman War initiated in large Jewish communities of Cyprus, Cyrene (modern Libya), Aegipta (modern Egypt) and Mesopotamia (modern Syria and Iraq). It led to mutual killing of hundreds of thousands of Jews, Greeks and Romans, ending with a total defeat of Jewish rebels and complete extermination of Jews in Cyprus and Cyrene by the newly installed Emperor Hadrian.
119
Roman Emperor Hadrian bans circumcision, making Judaism de facto illegal.
131–136
The Roman emperor Hadrian, among other provocations, renames Jerusalem "Aelia Capitolina" and prohibits circumcision. Simon bar Kokhba (Bar Kosiba) leads a large Jewish revolt against Rome in response to Hadrian's actions. In the aftermath, most Jewish population is annihilated (about 580,000 killed) and Hadrian renames the province of Judea to Syria Palaestina, and attempts to root out Judaism. Although large Jewish populations remain in Samaria and Galilee, with Tiberias as the headquarters of exiled Jewish patriarchs, this is the start of the Jewish diaspora.
136
Hadrian constructs a pagan temple to Jupiter at the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, builds Aelia Capitolina among the ruins of Jerusalem. Jews are banned from visiting.
136
Rabbi Akiva is murdered.
138
With Emperor Hadrian's death, the persecution of Jews within the Roman Empire is eased and Jews are allowed to visit Jerusalem on Tisha B'av. In the following centuries the Jewish center moves to Galilee.
167
Earliest known accusation of Jewish deicide (the notion that Jews were held responsible for the death of Jesus), made in a sermon On the Passover, attributed to Melito of Sardis.
175
Apollinaris the Apologist writes two books against the Jews.
3rd Century
200
The Mishnah, the standardization of the Jewish oral law as it stands today, is redacted by Judah haNasi in the land of Israel.
212
Emperor Caracalla allows all Jewish men within the Roman Empire to become full Roman citizens.
259
Nehardea in Babylonia destroyed by the Palmyrenes, which destruction caused the widespread dispersion of Jews in the region.
220–500
Period of the Amoraim, the rabbis of the Talmud.
4th Century
306
The Synod of Elvira bans intermarriage between Christians and Jews. Other social intercourses, such as eating together, are also forbidden.
315–337
Roman Emperor Constantine I enacts new restrictive legislation. Conversion of Christians to Judaism is forbidden by Roman law, congregations for religious services are curtailed, Jews are not allowed to own Christian slaves or to circumcise their slaves. But Jews are allowed to enter Jerusalem on the anniversary of the Temple's destruction.
325
Jews are expelled and banned from Jerusalem.
325
First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Christian Church separates the calculation of the date of Easter from the Jewish Passover: "It was ... declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded.... Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. ... avoiding all contact with that evil way. ... who, after having compassed the death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them. ... a people so utterly depraved. ... Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the ... no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews."
330
Rabbah bar Nahmani is forced to flee to the forest where he dies.
339
Intermarriage between Christians and Jews is banned in the Roman Empire, declaring the punishment death.
351
Book burning of Jewish texts in Persia.
351–352
Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus is put down. Jews rise up against the corrupt rule of Gallus. Many towns are destroyed, thousands are killed. Sepphoris is destroyed.
353
Constantius II institutes a law stating that any Christian who converts to Judaism will have their property confiscated.
358
Because of the increasing danger of Roman persecution, Hillel II creates a mathematical calendar for calculating the Jewish month. After adopting the calendar, the Sanhedrin in Tiberias is dissolved.
361–363
The last pagan Roman Emperor, Julian, allows the Jews to return to "holy Jerusalem which you have for many years longed to see rebuilt" and to rebuild the Second Temple. Shortly after, the Emperor is assassinated, and the plan is dissolved.
363
Galilee earthquake of 363
379
In India, the Hindu king Sira Primal, also known as Iru Brahman, issued what was engraved on a tablet of brass, his permission to Jews to live freely, build synagogue, own property without conditions attached and as long as the world and moon exist.
380
St. Gregory of Nysa calls Jews "murders of the Lord, assassins of the prophets, rebels and detesters of God, companions of the devils, a race of vipers."
386
John Chrysostom of Antioch writes eight homilies called Adversus Judaeos (lit: Against the Judaizers).
388
1 August: A Christian mob incited by the local bishop plunders and burns down a synagogue in Callinicum. Theodosius I orders that those responsible be punished, and the synagogue is rebuilt at the Christians' expense. Ambrose of Milan insists in his letter that the whole case be dropped. He interrupts the liturgy in the emperor's presence with an ultimatum that he will not continue until the case is dropped. Theodosius complies.
399
The Western Roman Emperor Honorius calls Judaism superstitio indigna and confiscates gold and silver collected by the synagogues for Jerusalem.
5th Century
408
Roman laws pass which prohibit Jews from setting fire to Haman, stating that they are mocking Christianity.
415
A Jewish uprising in Alexandria claims the lives of many Christians. Bishop Cyril forces his way into the synagogue, expels the Jews (some authors estimate the numbers of Jews expelled up to 100 thousand and gives their property to the mob. Later, near Antioch, Jews are accused of murder ritual during Purim. Christians confiscate the synagogue. Jews call it "415 C.E. Alexandria Expulsion".
415
An edict issued by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius IIban building new Synagogues and converting non-Jews to Judaism.
418
The first record of Jews being forced to convert or face expulsion. Bishop Severus of Menorca, claimed to have forced 540 Jews to accept Christianity upon conquering the island. The synagogue in Magona, now Port Mahon the capital of Menorca, is burned.
419
The monk Barsauma (not to be confused with the famous Bishop of Nisibis) gathers a group of followers and for the next three years, he destroys synagogues throughout the province of Palestine.
425
The final nasi of the ancient Sanhedrin Gamliel VI is executed by the Roman Empire. This subsequently ended the Jewish patriarchate.
429
The East Roman Emperor Theodosius II orders that all funds raised by Jews to support their schools be turned over to his treasury.
438
The Empress Eudocia removes the ban on Jews' praying at the Temple site and the heads of the Community in Galilee issue a call "to the great and mighty people of the Jews": "Know that the end of the exile of our people has come"! This leads to Jews emigrating to Jerusalem, where some are killed after being stabbed and stoned by local monks. At the trial for the deaths the monks claimed that the stones fell from heaven and thus they were acquitted.
439
The Codex Theodosianus, the first imperial compilation of laws. Jews are prohibited from holding important positions involving money, including judicial and executive offices. The ban against building new synagogues is reinstated. The anti-Jewish statutes also apply to the Samaritans. The Code is also accepted by Western Roman Emperor, Valentinian III.
450
Redaction of the Jerusalem Talmud
451
Sassanid ruler Yazdegerd II of Persia's decree abolishes the Sabbath and orders executions of Jewish leaders, including the Exilarch Mar Nuna.
465
Council of Vannes, Gaul prohibited the Christian clergy from participating in Jewish feasts.
469
Half of the Jewish population of Isfahan is put to death and their children are brought up as 'fire-worshippers' over the alleged killing of two Magi Priests.
470
Exilarch Huna V is executed as a result of persecution under King Peroz (Firuz) of Persia.
6th Century
500–523
Yosef Dhu Nuwas, King of Himyarite Kingdom (Modern Yemen) converting to Judaism, upgrading existing Yemenese Jewish center. His kingdom falls in a war against Axum and the Christians.
502
After the Jews of Babylon revolt and gain a short period of independence, the Persian King Kobad crucifies the Exilarch Mar-Zutra II on the bridge of Mahoza.
506
Synagogue of Daphne is destroyed, and its inhabitants are massacred by a Christian mob celebrating the result of a chariot race.
517
Christians are banned from participating in Jewish feasts as a result of the Council of Epaone.
519
Ravenna, Italy. After the local synagogues were burned down by the local mob, the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great orders the town to rebuild them at its own expense.
529–559
Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great publishes Corpus Juris Civilis. New laws restrict citizenship to Christians. These regulations determined the status of Jews throughout the Empire for hundreds of years: Jewish civil rights restricted: "they shall enjoy no honors". The principle of Servitus Judaeorum (Servitude of the Jews) is established: the Jews cannot testify against Christians. The emperor becomes an arbiter in internal Jewish matters. The use of the Hebrew language in worship is forbidden. Shema Yisrael ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one"), sometimes considered the most important prayer in Judaism, is banned as a denial of the Trinity. Some Jewish communities are converted by force, their synagogues turned into churches.
531
Emperor Justinian rules that Jews cannot testify against Christians. Jewish liturgy is censored for being "anti-trinitarian."
535
Synagogue of Borion is closed and all Jewish practices are prohibited by order of Justinian.
535
The First Council of Clermont (of Gaul) prohibits Jews from holding public office.
538
The Third Council of Orléans (of Gaul) forbids Jews to employ Christian servants or possess Christian slaves. Jews are prohibited from appearing in the streets during Easter: "their appearance is an insult to Christianity". A Merovingian king Childebert approves the measure.
547
Jews and Samaritans of Caesarea are massacred after revolting.
550
The main redaction of Babylonian Talmud is completed under Rabbis Ravina and Ashi. To a lesser degree, the text continues to be modified for the next 200 years.
550–700
Period of the Savoraim, the sages in Persia who put the Talmud in its final form.
555–572
The Fourth Samaritan Revolt against Byzantium results in great reduction of the Samaritan community, their Israelite faith is outlawed. Neighboring Jews, who mostly reside in Galilee, are also affected by the oppressive rule of the Byzantines.
576
Clermont, Gaul. Bishop Avitus offers Jews a choice: accept Christianity or leave Clermont. Most emigrate to Marseilles.
582
The Merovingians order that all Jews of the Kingdom are to be baptized.
589
The Council of Narbonne, Septimania, forbids Jews from chanting psalms while burying their dead. Anyone violating this law is fined 6 ounces of gold. The third Council of Toledo, held under Visigothic King Reccared, bans Jews from slave ownership and holding positions of authority, and reiterates the mutual ban on intermarriage.[23] Reccared also rules children out of such marriages to be raised as Christians.
590
Pope Gregory I defends the Jews against forced conversion.
590–591
The Exilarch Haninai is executed by Khosrau II for supporting Mihrevandak. This halted all forms of Jewish self-governance for over 50 years.
592
The entire Jewish population of Antioch is punished because a Jew violated a law.
598
Bishop Victor of Palermo seizes the local synagogues and repurposes them into churches.
7th Century
608–610
Massacres of Jews all across the Byzantine Empire.
610–620
After many of his anti-Jewish edicts were ignored, king Sisebur prohibits Judaism. Those not baptized fled. This was the first incidence where a prohibition of Judaism affected an entire country.
610–628
Jews of Galilee led by Benjamin of Tiberias gain autonomy in Jerusalem after revolting against Heraclius as a joint military campaign with ally Sassanid Empire under Khosrau II and Jewish militias from Persia, but are subsequently massacred.
612
Sisebut, king of the Visigoths, forces his Jewish subjects to convert to Christianity.
614
Fifth Council of Paris decrees that all Jews holding military or civil positions must accept baptism, together with their families.
614–617
The Jewish revolt against Heraclius. The last serious attempt to gain Jewish autonomy in the Land of Israel prior to modern times.
615
Italy. The earliest referral to the Juramentum Judaeorum (the Jewish Oath): the concept that no heretic could be believed in court against a Christian. The oath became standardized throughout Europe in 1555.
617
After breaking their promise of Jewish autonomy in Jerusalem, the Persians forbid Jews from settling within three miles of the city.
624
Mohammed watches as 600 Jews are decapitated in Medina in one day.
626–627
The Council of Clichy declared that any Jew who accepts public office must convert.
627
93 Jews are killed in the Battle of Khaybar.
629
Byzantine Emperor with his army marches into Jerusalem. Jewish inhabitants support him after his promise of amnesty. Upon his entry into Jerusalem the local priests convince him that killing Jews is a good deed. The only Jews that survived were the ones who fled to Egypt or the mountains.
629
Frankish King Dagobert I, encouraged by Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, expels all Jews from the kingdom.
632
The first case of officially sanctioned forced baptism. Emperor Heraclius violates the Codex Theodosianus, which protected them from forced conversions.
634–641
Jews living in the Levant are forced to pay the Jizya as a result of the Muslim conquest of the Levant
640
Jews expelled from Arabia.
642
The Jizya is imposed on the native Jews of Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan.
653
The Jews of Toledo are forced to convert or be expelled.
681
The Twelfth Council of Toledo enacts anti-semitic laws.
682
Visigothic king Erwig begins his reign by enacting 28 anti-Jewish laws. He presses for the "utter extirpation of the pest of the Jews" and decrees that all converts must be registered by a parish priest, who must issue travel permits. All holidays, Christian and Jewish, must be spent in the presence of a priest to ensure piety and to prevent the backsliding.
692
Quinisext Council in Constantinople forbids Christians on pain of excommunication to bathe in public baths with Jews, employ a Jewish doctor or socialize with Jews.
694
17th Council of Toledo. King Ergica believes rumors that the Jews had conspired to ally themselves with the Muslim invaders and forces Jews to give all land, slaves and buildings bought from Christians, to his treasury. He declares that all Jewish children over the age of seven should be taken from their homes and raised as Christians.
7th century
The rise and domination of Islam among largely pagan Arabs in the Arabian peninsula results in the almost complete removal and conversion of the ancient Jewish communities there, and sack of Levant from the hands of Byzantines.
8th Century
700–1250
Period of the Gaonim (the Gaonic era). Jews in southern Europe and Asia Minor lived under the often intolerant rule of Christian kings and clerics. Most Jews lived in the Muslim Arab realm (Andalusia, North Africa, Palestine, Iraq and Yemen). Despite sporadic periods of persecution, Jewish communal and cultural life flowered in this period. The universally recognized centers of Jewish life were in Jerusalem and Tiberias (Syria), Sura and Pumbeditha (Iraq). The heads of these law schools were the Gaonim, who were consulted on matters of law by Jews throughout the world. During this time, the Niqqud is invented in Tiberias.
711
Muslim armies invade and occupy most of Spain (At this time Jews made up about 8% of Spain's population). Under Christian rule, Jews had been subject to frequent and intense persecution, which is formalized under Muslim rule due to the dhimmi rules in Islam. Jews and Christians have to pay the jizya. Some sources mark this as the beginning of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain, though many mention 912.
717
Possible date for the Pact of Umar, a document that specified restrictions on Jews and Christians (dhimmi) living under Muslim rule. However, academic historians believe that this document was actually compiled at a much later date.
720
Caliph Omar II bans Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.
722
Byzantine emperor Leo III forcibly converts all Jews and Montanists in the empire into mainstream Byzantine Christianity.
740
First Archbishop of York Ecgbert bans Christians from eating with Jews.
740
The Khazar (a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia) King and members of the upper class adopt Judaism. The Khazarate lasts until 10th century, being overrun by Russians, and finally conquered by Russian and Byzantian forces in 1016.
760
The Karaites reject the authority of the oral law, and split off from rabbinic Judaism.
787
Empress Irena decries the practice of forced conversion against Jews.
788
Idriss I attacks Jewish communities, imposes high per capita taxes, and forces them to provide annual virgins for his harem for refusing to attack other Jewish communities. According to Maghrebi tradition, the Jewish tribe Ubaid Allah left and settled in Djerba.
9th Century
807
Abbassid Caliph Harun al-Rashid orders all Jews in the Caliphate to wear a yellow belt, with Christians to wear a blue one.
820
Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, declares in his essays that Jews are accursed and demands a complete segregation of Christians and Jews. In 826 he issues a series of pamphlets to convince Emperor Louis the Pious to attack "Jewish insolence", but fails to convince the Emperor.
846
In Sura, Iraq, Rav Amram Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer book.)
850
al-Mutawakkil made a decree ordering dhimmi Jews and Christians to wear garments distinguishing them from Muslims, their places of worship to be destroyed, and allowing them little involvement in government or official matters.
870
Ahmad ibn Tulun destroys Jewish cemeteries and replaces them with Muslim tombs.
871
An incomplete marriage contract dated to October 6 of this year is the earliest dated document found in the papers of the Cairo Geniza.
874
Basil I decrees that all Byzantine Jews are to be baptized, by force if necessary.
878–879
Around 120,000–200,000 foreign merchants (including Jews, Muslim Arabs, Muslim Persians, Zoroastrian Persians, and Christians) are slaughtered in Guangzhou, China.
884
Basil I reinforces law that prohibits Jews from holding any civil or military position in Epanagoge.
888
Church council in Metz forbids Christians and Jews from eating together.
897
Charles the Simple donates all Jewish owned land to the Bishop of Narbonne. There is no recourse against the action.
10th Century
900–929
French king Charles the Simple confiscates Jewish-owned property in Narbonne and donates it to the Church.
912–1013
The Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. Abd-ar-Rahman III becomes Caliph of Spain in 912, ushering in the height of tolerance. Muslims granted Jews and Christians exemptions from military service, the right to their own courts of law, and a guarantee of safety of their property. Jewish poets, scholars, scientists, statesmen and philosophers flourished in and were an integral part of the extensive Arab civilization. This period ended with the Cordoba massacre in 1013.
925
Jews of Oria are raided by a Muslim mob during a series of attacks on Italy. At least ten rabbinical leaders and many more are taken as captives. Among those captured is 12-year-old Shabbetai Donnolo, who would go become a famous physician and astronomer.
931
Bishop Ratherius of Verona begs the town elders to expel the Jews from the city until they agree to temporarily expel them.
931–942
Romanos I Lekapenos decreed that all Jews should be forced to convert and subjugated if they refuse. This leads to the death of hundreds of Jews and the destruction of numerous synagogues.
932
The Jewish quarter of Bari, Italy is destroyed by a mob and a number of Jews are killed.
940
In Iraq, Saadia Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer book).
943–944
Byzantine Jews from all over the Empire flee from persecution into Khazaria. The King of Khazaria at the time, who was Jewish, subsequently cut ties with the Byzantine Empire.
945
In the Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, the Senate forbids sea captains from accepting Jewish passengers.
985
Entire Jewish population of Sparta is expelled after Nikon the Metanoeite says it will rid the city of a plague.
985
A number of Jewish residents in Barcelona are killed by the Muslim leader Almanzor. All Jewish owned land is handed over to the Count of Barcelona.
11th Century
1008–1013
Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ("the Mad") issues severe restrictions against Jews in the Fatimid Empire. All Jews are forced to wear a heavy wooden "golden calf" around their necks. Christians had to wear a large wooden cross and members of both groups had to wear black hats.
1009
Caliph Abu Ali-Mansur orders the destruction of synagogues, Torah scrolls and Jewish artifacts among other non-Muslim buildings.
1010
The Jews of Ligomes are given the choice of baptism or exile.
1011
The Abbasid Caliph Al-Qadir publishes the Baghdad Manifesto, which accuses the Fatimids of being descended from Jews, instead of being "family of the prophet."
1011
A Muslim mob attacks a Jewish funeral procession, resulting in the arrest of 23 Jews.
1011
Pogrom against Sephardic Jews in Córdoba by a Muslim mob.
1012
One of the first known persecutions of Jews in Germany: Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor expels Jews from Mainz.
1013
During the fall of the city, Sulayman's troops looted Córdoba and massacred citizens of the city, including many Jews. Prominent Jews in Córdoba, such as Samuel ibn Naghrela were forced to flee to the city in 1013.
1013–1073
Rabbi Yitchaki Alfassi (from Morocco, later Spain) writes the Rif, an important work of Jewish law.
1016
The Jewish community of Kairouan, Tunisia is forced to choose between conversion and expulsion.
1021
A violent earthquake occurs, which some Greeks maintain is caused by a desecration of Jesus by the Jews. For this a number of Roman Jews are burnt at the stake.
1025
The founding of the Kingdom of Poland
1026
Probable date of the chronicle of Raoul Glaber. The French chronicler blamed the Jews for the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was destroyed in 1009 by (Muslim) Caliph Al-Hakim. As a result, Jews were expelled from Limoges and other French towns.
1032
Abul Kamal Tumin conquers Fez, Morocco and decimates the Jewish community, killing 6,000 Jews.
1033
Following their conquest of the city from the Maghrawa tribe, the forces of Tamim, chief of the Zenata Berber Banu Ifran tribe, perpetrate a massacre of Jews in Fez.
1035
Sixty Jews are put to death in Castrojeriz during a revolt, because the Jews were considered "property" of the kingdom by the locals.
1039
A Muslim mob raids the palace of the Jewish vizier and kills him after the ruler al-Mondhir is assassinated.
1040
Exilarch Hezekiah Gaon is imprisoned and tortured to death by the Buyyids. The death of Hezekiah ended the line of the Geonim, which had begun four centuries earlier.
1040–1105
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi) writes important commentaries on almost the entire Tanakh and Talmud.
1050
Council of Narbonne, France forbids Christians to live in Jewish homes.
December 30, 1066
Granada massacre: Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, crucified Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacred most of the Jewish population of the city. "More than 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, were murdered in one day."
1071
Jerusalem falls to the Seljuk Turks, many synagogues are destroyed and life for Jews in Jerusalem becomes much more restricted.
1078
Council of Girona decrees Jews to pay taxes for support of the Catholic Church to the same extent as Christians.
1085
In Poland the first permanent Jewish community is mentioned by a Jewish scholar Jehuda ha-Kohen in the city of Przemyśl.
1090
Granada is captured by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, King of the Almoravides. The Jewish community, believed to have sided with the Christians, was destroyed. Many fled, penniless, to Christian Toledo, bringing the golden age of Jewish culture in Spain to end.
1092
Jews are prohibited from working on Sunday or marrying Christians as a result of the Synod of Szabolcs.
1096
The Rhineland massacres, also known as the German Crusade of 1096are a series of mass murders of Jews perpetrated by mobs of German Christians of the People's Crusade. Three hosts of crusaders pass through several Central European cities. The third, unofficial host, led by Count Emicho, decides to attack the Jewish communities, most notably in the Rhineland, under the slogan: "Why fight Christ's enemies abroad when they are living among us?" Eimicho's host attacks the synagogue at Speyer and kills all the defenders. 800 are killed in Worms. Another 1,200 Jews commit suicide in Mainz to escape his attempt to forcibly convert them; and 600 are massacred in Mainz on 27 May. Attempts by the local bishops remained fruitless. All in all, 5,000 Jews were murdered.
1098
First Crusade in 1098. The first extensive Jewish migration from Western Europe to Poland occurs.
1095–1291
Christian Crusades begin, sparking warfare with Islam in Palestine. Crusaders temporarily capture Jerusalem in 1099. Tens of thousands of Jews are murdered by European crusaders throughout Europe and in the Middle East.
1099
Jews fight side by side with Muslim soldiers to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders and face massacres when it falls. According to the Muslim chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, "The Jews assembled in their synagogue, and the Franks burned it over their heads." However, a contemporary Jewish communication does not corroborate the report that Jews were actually inside of the Synagogue when it was set on fire. This letter was discovered among the Cairo Geniza collection in 1975 by historian Shelomo Dov Goitein. Historians believe that it was written just two weeks after the siege, making it "the earliest account on the conquest in any language." However, all sources agree that a synagogue was indeed burned during the siege.
12th Century
1100–1275
Time of the tosafot, Talmudic commentators who carried on Rashi's work. They include some of his descendants.
1102
Bolesław III is born. Under Bolesław III (1102–1139), Jews, encouraged by the tolerant regime of this ruler, settled throughout Poland, including over the border in Lithuanian territory as far as Kiev. He recognizes the utility of Jews in the development of the commercial interests of his country. [Wikipedia]
1106
Son of Yusuf ibn Tashfin decrees the death penalty for any Jews living in Marrakesh.
1107
Moroccan Almoravid ruler Yusuf ibn Tashfin expels Moroccan Jews who do not convert to Islam.
1108
Many Jews are massacred, and their houses and synagogues are burned following a Muslim victory at the Battle of Uclés (1108). Of those murdered is Solomon ibn Farissol, the leader of the Castile community. This incident greatly impacted the Hebrew poet Judah HaLevi, and completely shifted the focus of his poetry.
1113
Upon the death of Sviatopolk II, leader of the Kievan Rus', widespread riots and plundering of Jewish homes begins.
1120
Sicut Judaeis (the "Constitution for the Jews") is the official position of the papacy regarding Jews throughout the Middle Ages and later. The first bull was issued in about 1120 by Calixtus II, intended to protect Jews who suffered during the First Crusade, and is reaffirmed by many popes, until the 15th century. [Wikipedia]
1124
The Jewish Quarter of Kiev is destroyed by arson.
1135
A Muslim mob in Córdoba storms into Jewish homes, takes their possessions and kills a number of them.
1135–1204
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, aka Maimonides or the Rambam is the leading rabbi of Sephardic Jewry. Among his many accomplishments, he writes one of the most influential codes of law (The Mishneh Torah) in Jewish History as well as, in Arabic, many philosophical works including the (Guide for the Perplexed).
1141
Yehuda Halevi issues a call to the Jews to emigrate to Palestine. He is buried in Jerusalem.
1141
During the fight for succession between Matilde and Stephen (The Anarchy), the Jews of Oxford are forced to pay ransom to both sides of the conflict or their houses are to be burned.
1143
150 Jews are killed in Ham, France.
1144
The case of William of Norwich, a contrived accusation of murder by Jews in Norwich, England.
1145
Abd al-Mu'min gives the Jewish population of Sijilmasa the choice of converting to Islam or death. At least 150 Jews who refuse to convert are massacred.
1146
100,000 Jews are massacred by the Almohads in Fez, Morocco and 120,000 in Marrakesh.
1147
Jews are expelled from Muslim Spain.
1148
Berbers force Jews to convert in Cordoba. Maimonides leaves Cordoba
1148
The mostly-Jewish town Lucena is captured by the Almohads. The local Jews are given the choice of Islam or death. This was the end of the Jewish community of Lucena.
1148–1212
The rule of the Almohads in al-Andalus. Only Jews who had converted to Christianity or Islam were allowed to live in Granada. One of the refugees was Maimonides, who settled in Fez and later in Fustat near Cairo.
1160
Appalled by the annual practice of beating Jews during Palm Sunday, Bishop William issues an order which would excommunicate any priest who continues the practice.
1165
Forced mass conversions of Jews in Yemen.
1165
New Almohad ruler decrees that all Jews in Fez must convert to Islam or face death. Judah ha-Kohen ibn Shushan is burnt alive for refusing, and famous Rabbi Maimonides is displaced and permanently leaves for Egypt.
1168
Harold of Gloucester is found floating in a river. The local Benedictine monks use the discovery to claim that "the child had been spirited away by the Jews on the 21st February for them to torture him to death on the night of 16th March". It established that the mythology created around William's death could be used as a template for explaining later deaths.
1171
In Blois, France 31 Jews were burned at the stake for blood libel.
1171
Jews of Bologna are expelled for no known reason.
1173
Following multiple church-inspired riots against the Jews of Poland, Mieszko III forbids all kinds of violence against the Jews.
1176
Maimonides completed his Introduction to the Mishneh Torah.
1177
King Alfonso II, Spain, creates a charter which defines the status of Jews in Teruel. Jews are defined as "slaves of the king, belonging entirely to the royal treasury." The fee for killing a Jew is half of what the fee is for killing a Christian and is to be paid directly to the king (since Jews are considered property of the crown).
1179
The Third Lateran Council, Canon 26: Jews are forbidden to be plaintiffs or witnesses against Christians in the courts. Jews are forbidden to withhold inheritance from descendants who had accepted Christianity.
1179
The body of a Christian girl is found near the shore. The Jews of Boppard are blamed for her death, resulting in 13 Jews being murdered.
1180
Philip Augustus of France after four months in power, imprisons all the Jews in his lands and demands a ransom for their release.
1181
Philip Augustus annuls all loans made by Jews to Christians and takes a percentage for himself. A year later, he confiscates all Jewish property and expels the Jews from Paris.
1181
The Assize of Arms of 1181 orders that all weapons held by Jews must be confiscated, claiming they have no use for them. This led to the Jewish community of England being a lot more vulnerable during Anti-Jewish riots.
1182
Jews are expelled from Orléans.
1184
Jewish martyr Elhanan, the son of Ri is murdered for refusing to convert.
1187
Upon the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin summons the Jews and permits them to resettle in the city. In particular, the residents of Ashkelon, a large Jewish settlement, respond to his request.
1188
The Saladin tithe. Jews are taxed 25% of their income and personal worth, while Christians are taxed 10%.
1189
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa orders priests not to preach against Jews.
1189
A Jewish deputation attending coronation of Richard the Lionheart was attacked by the crowd. Pogroms in London followed and spread around England.
1189
Jacob of Orléans slain in anti-semitic riots that swept through London during the coronation of King Richard I. The king later punished the perpetrators of the crime.
1190
500 Jews of York, England, are murdered in a pogrom, known as the York Massacre, after a six-day siege by departing Crusaders, backed by a number of people indebted to Jewish money-lenders
1190
All the Jews of Norwich, England found in their houses were slaughtered, except a few who found refuge in the castle.
1190
57 Jews in St. Edmunds are killed in a massacre on Palm Sunday.
1190
Saladdin takes over Jerusalem from Crusaders and lifts the ban for Jews to live there.
1191
More than 80 Jews in Bray-sur-Seine are burned at the stake after trying to execute a murderer who had killed an Israelite.
1195
After falsely being accused of ritual murder with no evidence, the daughter of Rabbi Isaac bar Asher ha-Levi is murdered, dismembered and her body parts are hung around the market place for days. Ha-Levi was killed the following day along with 8 other Jews after trying to recover what was left of his daughter's body from the mob.
1197
In an attempt to isolate the Jewish population economically, Christians were barred from buying food from Jews or having conversations with them under the threat of excommunication.
1198
Philip Augustus readmits Jews to Paris, only after another ransom was paid and a taxation scheme was set up to procure funds for himself. August: Saladdin's nephew al-Malik, caliph of Yemen, summons all the Jews and forcibly converts them.
13th Century
13th century
Germany. Appearance of Judensau: obscene and dehumanizing imagery of Jews, ranging from etchings to Cathedral ceilings. Its popularity lasted for over 600 years.
1203
Jewish quarter of Constantinople is burned down by crusaders during the
1204
In 1204 the papacy required Jews to segregate themselves from Christians and to wear distinctive clothing.[63]
1205
Jews are expelled from villages and towns all around Spain by Muslims.
1206
Jewish homes are burned, looted, Israelites are killed and the remaining Jewish population of Halle is expelled.[65]
1209
Béziers is stormed and its inhabitants are massacred. Among those were 200 Jews. All Jewish children who survived and didn't flee were forcibly baptized.
1209
Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, humiliated and forced to swear that he would implement social restrictions against Jews.
1210
King John of England imprisoned much of the Jewish population until they paid up 66,000 marks.
1212
Forced conversions and mass murder of the Jewish community of Toledo.
1215
Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215. Christian Europeans require Jews and Muslims to wear special clothing, such as the Judenhut and the yellow badge for Jews, to distinguish them from Christians. The practice of their religions is restricted, and they have to swear special oaths. Jews are not allowed to vote, where vote existed, and some countries formally prohibit their entry, such as Norway, Sweden, and Spain after the expulsion in the late 15th century. [Wikipedia]
1217
French noblewoman Alix de Montmorency imprisons the Jewish population of Toulouse for refusing to convert. She eventually released them all except for children under six, who were taken and adopted by Christians.
1221
An anti-Jewish riot erupts in Erfurt, where the Jewish quarter is destroyed along with two synagogues. Around 26 Jews are killed, and others throw themselves into fire rather than be forcibly converted. Samuel of Speyer was among those martyred.
1222
Council of Oxford: Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton forbids Jews from building new synagogues, owning slaves or mixing with Christians.
1223
Louis VIII of France prohibits his officials from recording debts owed to Jews, reversing his father's policy of seeking such debts.
1227
The Synod of Narbonne reaffirms the anti-Semitic decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council.
1229
Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, heir of Raymond VI, also forced to swear that he would implement social restrictions against Jews.
1229
Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Frederick II and the Sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt. Jews are once again banned from residing in Jerusalem.
1230
Theodore Komnenos Doukas is defeated. Since Theodore decreed many anti-Jewish laws and seized Jewish property, he was handed over to two Jews by John Asen II to personally kill him. After having pity on him and refusing to kill Theodore, the Czar had the Jews thrown off a cliff.
1232
Forced mass conversions in Marrakesh, over 1,000 Moroccan Jews are killed.
1235
The Jews of Fulda, Germany are accused of ritual murder. To investigate the blood libel, Emperor Frederick II held a special conference of Jewish converts to Christianity at which the converts are questioned about Jewish ritual practice. Letters inviting prominent individuals to the conference still survive. At the conference, the converts state unequivocally that Jews do not harm Christian children or require blood for any rituals. In 1236 the Emperor published these findings and in 1247 Pope Innocent IV, the Emperor's enemy, also denounced accusations of the ritual murder of Christian children by Jews. In 1272, the papal repudiation of the blood libel is repeated by Pope Gregory X, who also ruled that thereafter any such testimony of a Christian against a Jew could not be accepted unless it is confirmed by another Jew. Unfortunately, these proclamations from the highest sources are not effective in altering the beliefs of the Christian majority and the libels continue.
1236
Crusaders attack Jewish communities of Anjou and Poitou and attempt to baptize all the Jews. Those who resisted (est. 3,000) were slaughtered.
1236
A Jew and a Christian fisherman get into a heated argument about prices, which turns physical. It ends when the Jew deals a devastating blow to the Gentile's head which leads to his death. This enrages the local Christian population, who attack the Jewish quarter of Narbonne. Don Aymeric, the governor of Narbonne prevents a massacre and restores all stolen Jewish property to their rightful owner.
1240
Jews living in England, under King Henry III, were blamed for counterfeiting the money and when the local citizens began to exact revenge on them, the king expelled his Jewish subjects in order to save them from harm.
1240
Duke Jean le Roux expels Jews from Brittany.
1240
Disputation of Paris. Pope Gregory IX puts Talmud on trial on the charges that it contains blasphemy against Jesus and Mary and attacks on the Church.
1241
A pogrom against the Jews of Frankfurt takes place after conflicts over Jewish-Christian marriages and the enforced baptism of interfaith couples. 180 Jews are killed as a result and 24 agree to be baptized. This became known as the Judenschlacht (German for Slaughter of the Jews).
1241
In England, first of a series of royal levies against Jewish finances, which forced the Jews to sell their debts to non-Jews at reduced prices.
1242
Following a show trial, the Talmud is "convicted" of corrupting the Jews. 24 cart-loads of hand-written Talmudic manuscripts, some 10,000 volumes and comprising most of the extant volumes in France, are burned in the streets of Paris.
1242
James I of Aragon orders Jews to listen to conversion sermons and to attend churches. Friars are given power to enter synagogues uninvited.
1243
The first ever accusation of Host Desecration. The entire Jewish population of Beelitz was burned at the stake after being accused of torturing Jesus and the spot it happened was named "Judenberg."
1243
11 Jews are tortured to death following a blood libel in Kitzingen Germany.
1244
Pope Innocent IV orders Louis IX of France to burn all Talmud copies.
1249
Alphonse of Poitiers orders the expulsion of all Jews in Poitou.
1250–1300
The life of Moses de Leon, of Spain. He publishes to the public the Zohar the 2nd century CE esoteric interpretations of the Torah by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his disciples. Thus begins the evolution of modern Kabbalah (esoteric Jewish mysticism).
1250–1550
Period of the Rishonim, the medieval rabbinic sages. Most Jews at this time lived in lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea or in Western Europe under feudal systems. With the decline of Muslim and Jewish centers of power in Iraq, there was no single place in the world which was a recognized authority for deciding matters of Jewish law and practice. Consequently, the rabbis recognized the need for writing commentaries on the Torah and Talmud and for writing law codes that would allow Jews anywhere in the world to be able to continue living in the Jewish tradition.
1250
Saragossa Spain: death of a choirboy Saint Dominguito del Val prompts ritual murder accusation. His sainthood was revoked in the 20th century but reportedly a chapel dedicated to him still exists in the Cathedral of Saragossa.
1253
Henry III of England introduces harsh anti-Jewish laws.
1254
Louis IX expels the Jews from France, their property and synagogues confiscated. Most move to Germany and further east, however, after a couple of years, some were readmitted back.
1255
Henry III of England sells his rights to the Jews (regarded as royal "chattels") to his brother Richard for 5,000 marks.
1257
The Badge of shame is imposed locally on the Italian Jews.
1260
Mongols are defeated and Syria is brought under Mamluk rule. Anti-Jewish laws are once again decreed, and Jewish life becomes a lot more restricted in the Levant.
1260
Jews are banned from ascending above the 7th step on the Cave of the Patriarchs. This ban would last 700 years.
1260
Thomas Aquinas publishes Summa Contra Gentiles, a summary of Christian faith to be presented to those who reject it. The Jews who refuse to convert are regarded as "deliberately defiant" rather than "invincibly ignorant."
1263
Disputation of Barcelona.
1264
Pope Clement IV assigns Talmud censorship committee.
1264
Simon de Montfort inspires massacre of Jews in London.
1264
Under the General Charter of Jewish Liberties (commonly called the Statute of Kalisz). Jews are granted unprecedented legal rights in Europe, including the freedom of worship, trade, and travel in by Bolesław the Pious. The statute was ratified by subsequent Polish Kings: Casimir III in 1334, Casimir IV in 1453, and Sigismund I in 1539. [Wikipedia]
1265
German-Jewish convert Abraham of Augsburg publicly assails Christianity, severs the heads of crucifix figurines and is sentenced to torture and death by burning.
1267
In a special session, the Vienna city council forces Jews to wear Pileum cornutum (a cone-shaped headdress, prevalent in many medieval illustrations of Jews). This distinctive dress is an addition to Yellow badge Jews were already forced to wear. Christians are not permitted to attend Jewish ceremonies.
1267
Synod of Breslau orders Jews to live in a segregated quarter.
1267
After an accusation from an old woman that the Jews had bought a Christian child from her to kill, the entire Jewish community of Pforzheim faces massacres and expulsion. Rabbi Samuel ben Yaḳar ha-Levi, Rabbi Isaac ben Eliezer and Rabbi Abraham ben Gershom die by suicide to escape the cruel torture they feared.
1267
Nachmanides (Ramban) settles in Jerusalem and builds the Ramban Synagogue.
1270–1343
Rabbi Jacob ben Asher of Spain writes the Arba'ah Turim (Four Rows of Jewish Law).
1275
King Edward I of England passes the Statute of the Jewry forcing Jews over the age of seven to wear an identifying yellow badge, and making usury illegal, in order to seize their assets. Scores of English Jews are arrested, 300 hanged and their property goes to the Crown. In 1280 he orders Jews to be present as Dominicans preach conversion. In 1287 he arrests heads of Jewish families and demands their communities pay ransom of 12,000 pounds.
1276
Massacre in Fez to kill all Jews stopped by intervention of the Emir.
1278
The Edict of Pope Nicholas III requires compulsory attendance of Jews at conversion sermons.
1279
Synod of Ofen: Christians are forbidden to sell or rent real estate to or from Jews.
1282
John Pectin, Archbishop of Canterbury, orders all London synagogues to close and prohibits Jewish physicians from practicing on Christians.
1283
Philip III of France causes mass migration of Jews by forbidding them to live in the small rural localities.
1283
10 Jews are slain in Mainz after claims of blood libel.
1285
Blood libel in Munich, Germany results in the death of 68 Jews. 180 more Jews are burned alive at the synagogue.
1287
A 16-year-old boy is found dead in the Rhine. Immediately the Jews of Oberwesel are accused of killing the boy. Over 40 men, women and children were killed by rioters as a response.
1287
Jews are arrested and accused of coin clippage. Even without evidence, the whole community is convicted and expelled.
1288
The Jewish population of Troyes is accused of ritual murder. 13 Jewish martyrs are burned at the stake, sacrificing themselves to spare the rest of the community.
1288
104 Jews in Bonn, Germany are killed during a pogrom.
1289
Jews are expelled from Gascony and Anjou.
1290
Jews are expelled from England by Edward I allowing them to take only what they could carry, all the other property became the Crown's after the banning of usury in the 1275 Statute of Jewry.
1290
The Jews of Baghdad are massacred.
1291
Philip the Fair publishes an ordinance prohibiting the Jews to settle in France.
1291
Jewish physician and grand vizier Sa'ad al-Dawla is killed by Muslims who felt it a degradation to have a Jew placed over them. Persian Jews suffer a long-period of violent persecution by the Muslim population.
1292
Forced conversion and expulsion of the Italian Jewish community.
1298
Accusations of Host desecration against the German Jews. More than 140 Jewish communities face forced conversions.
1298
During the civil war between Adolph of Nassau and Albrecht of Austria, German knight Rintfleisch claims to have received a mission from heaven to exterminate "the accursed race of the Jews". Under his leadership, the mob goes from town to town destroying Jewish communities and massacring about 100,000 Jews, often by mass burning at stake. Among 146 localities in Franconia, Bavaria and Austria are Röttingen (20 April), Würzburg (24 July), Nuremberg (1 August).
14th Century
1300
Rabbi Levi ben Gershom, aka Gersonides. A 14th-century French Jewish philosopher best known for his Sefer Milhamot Adonai ("The Book of the Wars of the Lord") as well as for his philosophical commentaries.
1301
Riots break out in Egypt, which are encouraged by the Mamluks. Many Jews are forcibly converted to Islam, including the entire Jewish population of Bilbeis. Many synagogues are appropriated into mosques.
1304–1394
Jews are repeatedly expelled from France and readmitted, for a price.
1306
Jews of Sens, Yonne department of France, are expelled. This was the third and final expulsion (after those in 876 and 1198).
1306
Jews expelled from Castelsarrasin, France.
1310
Frederick II of Aragon adopts anti-Jewish laws, which require them to mark their clothes and shops with the yellow badge. Jews were also forbidden from having any relationship with Catholics.
1315-1317
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 is the first of a series of large-scale crises that strike Europe early in the 14th century. Most of Europe (extending east to Russia and south to Italy) was affected. The famine causes many deaths over an extended number of years and marked a clear end to the period of growth and prosperity from the 11th to the 13th centuries. [Wikipedia]
1318
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, a Persian Jewish convert to Islam was executed on fake charges of poisoning Öljeitü and for several days crowds carried his head around his native city of Tabriz, chanting "This is the head of the Jew who abused the name of God; may God's curse be upon him!"
1319
Jews are expelled from Breslau.
1320
Jews are expelled from Milan during a persecution of so-called heretics.
1320
152 Jews massacred in Castelsarrasin, France.
1320
Shepherds' Crusade attacks the Jews of 120 localities in southwest France.
1321
King Henry II of Castile forces Jews to wear Yellow badge.
1321
Jews in central France accused of ordering lepers to poison wells. After massacre of est. 5,000 Jews, King Philip V admits they were innocent.
1321
A Muslim mob destroys a synagogue in Damascus.
1322
King Charles IV expels Jews from France.
1328
5,000 Jews are massacred, and their houses are burned down following anti-Jewish preaching by a Franciscan friar.
1328
Jewish martyr Aaron ben Zerah, along with his wife and four of his sons are executed.
1332-33
Jews persecuted across Europe are invited to Poland by Casimir the Great (1303-1370), who, in particular, vowed to protect them as "people of the king". Also known as "King of the serfs and Jews." Under penalty of death, he prohibited the kidnapping of Jewish children for the purpose of enforced Christian Baptism. Under his reign, many Jews immigrate to Poland. Approximately 70 percent of the world's European Jews, or Ashkenazim, can trace their ancestry back to Poland—thanks to a 14th-century king, Casimir III, the Great, who drew Jewish settlers from all across Europe. [Wikipedia]
1333
Forced mass conversions in Baghdad.
1336
Persecutions against Jews in Franconia and Alsace led by lawless German bands, the Armleder under the highwayman Arnold von Uissigheim. Roughly 1500 Jews are killed.
1336
The Aleinu prayer is banned in Castile.
1337
Host desecration accusations. Violence spreads to over 51 Jewish communities.
1338
Pogroms over host desecration in Wolfsberg. The Jews are accused of stealing the bread of the Eucharist and trying to burn it. Over 70 Jews are burned at the stake and the entire Jewish community is destroyed.
1343
Pre-Easter massacres spread from Germany across Western Europe. Jews fleeing persecution are welcomed in Poland by Casimir the Great.
1344
The citizens ask the King's permission to confiscate the houses of the Jews for the cities benefit – he grants their request.
1346-1353
The Black Death or the Plague is a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Afro-Eurasia from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the death of 75–200 million people in Eurasia and North Africa, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. Jews are blamed in part by the West. [Wikipedia]
1348
In 1348, Pope Clement VI (1291–1352) issues a bull asking Catholics not to murder Jews, whom they blame for the Black Plague. He takes Jews under his personal protection at Avignon.
The first blood libel accusation against Jews in Poland is documented.
Starting in the spring of 1348, pogroms against Jews had occurred in European cities, starting in Toulon. By November they spread via Savoy to German-speaking territories. In January 1349, burnings of Jews took place in Basel and Freiburg, Massacres spread throughout Spain, France, Germany and Austria. More than 200 Jewish communities destroyed by violence. Many communities have been expelled and settle in Poland.
1349
Pogroms are committed against Jews in many towns in Silesia.
1349
Basel:600 Jews burned at the stake, 140 children forcibly baptized, the remaining city's Jews expelled. The city synagogue is turned into a church and the Jewish cemetery is destroyed.
1849
The Erfurt massacre was a massacre of around 3,000 Jews as a result of Black Death Jewish persecutions
1349
The entire Jewish population of Speyer is destroyed. All Jews are either killed, converted, or fled. All their property and assets was confiscated. Part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.
1349
600 Jews are burned at the stake and the entire Jewish community of Zurich is annihilated as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.
1349
The Jewish community of Worms is completely destroyed as a result of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. Hundreds of Jews set fire to their homes to avoid the oncoming torture. Their property was seized by the locals.
1349
Jews of Berlin are expelled, and many are killed as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.
1349
60 Jews are murdered in Breslau. Jews of Breslau are expelled as part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. The city claims all property and synagogues, while the Emperor was given the cemetery and all Jewish debts.
1349
The Jewish quarter of Cologne is destroyed by an angry mob, and the most of the community is killed. All of their property was split up between the ransackers. It was part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.
Feb 14, 1349
The Strasbourg massacre occurs when several hundred Jews were publicly burnt to death, and the rest of them expelled from the city as part of the Black Death persecutions.
24 August 1349
6,000 Jews are burned to death in Mainz as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. When the angry mob charged, the Jews initially fought back, killing around 200 of their attackers.
1350
Brussels Jewish community is decimated after they are blamed for the Plague.
1352
Church officials order the expulsion of Jews from Bulgaria for "heretical activity."
1354
12,000 Jews are massacred throughout Spain following a bloody civil war.
1356
First Jewish settlement mentioned in Lvov.
1359
Charles V of France allows Jews to return for a period of 20 years in order to pay ransom for his father John II of France, imprisoned in England. The period is later extended beyond the 20 years.
1360
Jews are expelled from Breslau.
1360
Furious with a pogrom against Castilian Jews in Miranda de Ebro, Peter of Castile publicly boils one of the perpetrators, roasts another, and executes others with an axe.
1360
Sephardic Jew Samuel ben Meir Abulafia is arrested and tortured to death in prison for no apparent reason. His lands are confiscated by the king.
1365
Jews of Lorraine are expelled after their presence is cited as the cause of lightning strikes which destroyed twenty-two houses.
1367
Host desecration trials are held against the Jews of Barcelona. They were initiated by the crown prince Don Juan of Aragon.
1367
First Jewish settlement mentioned in Sandomierz.
Pogrom in Poland takes place in Poznań.
1368
Some 6,000 Jews are killed during a siege in Toledo.
1369–70
Civil war in Spain, between brothers Peter of Castile (Pedro) and Henry II of Castile (Enrico), leads to the deaths of 38,000 Jews, embroiled in the conflict.
1370
The entire Jewish population of Brussels is massacred over allegations of host desecration. It was an end of the Hebrew community in Brussels. The event was commemorated by local Christians as the Sacrament of Miracle.
1376
Jews from expelled from Hungary. Most of them flee south into Greece and neighboring areas.
1377
Another Host desecration trial is held against Jews in Teruel and Huesca. The person behind it, as with the previous trial, is the crown prince Don Juan of Aragon. Many Jews are tortured and burned alive publicly.
1382
16 Jews are murdered in the Mailotin Riots.
1384
200 Jews are killed in Noerdlingen, and the community ceases to exist.
1386
Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, expels the Jews from the Swabian League and Strasbourg and confiscates their property.
1385
John of Castile reinforces previous anti-Jewish legislation.
1385
All Jews in the Swabian League are arrested, and their books are confiscated.
1386
First Jewish settlement mentioned in Kazimierz near Kraków (1386).
1388
As a result of the marriage of Wladislaus II to Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Hungary, Lithuania is united with the kingdom of Poland. In 1388–1389, broad privileges were extended to Lithuanian Jews including freedom of religion and commerce on equal terms with the Christians.[Wikipedia]
1389
18 March, a Jewish boy is accused of plotting against a priest. The mob slaughters approx. 3,000 of Prague's Jews, destroys the city's synagogue and Jewish cemetery. Wenceslaus insists that the responsibility lay with the Jews for going outside during Holy Week.
1391
Anti-Jewish riots led by Ferrand Martinez erupt in Seville.
1391
Led by Ferrand Martinez, countless massacres devastate the Sephardic Jewish community, especially in Castile, Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon. The Jewish quarter in Barcelona is completely destroyed. By the end of the pogroms, at least 10,000 Jews are murdered and thousands more are forcibly converted.
1391
Pogrom against the Jews of Toledo on the Seventeenth of Tammuz. Jewish martyrs Israel Alnaqua and Judah ben Asher died at the stake together.
1391
Over 250 Jews are massacred by a mob in Valencia.
1391
All Jewish inhabitants of Palma, Majorca are either converted or killed.
1391
More than 400 Jews are massacred in Barcelona.
1392
The Jews of Damascus are accused by Muslims of setting fire to the central mosque. Although there was no evidence presented, one Jew was burned alive, the leaders of the community were tortured, and the local synagogue was appropriated into a mosque.
1392
Sicilian Jews are forced to live in Ghettos and severe persecution breaks out in Erice, Catania, and Syracuse.
November 3, 1394
King Charles VI of France expels all Jews from France.
1397
Jewish ghettos across Slovenia are set on fire by an anonymous mob.
1399
Accusations of blood libel by the priests, and more riots against the Jews in Poznań.
A Christian woman is accused of stealing hosts and giving them to Jews for thepurpose of desecration. Thirteen members of the Jewish community of Posen, along with the woman are all tortured and burned alive slowly. The community is then forced to pay a special tax every year until the 18th century.
1399
80 Jews are murdered in Prague after a converted Jew named Peter accuses them of denigrating Christianity. A number of Jews are also jailed, including Yom-Tov Lipmann-Muhlhausen.
Return to Chronology of Jewish History - Parts 1-9
Updated November 23, 2021