Dear Marie-Claude,
Thank you for your reference. I believe I recall that story from the
Golden Legend but will now re-check it.
There were a series of expulsions of the Jews from royal France from
the late 12th through the early 14th centuries. In each case before 1306,
most of the Jews return; indeed, they are recalled and offered new charters
etc. This was true of the expulsion by Philip Augustus in 1182 and that of
Thibaut V and Louis IX in 1268. An auto-da-fe in Troyes in 1288 and a series
of expulsions (Gascony 1288, Anjou 1289, England 1290, Nevers 1294) sent Jews
into Paris, Troys and Reims, i.e., into royal France. Philip le Bel,
however, dealt the death blow to the community with a final expulsion in
1306. Emily Taitz estimates an exile of approximately 17,000-20,000 Jews who
fled east into the Rhine communities, north to Flanders or south into
Provence, Italy, Navarre, Spain. Some Jews do return through the 14th
century, at least to Champagne, but never in significant numbers.
The Jew in your St. Nicholas story may be a "good" one but that is
because he sees the light and converts!
Cordially, Susan
Susan Einbinder
Hebrew Union College
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati OH 45220
office: 513-221-1875
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