Since the time of the
Norman Conquest, Jews had been filling a small but vital role in the English economy. Usury by
Christians was forbidden at the time by the
Catholic Church, but Jews were permitted to act as
moneylenders and bankers. That enabled some Jews to amass tremendous wealth, but also earned them enmity, which added to the increasing
antisemitic sentiments of the time, due to widespread indebtedness and financial ruin among the
Gentile population.
Edward I returned from the
Crusades in 1274, two years after his accession as
King of England, and found that land had become a commodity, and that many of his subjects had become dispossessed and were in danger of destitution. Jews traded land for money, and land was often mortgaged to Jewish moneylenders. In January 1275 Edward's mother, the Queen Dowager
Eleanor of Provence,
expelled the Jews from all of her lands, a precursor to the Statute enacted later the same year. As special direct subjects of the
monarch, Jews could be taxed indiscriminately by the King. Some have described this situation as indirect usury: the monarch permitted and encouraged Jews to practise usury and then taxed the profit. In the years leading up to the Statute, Edward taxed them heavily to help finance his forthcoming military campaigns in
Wales, which began in 1277. One theory holds that he had exhausted the financial resources of the Jewish community when the Statute was passed in 1275. ==Provisions==