About ten years after the affair of the Shepherds, the Jews in France were accused of having been bribed by the Saracen king of Granada to poison all the wells and rivers in the country. There was no proof of this but the declaration of a leper, who said, that a rich Jew had given him money to poison some wells; but this was enough for the populace, who, without waiting for inquiry or trial, rose at once, and put numbers of the suspected race to a cruel death.

The king, Philip the Sixth, shamefully took advantage of this popular outcry, and imprisoned the wealthy Jews in Paris until they told him where their treasures were hid; he then seized the greatest part for his own use, and banished the whole race from his dominions. The Jews, thus expelled from France, took refuge in the northern part of Italy, then called Lombardy, and there first established "banks," and the system called "banking"; by which merchants, in lands far distant from each other, could receive the price of goods exchanged, without the risk of sending money: and by this means, the Jews from this time were often able to save their riches from the avarice and violence of their enemies. But the system of banking was not useful to the Jews alone: it was of the greatest service to trade in general, as well as to individuals, and has continued so up to the present time, when every considerable town in almost all European countries has its bank or banks. The great skill and cleverness of the Jews in all matters connected with money, made the monarchs of various kingdoms willing to let them remain in their dominions; for though they would gladly have been rid of the Jews themselves, they were anxious to keep their wealth in the country.

After John the Second became King of France, a.d. 1351, the Jews tried to obtain leave to return to France; but the permission was not granted until 1356, when, John having been taken prisoner by the English, the money of the Jews was needed to raise the sum demanded for his ransom. The children of Israel were, therefore, re-admitted into France for twenty years, on condition that they should at once pay a considerable sum, and that each Jew should pay annually a fixed tax. They would have been wiser to have remained out of the kingdom; for during the reign of Charles the Sixth, which began in 1380, they were often fined, scourged, and many of them executed, on pretence of their having committed various crimes. The wicked absurdity of many of these accusations is proved by the fact, that when Charles the Sixth became mad, the Jews were accused of having deprived him of his senses!

Towards the end of the fourteenth century, the people of France again became clamorous for the banishment of the Jews; and supported by certain noblemen who owed those unhappy creatures money, they broke into their houses, murdered the inhabitants, and seized all the property they could find. Some of the persecuted race took refuge in one of the prisons: their wives attempted to follow them, with their children in their arms, but the mob forced the little ones away from their mothers, and carried them off to be baptized. The government, too weak to venture on punishing the perpetrators of these crimes, replaced the Jews who survived in their houses; and ordered that all persons who had taken any of their property should give it back to them—an order which was, of course, only laughed at. In a.d. 1394, an Act was passed, banishing the Jews from France for ever; but as the town of Metz, in that part of the country called Lorraine, was then a free city, under the protection of the Emperor of Germany, the Jews continued to reside there in peace; and after Lorraine became a part of the kingdom of France, the French monarchs did not molest the Jews in Metz. But though, until the seventeenth century, Metz was the only city in France where the Jews were allowed to reside, a few were always to be found in different parts of the kingdom. Mary de Medicis, the wife of Henry the Fourth, who became king a.d. 1589, sent for a Jewish physician to Paris, where he was allowed free exercise of his religion for himself and his family.

The Jews, who were driven out of France in 1394, went mostly into Germany, where, however, they could not have much hope of peace, as their brethren in that country had suffered much from the beginning of the fourteenth century. About the middle of the century, a number of ignorant and superstitious Christians, imagining that the Almighty had ordered them to scourge themselves and kill the Jews, formed themselves into a company, called "Flagellants," for the purpose of carrying out what they conceived to be the Divine commission. They proceeded to whip themselves in the most cruel manner, and then began their work of destruction. After many of the Jews had been murdered, the Flagellants came to some agreement with their unhappy victims; but this was rendered useless by the conduct of a Jew of Frankfort, who, not being satisfied with the agreement made, set fire to one of the public buildings, which was burnt down, with all the valuable papers it contained: the flames spread to the cathedral, and burnt that also to ashes. For this crime, not only the guilty Jew, but all his innocent brethren also, were put to death; with the exception of a few, who managed to escape, and took refuge in Bohemia.

The year after the affair of the Flagellants, the Jews in Germany were accused of poisoning wells and springs, and a fresh massacre took place all over the country.

At Metz, the Jews not only defended themselves, which they were perfectly right to do, but in revenge put to death, in a barbarous manner, 200 unarmed Christians, who were in no way answerable for the attack upon them.

The enraged populace punished this real crime, by killing many thousands of the Jews, and setting fire to their houses. The flames spread, and did much damage in the town. This persecution extended over the whole of Germany; some of the princes and nobles tried to save and help the miserable victims, but with little success.

The Jews who had fled into Bohemia suffered equally at Prague; during the Feast of the Passover, they were burnt in their synagogues whilst engaged in their devotions.

Soon afterwards another persecution was raised, on the old charge of poisoning springs and rivers; and this persecution extended through Germany and into Italy, Provence, and other parts. The Emperor of Germany himself, convinced of their innocence of this pretended crime, endeavoured to convince his Council that it was impossible for the Jews to have committed it; but such was the feeling against the Hebrew race, that in order to save them from worse calamities, the Emperor was forced, at the close of the fourteenth century, to command these unhappy creatures either to be baptized, or to leave the country. The Jewish historians tell us, that very few did give up their religion; or, as they expressed it, "forsake the glory of their God."

In Spain, the Jews suffered dreadfully at the beginning of the fourteenth century from the Shepherds, who, after finishing their work of destruction in France, carried fire and sword into Spain; marking out the race of Israel as their especial victims: and a pestilence that broke out in the army of the Shepherds increased their fury against these devoted people, whom they accused of having caused it by poisoning the rivers. This story was readily believed, or at least accepted, by those who ought to have known better; and great numbers of Jews were actually imprisoned on this charge: after a long confinement, the judges declared them to be innocent. The king, unwilling to allow that he had imprisoned them unjustly, pretended that he had only kept them in prison in order to convert them; but he caused a large number who refused to be baptized, to be put to death.

Alphonso the Eleventh, king of Castile, was the friend and protector of the Jews, and had one of that nation for his principal minister and adviser. But this displeased his turbulent and rebellious subjects, who accused a Jewish boy of having in some way insulted the Sacrament: they became so violent upon the subject, that the king was obliged to summon a Council, to decide whether the Israelites should be put to death, or banished. Banishment was decided upon; and they were commanded to leave the country within three months' time: but mean time it was discovered that a Christian, and not a Jewish lad, had committed the offence complained of; and the king recalled the sentence of banishment, to the great disappointment and indignation of the enemies of the Jews, who declared, that the witnesses who had proved the Christian lad to be guilty, had been bribed to do so.

The same kind of treatment was experienced by the Israelites in other parts of Spain during the fourteenth century; but during that period the Popes in general treated them with humanity. Troubles and disputes unconnected with the Jews had caused the Popes for a time to leave Rome, and take up their residence at Avignon, in the south of France. Clement the Fifth, then Pope, did all in his power to save the Jews from the violence of the Shepherds, and all their other enemies: he also provided for them the means of instruction, by ordering that Hebrew should be taught in all the Christian universities, or places of education for young men; so that there might be some, able to show the Jews from their own Scriptures, how all ancient prophecies pointed out Jesus Christ as the true Messiah. Again, when the Jews were persecuted on pretence of their having poisoned the rivers, Pope Clement the Sixth exerted himself on their behalf; many of them found a safe asylum in Avignon, and the Pope left nothing undone to relieve their misery, and soften the fury of their persecutors. In Italy, the Jews seem to have been pretty well treated during the fourteenth century, and in Poland they met with favour and indulgence: by their industry they gained wealth and power, and became a prosperous and flourishing people, as they have ever since continued to be in that country. Poland produced many learned Jews; and Jewish children from all parts were sent there to study the Talmud, and to learn and practise all the peculiar rites and ceremonies of their religion.

We have now come to the close of the fourteenth century. The dreadful sufferings endured by the Jews up to this time, and during future years, must remind us how surely all the prophecies contained in Scripture will be fulfilled. The prophets had foretold, that in consequence of their sins they would suffer unheard-of miseries: history shows us the accomplishment of this prediction.

Then again, it is wonderful that with such persecutions, they should not have been utterly destroyed; but, no, the Lord had said by His prophets, that they should be scattered throughout all lands, but not destroyed. The whole history of the Jews proves the truth of the Bible; and it should remind us, that Scripture equally warns us, that if we sin we shall also suffer; and that nothing will be acceptable to God, but a true, loving, and faithful devotion of ourselves to the service of Jesus Christ, Whom we acknowledge to be the Son of God, the promised Messiah.