During the fifteenth century there were no Jews in England or France. Of course, there may have been a few scattered here and there; but there was no body of Jews in either country during this period.

In Germany, their condition continued much the same. The slightest pretence sufficed to raise a persecution; and a pretence was afforded, at the close of the century, by an impostor, named David, who declared that the Messiah would positively appear in the year 1500. He afterwards declared, that the Messiah had delayed His coming on account of the sins of the people; and he caused the credulous Jews to appoint a solemn fast, in order to obtain pardon and hasten the appearance of the Deliverer. The Jews of course suffered; and David was imprisoned, and died shortly afterwards.

In the beginning of this century, great efforts were made for the conversion of the Jews in the Spanish kingdom of Arragon. The Pope was zealous in the work; and one of their own race, named Jerome, who had himself embraced Christianity, undertook to convince his countrymen even by passages from the Talmud, that Jesus Christ must certainly be the Messiah. Although the Jews treated the Pope with great respect, they were by no means disposed to listen to Jerome, with whom they were very angry; first, for deserting the faith of his people; and, secondly, for drawing them into disputes, which might bring persecution upon them. It is said, however, that 4,000 Jews were then converted, and that a few years later, through the zeal of one of the clergy, a still larger number were baptized; but the greater part, having only submitted to baptism out of fear, continued to observe in secret all the rites and ceremonies of the Hebrews.

In 1479 a great change took place in the condition of the Jews in Spain, for Ferdinand, King of Arragon, married Isabella, the Queen of Castile; so that from this time the two kingdoms became one, called the Kingdom of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella were very anxious that all the inhabitants of Spain should be Christians. In 1492 the Moors were driven out of Granada, and their country became also a part of the Kingdom of Spain; but many of the Moors, rather than leave their beloved Granada, pretended to become Christians. Having driven the Moors out of Spain, Ferdinand thought it would be desirable to get rid of the Jews also; and he commanded them either to be baptized or to quit Spain altogether. In order to prevent Jews or Mahometans who had been baptized, from ever returning to the practices of their former faith, Ferdinand and Isabella were persuaded to establish the Court of the Inquisition in Spain. The Inquisition was a Court of Inquiry, the members of which were charged by the Pope to examine all persons accused, or suspected of holding any opinions in religious matters, not agreeing entirely with the doctrines taught by the Church of Rome. They had power to torture the accused, in order to force them to confessions, and to put to death all who continued to hold any opinions condemned by the Pope. So much was this dreadful tribunal feared by the people, that none ventured to withhold their nearest and dearest relations from the officers of the Inquisition, whose duty it was to arrest all persons, upon whom rested the slightest suspicion of what was called heresy. The unfortunate creatures thus dragged from their homes, were kept for a long time in the dungeons of the Inquisition, until they accused themselves and declared the cause of their imprisonment; for they were not told of what crimes they were accused, nor were their accusers ever brought face to face with them to witness against them, as justice would have demanded. Seldom did any, who were once consigned to the dungeons of the Inquisition, return to their families; and so well was this known that, when they were taken away by the officers, their friends and relations looked upon them as dead: nor did they dare to make any effort to save them, lest they should themselves be looked upon as accomplices in some unknown crime.

When no shadow of proof could be brought against the wretched prisoners, they were discharged, with the loss of great part of their property, after suffering the most cruel tortures during a tedious and dreadful imprisonment. Many of those whom the Inquisitors (or Judges in this Court) chose to consider guilty, were secretly put to a cruel death, in the dungeons of the Inquisition. Sometimes a number of these so-called "heretics" were executed publicly, by being all burnt together with great pomp and ceremony, so as to make quite a show of their execution!

This terrible show was called an "Auto-da-FÉ," meaning a sacrifice offered up by faithful Christians to prove their devotion to God! It is dreadful to think of all the cruel and wicked things which have been done under pretence of religion, when true religion should fill our hearts with love to God, and love to man for His sake, and make us strive to subdue all our own evil passions and tempers.

Sad too, to remember, that this cruel tribunal, under whose authority the most barbarous and wicked acts were committed through a long series of years, was established by Christian bishops, under the idea that they could thus please a God of love and mercy!

It is necessary to mention the circumstances which led to the establishment of a tribunal, so opposed to the spirit of Christianity.

The Popes, from being originally the Bishops of Rome, had gradually claimed and obtained influence and power over the Church in all Christian kingdoms; and they required that every member of these churches, should believe exactly whatever they and their Council declared to be right and true. The different orders of monks, who were established in every Christian country, supported the Pope's claims, and did all in their power to increase the power and authority of the Roman Pontiffs. Not content with spiritual power, the Popes, little by little, claimed the right to interfere in temporal affairs; so that, by degrees, the Pope claimed and exercised a kind of sovereign power over all Christian kings, and required them to obey him in temporal as well as spiritual matters. Such was the influence of the priests over an ignorant and superstitious people, that their kings would not have dared to deny the superior authority of the Pope, had they wished to do so; for the people were taught to believe, that the Roman Pontiff had power to draw down upon individuals and nations who had displeased him, the severest judgments, or visible signs of the displeasure of the Almighty God Himself.

In England, the Pope's power never was so great as it became in Italy and other European countries.

But though Christians in general, and the monks in particular, were ready to profess belief in whatever the Popes declared to be the truth, there arose from time to time men who, contrary to the Papal order, dared to search the Scriptures for themselves; and thus perceived clearly, that the Church of Rome had adopted many doctrines and practices which were, in fact, quite contrary to those taught by the Apostles, and given to them by the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who made such an important discovery, naturally told others of it; and thus there grew up in the Christian Church, a party who were opposed to the Pope's authority, both in spiritual and temporal matters.

This was of course highly displeasing to the sovereign Pontiff; and, in order to check the spread of feelings and opinions which weakened the Papal power, the terrible Court of the Inquisition was established in Italy, by Pope Gregory the Ninth, in the year 1233—that is, towards the middle of the thirteenth century. It became the constant endeavour of all future Pontiffs, to persuade the various sovereigns of Europe, to introduce this iniquitous tribunal into their dominions.

But, although Gregory the Ninth may be said to have established the Inquisition as a permanent tribunal, it was not altogether a new institution; for, at the close of the twelfth century, the same desire to check the growth of feelings opposed to Papal power, led Innocent the Third, in the year 1198, to nominate Inquisitorial Courts, to examine all persons accused of heresy. From this beginning, sprang the Court of Inquisition, established by Gregory a.d. 1233.

Innocent the Third is well known in English history, as the Pope to whom King John gave up his kingdom, to be returned to him as a Papal fief. He is also remarkable for the encouragement given to the cruel persecution of the Albigenses in the south of France, and of the Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont.

The Albigenses were a body of men living about Toulouse and Albigeois, in Languedoc, who distinguished themselves by their opposition to the doctrines and ceremonies of the Church of Rome. Their name appears to have been given them, either because a great number of them resided in the diocese of Albi, or because they were condemned as heretics by a council held in that town. The Albigenses became so powerful, that Pope Innocent the Third sent a legate into their country; but, as that step produced no good effect, he stirred up against them Philip the Second, King of France, who, being joined by other princes, carried on a regular crusade against these unfortunate people. They were at first supported by Raimond, Count of Toulouse; but when the King of France made war upon them, he deserted them, and made his submission to the Pope; but, soon afterwards, finding himself plundered by the Crusaders, he declared war against them. He was, however, defeated and slain at the siege of Toulouse; and the consequence was, that the city surrendered to the Crusaders, who also conquered the greater part of Languedoc and Provence.

His son, also called Raimond, who succeeded him, published a declaration against the Albigenses, a.d. 1253; and agreed with the Pope and the King of France, to set up the Inquisition in his territories. From this time the Albigenses gradually decreased in number, until, in the sixteenth century, the remnant had become so intermingled with the Vaudois, that all are known by the latter name.

The Waldenses took their name from Peter Waldo, who was a rich merchant of Lyons, in the latter part of the twelfth century. Waldo, being extremely anxious for the increase of Christian knowledge and piety, employed a priest, in the year 1160, to translate from the Latin into French, the four Gospels and some other parts of Scripture. When this was done, Waldo found that there was no authority in Scripture, for many of the doctrines and practices taught by the Church over which the Pope presided; in fact, that they were quite contrary to the Word of God. In consequence, he gave up his mercantile profession, distributed his riches among the poor, and devoted himself, as a public teacher, to spread a knowledge of Scriptural truth. His success was great. His followers took their name of Waldenses from him; and they were also called "The poor men of Lyons."

The Archbishop of Lyons, and other rulers of the Church in those parts, opposed Waldo vigorously, but with little effect; for the simplicity and beauty of his doctrines, and the pious and blameless lives led by him and his followers, caused a daily increase of their numbers. Being driven out of Lyons, they spread over DauphinÉ, Provence, and the valleys of Piedmont.

The merciless persecution carried on against these innocent people, by Philip the Second and Innocent the Third, failed to destroy them utterly, although the king is said to have destroyed the country seats of 300 gentlemen in the attempt. Amongst those who distinguished themselves most in this barbarous persecution, was Simon de Montfort, whose son, bearing the same name, retired to England, and became a favourite of Henry the Third, who created him Earl of Leicester. After one quarrel and reconciliation with his sovereign, Leicester put himself at the head of the English barons who rebelled successfully against Henry the Third; but in the battle of Evesham, when the royal forces were led by Prince Edward, the Earl was defeated and slain.

In spite of the united efforts of the Pope, the King of France, and of the Count Simon de Montfort, the Waldenses continued to exist, and were in later times known as the Vaudois.