Jews in England:
There were few Jews in England during the Elizabethan Era. Most Elizabethans would never have even met one Jew. The dominant religion then was Protestantism and Catholic. Lets start by describing how did the Jews land in England and how they were being treated towards the Elizabethan era.
Following the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest in 1066, Jews had come to England. The King Edward 1 expelled Jews from England, causing a further decline in the reputation of the Jews. Jews, along with Protestants, were looked upon and treated as heretics by the Catholics. The reputation of the Jews suffered badly during the Medieval era and the Elizabethan Era. Jews were thought to be the ones who spread the Bubonic Plague or Black Death. Christians were terrified by this disease, causing them to think that it was the Jews that were the ones to blame. This disease had no cure and the people did not think that the Jews were also hit by the disease and were human beings as the Christian were too.
The persecution of English Jews started from 1290. During the Medival Era of King Edward I in 1255, some Jews were imprisoned in the Tower of London (right). They were about to be executed on alleged murder of Hugh of Lincoln. 18 Jews were hanged, and soon in 1270, anti-Semitism grew among the population of England. King Edward I soon decreed that Jews must wear a yellow star so as to identify them in public as they were a threat to England. The heads of the Jewish household were arrested and taken away to the Tower. Many Jews were executed then. It was not long before in 1290, King Edward banished all Jews from England. This lasted till 1655, where all that was known about Jews and their religion and customs during this time were all from vague rumours and reputation mixed with horrifying wives tales about the Jews being responsible for spreading the Bubonic Plague.
Christians believed that Jews possessed magical powers. Christians thought they had obtained those powers by making a pact with the Devil. Thus, Jews were associated with Elizabethan witches. The stereotypical Jewish features consisted of a long, hooked nose and a swarthy complexion (something similar to a witch’s appearance) and the Jews were believed by the Christians to worship the devil (but all this was prejudice).
Thus during the Elizabethan era, there were a small number Jews in England. Jews had long been restricted to only two occupations (through their years of persecution) - money lending and as peddlars. Elizabethan Jews would have had to outwardly conform to the Christian Protestant religion. Any adherence to the Jewish religion , similar to that of any adherence to the Catholic religion, would have been undertaken in utmost secrecy.
Time Period / What Occurred21st April 1509 – 28th January 1547 / King Henry VIII was in reign during this period of time. He was believed to be a Catholic and who then established the Church of England in 1531. Some believed that he died as a Protestant, but ultimately he advocated Catholic ceremony and doctrine throughout his life.
28th January 1547 – 6th July 1553 / King Henry VIII’s and his 3rd wife’s, Jane Seymour, son, King Edward VI, adhered to the Protestant religion in the 6 years he was in rule of England, being only nine when he was crowned as king. Edward died young at barely 15-16 years old.
10th to 19th July 1553 / King Edward VI’s cousin, Lady Jane Grey, was also Protestant, but only reigned for nine days. King Edward did not want to include Queen Mary in the line of inheritance due to her being a staunch Catholic. However, this exclusion contradicted the Act of Succession of 1544 (Mary being his sister) and thus Queen Jane only ruled for 9 days.
19th July 1553 to 17th November 1558 / Queen Mary, the only daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, was a staunch Catholic and many people remember her as the one who restored Roman Catholic to England in her reign. However, she had 300 staunch Protestants burned at the stake in the Marian Persecutions, earning her the nickname of “Bloody Mary”.
17th November 1558 – 24th March 1603 / Queen Elizabeth succeeded Mary. She adhered to the Protestant religion in her reign as Queen but was tolerant to Catholics initially. One of her first moves as the Queen of England was to support the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. Lets see the elaborate events in her reign regarding religion:
1569-1570 / The Rising of the North occurred from 1569-1570. The Nevilles’ family of Durham and Percys’ family of Northumberland had a plot to overthrow Elizabeth I and reinstate Roman Catholicism.
1569-1573 / Desmond Rebellions occurred during this time and they re primarily about the independence of feudal lords from their monarch but also had an element of religious conflict between the Roman Catholic and Protestant.
August 24 1572 / In France on the St Bartholomew's Day massacre occurred when from 5000-30000 (estimate) French Protestants were massacred by French Roman Catholics in Paris. Similar atrocities elsewhere in France result in thousands of more deaths. This caused panic in England with fears of a Catholic invasion
March 18, 1581 / The English Parliament passes strict legislation against Roman Catholics. These tougher laws against Catholics were passed: fines for not conforming to the state religion (Protestant) were increased and converting to Catholicism was considered as high treason.
1585 / Elizabethan War with Spain occurred. This was due to various conflicts surrounding the wealth and power to be gained from trade from the New World and the differences in religion. The fanatical Catholics in Spain thought that a war and the conquest of England was considered as a religious crusade which had been given Papal blessing
1586 / Sir Francis Walsingham discovers the The Babington Plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, to break the reign of a Protestant ruler. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned for 20 more years before she was executed.
1593 / Penalties are proposed for people who refuse to attend Church of England services and it was made a crime to attend Catholic services
1595 / Catholic Spanish forces land in Cornwall and burn the town of Mousehole. The inhabitants fled to Penzance where by chance Godolphin, (of Godolphin Hall, one of the two Deputy Lord Lieutenants of Cornwall, and in charge of the local militia musters) happened to be visting. Godolpgin tried to muster some defences, but when the Spanish saw how small Godolphin’s forces were, they made for Penzance and burned it down and left Godolphin’s forces no choice but to retreat. The Spanish forces then returned to their ships
1597 / King Philip II sends a second armada against England - a storm scatters his ships
The war with Catholic Spain only ends with the death ofQueen Elizabeth I and the succession of King James I, who was the first king to rule over both Scotland and England. King James's reign saw the publication of the Authorised Version of the Bible
The part Religion and superstition play in The Merchant of Venice
Religious discrimination, in fact religion in general, plays a major role in The Merchant of Venice. The theme of Anti-Semitism is constantly shown throughout the play. The play itself may also be considered Anti-Semitist, in that the main antagonist, Shylock, is a Jew, and he is constantly portrayed as selfish, petty, stingy, jealous, superstitious, and to a lesser extent, evil. This in itself can be considered as discrimination against the Jews, and can therefore allow the play to be considered Anti-Semitist.
Throughout the play, there is also a constant theme of Anti-Semitism. It is implied that the main reason why most of the characters hate Shylock is due to his being a Jew. Some, such as Antonio, are implied to have insulted him by calling him a cut-throat dog and spitting on his clothes. Furthermore, he is portrayed as a cruel man, such as when he wishes to have a pound of Antonio’s flesh should he fail to pay the bond, and is seen by some people, such as Bassanio, as a villain. Furthermore, through Antonio’s words in Act 1, Scene 3, where he states that “The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind”, implies that he believes that all Jews are unkind or cruel, which is probably a representation of the Anti-Semitist feelings of all characters in the story. Also, Shylock seems to be more worried about his property than his family, such as when Jessica eloped, he seemed to be more concerned about the possessions she had brought along rather than her well-being, thus portraying him to be a very materialistic person.
Finally, the laws of Venice are shown to be clearly biased towards the Christians, as shown when Portia states that by the law, if Shylock sheds “one drop of Christian blood” during the claim of Antonio’s bond, all his land and property are to be confiscated. Furthermore, the law considered the Jew to be an alien, as seen when Portia declares that “It is enacted in the laws of Venice, If it be proved against an alien that by direct or indirect attempts he seek the life of any citizen”, which implies that the Jews are not considered citizens of Venice, which is a clear indication of the level of discrimination.
Superstition is also repeatedly shown throughout the story, though it does not play as major a role as Religion. It is shown through the unfounded fears of Shylock due to his belief in dreams as a bad omen and bad omens in general. For example, he believes Lancelot Gobbo when he concocts a story of having a nosebleed on Black Monday as an omen of the presence of the masque in an attempt to cover up for his almost revealing the relationship between Lorenzo and Jessica. Ironically, Shylock’s worries about losing his property come true when his daughter elopes with Lorenzo.
In conclusion, both religion and superstition are major themes present in The Merchant of Venice, with religion more so than superstition. They both play major roles in the advancement of the story, at the same time being used occasionally as a source of humor or irony.
Superstitions
Rabbit's foot = lucky
Horseshoe = lucky (iron, repels evil)
Knocking on wood = lucky (spirits of tree help)
Breaking mirrors = unlucky (breaking one's reflection, mirrors were expensive
Spilling salt = unlucky (salt was valuable)
Walking under a ladder = unlucky (ladder + wall + ground forms triangle, supposedly holy shape)
Evil eye [strange stare, strangely-coloured pupils] = evil
Opening umbrella in the house/not bringing out an umbrella = unlucky
Sparrow enters house=omen of death
The bride and groom must not meet on the day of the wedding except at the altar.
The bride should never wear her complete wedding clothes before the day.
The husband should carry his new wife over the threshold of their home.
If the wedding ring is dropped during the ceremony, it is lucky.
Four-leaf clover = lucky (sign of wisdom, also quite rare)
Crossing fingers = luck/wishes come true (ancient ritual among friends)
13 =unlucky (no reason found)
Black cat = unlucky (thought that witches could disguise themselves as black cats) Another source says that black cats were considered to be lucky.
Shakespeare Radio Talk Show
Host: Now it’s time for our weekly “DeadTalk”. This week, we are honoured to have a citizen who once lived in the Elizabethan times. Good morning, Eraepsekahs Mialliw.
Guest: Good Morning. It is my pleasure to be here today.
Host: So, can you tell us more about life during your time; let’s say, for starters, what your diet consisted of?
Guest: Well, at that time, Englishmen’s diet consisted mainly of meat, and we ate less bread and rice than you now.
Host: What about your routine daily; as in what time do you eat.
Guest: It’s quite similar to you routine actually. Breakfast was at 6.30 and we would eat bread, butter, beer, and wine, a stew of mutton, beef, veal, rabbits or chickens. Dinner was between 10 and 12, and it was a very important meal, we would eat fresh and salt-water fish, oysters, all kinds of meat, vegetables and fruits. Supper was at 5:30, and, well, it was more or less the same as lunch. Sweets and cakes were also in great demand, and fruits were highly appreciated and cultivated too.
Host: I see. It appears you have a big appetite. Well then, what would you do between your meals, for leisure? I mean, you can’t just be working, eating and sleeping all day long.
Guest: Of course. We took part in a lot of activities. Sports and games were particularly common.
Host: Would you mind telling us, specifically, about the sports and games you played.
Guest: Wow, you’re asking for a lot. Anyway, we have many sports including hunting, archery, duelling, fencing, fishing, bearbaiting, bullbaiting, horsemanship, running, leaping, and ball games. And I won’t mind telling you this: there were also a lot of games we played that was against the laws, including dice and cards, all games of chance and swimming. Oh yes, and we also liked to dance and sing.
Host: We all know the great playwright William Shakespeare lived during your time. So would you watch plays often.
Guest: Oh yes, we loved to watch plays, but the actors were officially discredited.
Host: Well, due to technology like vacuum cleaners, anti-dandruff shampoo, so on and so forth, our homes are usually spick and span, as compared to yours, and we get the impression you’re a lot dirtier compared to us. Would you enlighten us by telling us about your personal hygiene standard at that time?
Guest: Well, we can’t be compared to you, of course, but we paid a lot of attention to our personal cleanliness. We had public baths, many kinds of sweet scented soap, and we would wash our clothes frequently at the rivers or wells. However, that raised questions about the sanitary conditions, a rule was created that no one could wash their clothes in public. Toothpicks were also in great demand, considering how we were such great meat eaters.