"TAX, INSURANCE, INTERNATIONAL TRADE & SUPERANNUATION"
TAX, INSURANCE, INTERNATIONAL TRADE & SUPERANNUATION
This goes back to 1066 when William of Normandy (France) invaded England and won the Battle
of Hastings.
William I (1066-1089) brought many Jews from Rouen to document the assets of the conquered
English in the Doomsday Book.
The Doomsday Book formed the basis of the first Taxation Scheme and led to the building of
the Castles and Churches around England to store the taxes collected.
The Jews lived under special protection of the King and were the subjects of the King and
not the local Lords of the Manors.
The Jews were instrumental in forming the Freemasons, so called because they were free to
travel, unlike the rest of the population who were corralled in the Shire Boundaries by
the Shire Reeves.
The Shire Reeves or Sheriffs policed the boundaries of the Shires to prevent the indentured
population from travelling.
The Freemasons established their Lodges with the rituals of revealing their identity to
receive funds for travel warrants so that they did not have to carry money while travelling.
An expedient precaution from 1066 - 1850 in the UK, 1788 - 1900 in Australia and until the
event of Travelers Cheques and Credit Cards in recent times in other Countries.
When a Freemason arrived at the place to build a Church, Castle, Town Hall, fine House etc
he would find a welcome, company, food and funds at the Lodge.
The Jews were the only peole who could be licensed money-lender for a profit as the taking
of interest was forbidden to Christians by the Church. Ref the Starra P 5
Loans were required by the Lords of the Manor to build the houses. These loans and were made
on the security of land. This loan by the Jewish Moneylenders was recorded as a Starra and
were effectively the first mortgage transactions
ref the Starra FA LINCOLN . The Starra P 50
ref Blackstone
Starr or starra. The old term for contract or obligation among the Jews, being a corruption
from the Hebrew word "shetar", a covenant, ... & Blackstone conjectures that the room in
which the chests were kept was thence called the "Star-Chamber".
Many of these Starra were destroyed in mob violence against the Jews often agitated by the
Norman {French} Lords of the Manor.
In 1174 the Archae were set up by agreement with the King so that the Starra were stored in
Churches and Castles
Thus after 1174 it became "profitless to destroy the contracts of the Jews since a
counterpart remained in the King's care" ref The Starra P140 - Influence of Jews of the Law
In 1189 Richard I (Richard the Lionheart - 1089-1099) acceded to the Throne of England.
Richard established the Exchequer of the Jews to raise funds for the Crusades and more
important to pay for his release from imprisonment by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI
Richard spent all but 6 months of his 10 year reign away from England leaving the care of
running the Country to his brother John.
[****2006 The very informative book "Blondel's Song" by David BOYLE provides a very detailed
and fascinating account of the Capture, Imprisonment and Ransom of Richard the Lionheart for
25% of the entire wealth of the UK in 1194 explains why the Jews were so influencial on
the English Taxation System****]
It was King John's (1199-1218) excesses that led to the writing and signing of "The Magna
Carta - The Articles of the Barons" at Runnymede in 1215.
The Magna Carta had 63 Articles and was signed by 25 Barons.
Magna Carta stressed three points
1 The Church was free to make ecclesiastic appointments
2 Excess taxation only by consent of King's feudal tenants
3 No freeman be punished except within context common law
The translation of Magna Carta can be viewed on
http://www.bl.uk/diglib/magna-carta/magna-carta-text.html
The Articles that refer specifically to the Jews are
* (10) If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been
repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for so long as he remains under age,
irrespective of whom he holds his lands. If such a debt falls into the hands of the Crown,
it will take nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.
* (11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and pay nothing towards
the debt from it. If he leaves children that are under age, their needs may also be provided
for on a scale appropriate to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of
the residue, reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than
Jews are to be dealt with similarly. "
Edward I {Edward Longshanks of Braveheart fame} (1272-1307) established the principle of
Primogeniture ie - the 1st son inherits all the assets of the father and land is the basis of
commerce.
In Jewish History, Edward I banned usury in 1290 which resulted in many Jews leaving England
and moving to Spain, Portugal, France and Holland
In 1362, nearly 300 years after the Battle of Hastings, English replaced French as the
national language during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377)
In 1536 Henry VIII established the Church of England as part of the Protestant religion.
The Church and the nobles formed part of the Parliament which advised the King. Henry VIII
resided at Hampton Court.
B PROGRESS WITH CONTINENTAL ZIONISM
Meanwhile the Jews who had left England were instrumental in the search for Trade
opportunities by the Dutch, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
The Portuguese Jews were very influential on Henry the Navigator to establish the School of
Navigation in Sagres Portugal around 1425
ref Three Centuries Anglo-Jewish History P 30 - The first 50 years.
The influence of the Jews is that the Hebrew teachings and study of the Torah provided mental
diligence that had proved over the centuries the importance of maintaining written records.
The School of Navigation taught the Ships pilots how to make maps, record the navigation
records and to use instruments such as the quadrant.
It was the Catalan Jew from Majorca, Jehuda Cresques, son of the cartographer Abraham Cresques,
was brought to Sagres to supervise the collation of geographic facts brought back by Henry's
explorers, who were encouraged and later required to keep detailed logs of their voyages.
Muslims and Arabs, Italians from Genoa and Venice, Germans and Scandinavians came to Sagres.
This community developed navigational instruments and such as the quadrant, and new
mathematical tables to aid in determining latitude.
The Pilots of these ships had to complete a record for each voyage with precise detailed
records. These records had to lodged at the School of Navigation when each ship returned.
Although Henry the Navigator died in 1460 the School of Navigation provided the students who
discovered the World including:
1488 Bartolomeu DIAS - rounded Cape of Good Hope
1492 Christopher COLOMBUS - discovers North America
1498 Vasco DE GAMAS - India by sea via Cape of Good Hope
1500 Pedro Alvares CABRAL - discovers Brazil South America
1519 Ferdinand MAGELLAN - round World voyage 1519-1522
Thus it was Henry the Navigator's school at Sagres that laid the foundations for International
Trade.
