King Charles III's Coronation and a Jewish Connection
The history of Jews in England has been documented, but is not well known to the public, including most Jews.
While there may have been a Jewish population in Anglo-Saxon, England, the earliest significant Jewish event was after William I’s (the Conqueror) invasion of 1066. William needed moneyed, educated persons to pay taxes and administer his new realm. Most people then paid taxes in service and goods as opposed to coin. William invited Jews mostly from Rouen, France, to come as vassals of the Crown itself as opposed to belonging to various lords in the feudal system. They were known as "Kings Men." One account claims that the Tower of London was built with Jewish capital.
Things turned badly in the mid-12th Century when a pogrom eradicated the Jewish population of York, who were given a choice of death, exile, or conversion. Even those who converted were killed.
Another significant event was the famous Great Charter or Magna Charta of 1215 (and its successors), which classified debts owed to Jews differently than other debts. If a person died owing money to a Jew, interest ceased upon the debtor's death. If he died leaving his assets to his widow, she was allowed to pay her living expenses before any payment to the Jewish lender.
Later that century King Edward I, who was deeply in debt to Jewish money lenders, expelled the entire Jewish population on July 18, 1290, and got out from that debt. The King couldn't declare bankruptcy, which wasn't known back then. The term "bankruptcy" comes from Italian, meaning "broken bench" or "banca rotta." The first English statute on the subject didn’t become law until the Statue of Bankrupts of 1542.
It was not until 1656 during the Cromwell Protectorate (after Charles I was overthrown and beheaded) that Jews were welcomed back to England. The reasons for Cromwell's actions have been the subject of several interpretations. Jews have lived in England to the present time.
When King Charles III is coronated on May 6, 2023, he will sit on the famous Coronation Throne, which was made by order of King Edward I in 1300. The throne was made to encase the Stone of Scone that Edward seized when he invaded Scotland (remember Braveheart?). It was first used for a coronation when Edward II was crowned in 1307. Charles III will become the 39th monarch to be crowned while sitting on the throne.
In short, King Charles will be crowned on a throne built by a king who expelled the Jews from England to avoid his debts! Maybe Charles will make reparations to the Jewish community. If he did, and his ancestor owed the equivalent of a measly £1,000 (pound sterling) in 1290, Charles would have to pay £3,180,321,647,151,114, which would be the balance as of May 6, 2023 at 4% compounded annually. That’s more than Three Quintillion pounds and illustrates the effect of compound interest!
His Majesty could also claim that under Magna Charta, that interest stopped on Edward I's death in 1307, in which case he would owe only £1947.90. Paying the latter amount might be a nice gesture.