A new crusade had to be preached; the dying embers of fanaticism once more had to be rekindled, and naturally the Jews again were the first to suffer. Pope Innocent III, the most thoughtless and arbitrary of all princes of the Church, took the cause in hand with frantic energy. He commissioned a preacher, Fulko de Neuilly, who had till then lived a reckless, sinful life, to preach the crusade in towns and villages; and this agent, a second Rudolph, used the unpopularity of the Jews and the prospect of plundering them as convenient means for enlisting soldiers for the armies of the Cross. He preached that Christian debtors, having taken the Cross, were absolved from their debts to their Jewish creditors. Many barons of northern France inspired, or pretending to be inspired by Fulko's fanatical harangues, enrolled themselves as crusaders. Now that their hatred of the Jews was once more inflamed, they drove them out of their provinces; for, having been impoverished by the canceling of their debts, the Jews had nothing left which the barons could extort from them.

Contrary to all expectations, Philip Augustus, the arch-enemy of the Jews, received the exiles in his own territory, and allowed those who had formerly been expelled by him to return again to their hearths (July, 1198). This inconsistent and tolerant action of the king, who had been hitherto invariably severe, occasioned much surprise. It seems that Philip Augustus had taken this step for the purpose of mortifying the clergy and Pope Innocent III, because they had declared against his second marriage, he having divorced his first wife without the sanction of the Pope.

At first glance it appears as if the French king and the barons were filled with solicitude for the Jews, as if the latter were so dear to them that they could not exist without them. They looked jealously at one another if Jews emigrated from one province to another; they reclaimed them, and entered into compacts whereby any Jews who had changed their places of abode were to be delivered over to their original lord; and they went so far as to place the Jews under oath not to pass beyond their borders. But behind this apparent solicitude there lurked the most contemptible greed for money. The Jews of northern France were considered by the kings and barons as convenient sources whence to obtain gold. As early as the year 1198, Philip Augustus entered into an agreement with Thibaut of Champagne, that neither should detain any Jews who had emigrated from the territory of the one, and settled in that of the other, but that the Jews should be sent back to the province whence they had come. Philip Augustus, however, like most of the kings of France, was not a man of his word; he refused to give up the Jews who had, on account of excessive oppression, moved to Francia from Champagne, which was thickly populated with Jews.

Thus, from the time of Philip Augustus, the Jews of northern France lost one of the most precious privileges of mankind, freedom of motion. Whilst formerly they were able to move about at will from place to place, they were now compelled to remain in their native place like serfs. If they ventured to move from it, the lord of the land seized their real property, and confiscated it. At first the Jews did not know what to make of this state of affairs, and the rabbinical authority of the time, Isaac of Dampierre, decided that no Jew should buy property that had been confiscated; and if he did buy such property, he was to return it to its original owner. Gradually this robbery became law. Not only freedom of motion, but even the right to possess property was denied them. "The property of the Jews belongs to the baron" was the leading principle of the legislation of northern France concerning the Jews. The king and the barons, indeed, allowed the Jews to take a high rate of interest (two deniers a week on a livre), because it served their purposes. The bonds had to be drawn up by a notary, sealed with the public seal, and witnessed by two notables. In this manner the lord of the province could obtain information of all money transactions. On every settled account the lord levied a large tax (cens). The Jews of northern France were valued only for their possessions; they were treated as revenue-producing bondmen. A nobleman sold to the Duchess of Champagne all his "chattels and Jews." The Jews were thus secure from expulsion and persecution, because they were needed, but they suffered from innumerable annoyances, and their moral sense was thereby blunted. They were restricted to the business of money getting, and they acquired as much as possible in order to be able to satisfy their tormentors. The clergy did not fail to add fuel to the fire of hatred against the Jews, and shut them out of the Christian world like lepers. Bishop Odo, of Paris, who issued canonical constitutions (1197), forbade Christians to buy meat of Jews, to hold discussions with them, and generally to have any intercourse with them. Those who disobeyed were subject to the sentence of excommunication. If the Jews of northern France had not then been possessed of a burning passion for the study of the Talmud, they would certainly have become as degenerate as their enemies pictured, and wished them to be. The Talmud alone saved them from brutalized selfishness and moral decay.

After the death of Isaac, the compiler of the Tossafoth (about 1200), the study of the Talmud in northern France was furthered by three men of his school: Judah Sir Leon ben Isaac, the Pious (ha-Chasid), in Paris (born 1166, died 1224), Samson ben Abraham in Sens (died before 1226), and the latter's brother, Isaac the Younger (Rizba), in Dampierre. All three expounded the Talmud in their schools in the usual manner, decided religious questions that were submitted to them, and wrote Tossafoth, those of Samson existing in a separate form under the name of Sens Tossafoth.

These three rabbis of northern France did not lead the way to new developments in any branch of learning. They had no taste for science or poetry, and they studied Holy Writ, only in the light of the Agadic method of exposition. They were not destitute of acuteness, but they wanted breadth of view. Samson was so incapable of doing justice to the sincerity of religious feeling in the Karaites, who, if possible, were over-scrupulous in the discharge of their religious duties, that he not only held it illegal to intermarry with them, but wished them to be regarded as idolaters, whose wine a Rabbanite might not drink. Judah Sir Leon wrote a book in which he endeavors to hold up the higher ideals towards which the truly pious should strive. This work is, indeed, instinct with religious feeling, and of singularly pure morality; but it is also full of perverted ideas of the world, and of crass superstition. It mirrors faithfully the spirit of that time: that religious scrupulousness which fearfully considers at every step whether it does not commit or occasion a sin; that gloomy disposition which detects in every natural impulse the incitement of Satan; that paltry spirit which treats every trifling occurrence as full of significance. Side by side with sentences of which philosophers need not be ashamed, in this "Book of the Pious," there occur absurdities which could have been produced only by the decline in all conditions of life, which the Jews had experienced since the reign of Philip Augustus.

Judah Sir Leon, the Pious, became the master of many pupils, who afterwards acquired renown: Solomon of Montpellier, Moses of Coucy, Isaac of Vienna, and others became rabbis, and promoters of the study of the Talmud in Spain, France, and Germany. All were guided by his spirit, beheld Judaism only as through a thick layer of fog, and were opponents of free investigation. The disciples of his school later on arrayed themselves against the Spanish exponents of a higher conception of Judaism.

In England, and in those French provinces which at that time belonged to England (Normandy, Bretagne, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, Guienne, Poitou and Gascony), the Jews lived under Henry II, for a long time, in undisturbed and happy quiet. They inhabited the large towns, and in London many of them attained to such wealth that their houses had the appearance of royal palaces. The summons to the first and second crusades found no response among the stolid islanders, and in consequence no martyrs were found among the Jews of England at that time. Many Englishmen had conceived such a predilection for Judaism that they entered into the covenant. There existed a congregation which consisted entirely of proselytes. Their communal and intellectual life was like that of France, which at that time stood in close connection with England. In London, Jacob of Orleans, a pupil of Tam, a famous Tossafist, founded his school. Benjamin of Canterbury was likewise a disciple of the teacher of Rameru. The knightly son of Henry, Richard the Lion-hearted, was equally averse to persecution, and the Jewish community of England might have developed peacefully under him, had not the fanaticism kindled by Thomas à Becket included them among its victims. At Richard's coronation (3d September, 1189), the first persecution broke out against the Jews, culminating a century later in their general expulsion. Richard's coronation ceremony was the first scene of a bloody drama for the Jews.

When Richard had returned to his palace from his coronation in the church, there entered, among others who came to do homage to the king, a deputation of the richest and most prominent members of the congregations of England to hand in their presents. On their appearance, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, a fanatical church dignitary, remarked fiercely, that no presents ought to be accepted from Jews, and that they ought to be dismissed from the palace, for on account of their religion they had forfeited the privilege to rank among other nations. Richard, who did not think of the evil consequences that might follow, innocently obeyed the instruction of the archbishop. The palace menials, who showed the Jews out of the palace, thought themselves privileged to abuse them. The gaping crowd likewise fell to, and pursued the Jewish deputies with blows of the fist, with stones and clubs. Soon there spread about in all parts of London the false report that the king desired the humiliation and destruction of the Jews, and immediately the mob and the crusading rabble banded together to enrich themselves with the possessions of the Jews. The pillagers made an attack upon the houses in which the Jews had sought refuge, and set fire to them. Meanwhile night had come, and covered with her shadows the ghastly butchery of the Jews. It was in vain that the newly-crowned king sent one of his courtiers, Ranulph de Granville, to make inquiries about the uproar, and put a stop to it. At first he could not make himself heard, and was moreover assailed with jeers by the raging mob. Many Jews were murdered; others killed themselves, because they were called upon to submit to baptism, among them Jacob of Orleans. Most of the Jewish houses were burnt, and the synagogues destroyed. The fire, which had been applied in order to destroy the records of the debts of Christians to Jews, spread, and consumed a part of the city. Only one Jew apostatized to Christianity, the wealthy Benedict of York, who with his fellow-deputy had been ejected from the palace, and dragged into a church, where he had pretended to submit to baptism. When Richard, however, learnt the real circumstances of the affair, he ordered those implicated to be executed. Richard was so careful of the welfare of the Jews of his realm that, fearing that the persecution in London might spread through England and his French dominions, he promulgated edicts that the Jews were to be inviolate, and even sent deputies to Normandy and Poitou to suppress any outbreaks against the Jews that might occur. He, moreover, allowed Benedict of York to return to Judaism, when he learnt that he had been baptized under compulsion, and heard from him the confession that he had remained a Jew at heart, and wanted to die as such. The fanatical Archbishop of Canterbury, who was present at the interview, being asked his opinion, answered, "If he will not remain a son of God, let him be a son of the devil." As long as Richard remained in London, the Jews were at peace; but as soon as he crossed the Channel, in order to inaugurate a new crusade together with Philip Augustus, the scenes of London were repeated all over England. It was not only religious zeal which incited the Christians against the Jews of England, but rather envy of their prosperity, and, above all, desire for their property. The first to suffer was the wealthy and notable congregation in the flourishing commercial city of Lynn. If we may believe Christian writers, it would appear that the Jews first provoked the fury of the Christians against themselves. They are said to have attacked a baptized Jew, and when he fled for refuge into a church, they captured it by storm. Thereupon the Christians are said to have been called to arms. At the time there happened to be crusaders in the city. The Jews, being defeated by the latter, took refuge in their houses, and there were assaulted with fire and sword, but few escaping with their lives. It is impossible, however, that the Jews should have been the first to attack, for the citizens themselves, when called upon by royal commissioners to explain these disturbances, fixed the blame on the crusaders, who, in the meantime, had decamped with the booty of the Jews. A Jewish physician, who, by his modesty and skill, had won popularity even among the Christians, was murdered by these ruffians for mourning too much for his people, and invoking the justice of heaven upon their murderers.

Soon after the Lynn massacre, the Jews of Norwich were surprised in their houses, and butchered (6th February, 1190). A month later (7th March), the Jews of Stamford were severely maltreated, because on the market day many crusaders and strangers happened to be in the city, who were sure to be in stronger force than their opponents, in case the Jews, assisted by the citizens, should offer them resistance. They believed that they were performing a godly act if they treated as enemies those whose property they were lusting after, and they hoped to extort from the Jews their traveling expenses for the crusade. Without the least provocation, they fell upon the Jews, murdered some, forcing others to flee to the royal castle, broke into the houses, and carried away everything valuable. The robber crusaders absconded from the town with their booty, so that none of it might fall into the hands of the royal judges. One of these brigands was all but declared a saint; he deposited his plunder at the house of a friend, who murdered him to get possession of his ill-gotten gains. The Jews of Lincoln nearly shared the fate of their brethren of Lynn, Norwich, and Stamford; but on getting wind of the danger threatening them, they betook themselves with their property to the royal castle for protection.

But most tragic of all was the lot of the Jews of York, because among them were two men, who enjoyed princely fortunes, had built magnificent palaces, and had accordingly aroused the envy of the Christian inhabitants. One of these was Joceus, the other was Benedict, who had been so brutally ill-treated at Richard's coronation. The latter, who had reverted to Judaism after his compulsory baptism, died from the wounds which had been inflicted on him in London. Crusaders who wanted to obtain wealth, citizens who were chagrined at the prosperity of the Jews, noblemen who owed money to them, and priests who were animated by a bloodthirsty fanaticism, all entered into a conspiracy to destroy the Jews of York. In the dead of night, during a conflagration which had either broken out by accident or been kindled by design, the conspirators broke into the house of Benedict, which was inhabited only by his wife and daughters, carried away all the valuables, and set the house on fire. Joceus, who had foreseen the danger threatening him, repaired with his family and most of the members of the congregation to the citadel, and demanded protection. But few Jews remained in the town, and these were attacked by the conspirators, who appeared openly on the day following their successful experiment, and offered the Jews the choice between baptism and death. The Jews in the tower, however, were besieged, by an immense multitude of people of all classes, and were called upon to embrace Christianity. One day the governor of the citadel sauntered out of the fortress, and as the Jews feared that he would betray them, and hand them over to their enemies, they refused him re-admittance into the fortress. The latter made complaint before a high royal official, the lord-lieutenant of the province, who happened to be present at the time, that the Jews had had the audacity to shut him out of the fortress which had been entrusted to him. Infuriated in the highest degree, the lord-lieutenant gave orders to the besieging multitude to demolish the fortress, and take vengeance on the Jews. He even brought up re-inforcements in order to ensure victory. The siege lasted six days; the Jews repulsed all attacks bravely. The governor was beginning to repent of having given orders to storm the place, and many noblemen and prudent citizens were withdrawing from an enterprise which promised so many evil consequences to them, if it became known to the king, when up rose a monk in a white robe, who exhorted the besiegers by voice and example to continue their work. He held a special, solemn service, read mass, and took the Host to assure himself that divine assistance would be rendered them in conquering the weak little troop of Jews in the castle. He was nevertheless struck to the ground by a stone hurled by a Jewish hand, and yielded up his fanatical spirit.

The Jews had, in the meantime, exhausted their provisions, and death stared them in the face. When the men were deliberating what to do, one learned in the Law, who had come over from France, Yom Tob, of Joigny, counseled them to slay one another, saying, "God, whose decisions are inscrutable, desires that we should die for our holy religion. Death is at hand, unless you prefer, for a short span of life, to be unfaithful to your religion. As we must prefer a glorious death to a shameful life, it is advisable that we take our choice of the most honorable and the noblest mode of death. The life which our Creator has given us we will render back to Him with our own hands. This example many pious men and congregations have given us in ancient and modern times." Many were of the same way of thinking; the timid, however, would not abandon the hope of being able to save their lives. In the meantime, the heroic rabbi made preparations for the sacrifice. All valuables were burnt, fire was applied to the doors, and the men with the courage of zealots passed the knife across the throats of those dearest to them. Joceus, the leader of the congregation, first slew his beloved wife Anna, and to him was allotted the honor of being sacrificed by the rabbi. Thus most of them perished at one another's hands, on the day before that great Sabbath which forms the introductory festival in celebration of the redemption from Egyptian bondage, at about the same time when the last Zealots had put themselves to death in a similar manner after the destruction of the Temple, to avoid falling into the hands of the Romans. The few survivors had to contend during the night with the spreading fire, and secure for themselves some sheltered places. On the Sabbath (17 March, 1190), when the enemy advanced to the attack, the survivors declared their willingness to open the gate, and receive baptism; and to convince their foes of the shocking sacrifice that had been made, they threw the corpses of the suicides from the wall. Scarcely were the gates opened, when the leader of the Christian conspirators, together with his guardsmen, cut down the Jews, who were begging with tears in their eyes to be baptized; thus not a single member of the Jewish congregation of York survived; altogether about 500 Jews perished. On the following day, Palm Sunday (18th March), 750 Jews were butchered by crusaders in Bury St. Edmunds. Throughout England, wherever Jews were to be found, unless protected by the citizens, they met with the death of martyrs. A congregation of twenty families, consisting only of Jewish proselytes, likewise suffered martyrdom. King Richard was greatly enraged at these cruelties, and commissioned his chancellor to institute inquiries, and punish the guilty. But the crusaders had decamped, the guilty citizens and noblemen fled to Scotland, and the rest escaped punishment. Only the governor of York was deposed from his office.

But on the accession of Richard's brother, King John, who by his unprincipled conduct degraded England into a vassalage of the papal chair, the Jews were robbed even of the help of generous citizens. If John behaved ruthlessly towards all the world, the Jews certainly could not expect to be well treated by him.

Somewhat more fortunately placed than their co-religionists in France and England were the Jews of the German empire, which at that time was very extensive. The German nations, by nature more religious, and therefore more fanatical than the French and the other Romance nations, often indeed made existence for the Jews a veritable hell upon earth; but as emperors and princes protected them, the hatred against them could not produce any material effect. As Henry IV, during the first, and Conrad III, during the second crusade, protected the Jews, the notion arose that the German emperors had constituted themselves the guardians of the Jews, that any one who harmed them committed high treason, and that in return for his protection they became his "servi cameræ," the serfs of the imperial chamber. Frederick Barbarossa, the most powerful German emperor, who took Charlemagne for a model, was the first to begin the conversion of free Jews into "servi cameræ." The legend is interesting which characterizes the connection of the German emperor with the Jews in history. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, a third of the Jews is said to have been sold as slaves at the rate of thirty for a bad penny. These, scattered throughout the Roman empire, were the property of the Roman emperor, and became his "servi cameræ." The emperor, however, had taken upon himself the duty of protecting them, as a reward for Josephus' service to Titus, whom he had cured of gout. The rights and obligations of the Roman emperors towards the Jews passed over, through Charlemagne, to the German emperors, and hence the latter were similarly constituted the protectors of the Jews, and the Jews became their "servi cameræ." The Jews had, in all essentials, been "servi cameræ" before, in France and England; that is, they were half-and-half the property of the king or the barons, and under one or another title they constantly had to hold their purses in readiness to replenish the empty coffers of their lords. In Germany, however, they had in return the protection of the emperor. It was certainly not to be expected that the successors of Vespasian, of the house of Teut, should fulfil this office of champion of the Jews quite disinterestedly. On the contrary, they needed more revenue than other princes, as they had no land, and received but little money from their vassals. It seemed, therefore, only right that the Jews should, in return for his imperial support, supply the emperor with pocket-money.

Although the Jews of Germany were "servi cameræ," they were not robbed wholly of their personal rights in the twelfth century. They were allowed to carry weapons, and even to fight single combats. During the siege of Worms, Jews fought side by side with Christians, and the rabbi even permitted them to use weapons on the Sabbath for the purpose of defense. They had their own jurisdiction, and were not compelled to appear before an alien judge. Now and again some of them attained a higher position. The brave Duke Leopold of Austria, renowned in history for his capture of King Richard of England, had a Jewish treasurer, who, in spite of the canonical resolution of the Lateran council, was allowed to keep Christian servants. In Silesia, in the neighborhood of Breslau, Jews owned several villages with the bondmen appertaining to them. But as the prohibition to keep Christian domestics gained ground, the Jews were obliged to sell their landed estates, to remove to the towns, and there to engage in business and money-lending. In spite of the imperial protection, they were often exposed to ill-treatment. The infamous invention that the Jews used Christian blood found credence also in Germany, and here more than in any other place, and wherever the dead body of a Christian was found, princes and people immediately laid the murder at the door of the Jews. A ship containing Jews was proceeding from Cologne to Boppard, and after it there sailed another with Christian passengers. The latter found the dead body of a Christian woman in Boppard, and forthwith they jumped to the conclusion that the Jews of the first ship had slain her; the Christians immediately pursued and overtook them, and called upon them to submit to baptism, and on their refusal hurled them into the Rhine. In the general peace which the emperor decreed before his expedition to the Orient, the Jews were also included. He warned priest and monk not to stir up the people against them; but they had to supply funds for the crusade.

Under Frederick's successor, Henry VI, a horrible massacre of the Jews took place, the fanatics breaking loose upon them at different places from the district of the Rhine to Vienna. Under such afflicting circumstances, when they were not sure of their lives for one moment, it was impossible for them to advance to a high degree of culture. They were deeply religious and beneficent, and they assisted one another, and foreign immigrants, with everything that they possessed. Religion and the cohesion of the members of the community were the pillars on which they had to lean for support; but they were without enthusiasm or taste for any branch of knowledge. The study of the Talmud continued to be the only occupation of the more intellectual among them; but even in this they only followed the road marked out by Rashi and the Tossafists, without ever diverging from it. Those who desired to give spiritual nourishment to their mind, as well as acquire intellectual acuteness, absorbed themselves in a kind of mystic lore, the import and significance of which is lost to us.

Ephraim ben Jacob, of Bonn (1132–1200), made a name for himself at about this time. He was not, indeed, a rabbi by profession, but was none the less adept in Talmudical lore, and in addition was an extraordinary linguist. At the age of thirteen he was shut up with his relatives in the tower of Wolkenburg during the persecution that attended the second crusade; there he saw the sufferings of his brethren in faith, and described them later on in an impartial, enthusiastic and vividly written martyrology, which he brought down to the year 1196–97. Ephraim was also a skilful versifier, and he composed many liturgical poems, particularly lamentations on the sufferings of his time. His verses possess no poetical beauty, but they are characterized by a certain wit, which is displayed in ingenious allusions to Biblical verses and Talmudical passages.

It seems scarcely credible that Germany, hostile as it was towards the Jews at that time, should have given birth to a Jewish poet who was able to sing in beautiful strains, knew how to handle rhyme, meter, strophes in the vernacular, and was so warmly appreciated that he was received into the circle of poets. Süsskind (Süzkint) of Trimberg, a small town on the Saale in Franconia, adopted the poetic style of Walter von der Vogelweide and Wolfram of Eschenbach. He was probably a physician by profession, but nothing is known of the events of his life. In the castle of the lords of Trimberg, which stood on the ridge of a vine-covered hill, and was reflected in the winding Saale, or in the neighboring castle, Bodenlaube, in the company of noble knights and beautiful dames, he poured forth, lute in hand, his melodious strains, and the largesses which were showered on him formed his sole means of support. Süsskind sang of the high worth of the pure woman, and pictured to the knights his ideal of a nobleman: "Who acts nobly, him will I account noble." He speaks of the freedom of thought, not yielding to force:

Süsskind also composed a German psalm. He describes the awesome thought of death and dissolution, mocks at his own poverty, and prescribes a virtue-electuary. Once the noblemen, whose bread he ate, appear to have given him a bitter reminder that he, as a Jew, did not belong to their select circle. His despondency arising from this reminder he embodied in beautiful verses, wherein he bids farewell to poetry. With the best of intentions, the Jews could not cultivate German poetry, since the Jewish poets received kicks instead of the laurel crown, as their reward. Being shut up in their own circle, their sense for the euphony of language became blunted, and it is probable that German poetry has lost considerably by it.

Bohemia also must be enumerated in the list of Talmudical centers, for it produced some men famous for Jewish knowledge. Isaac ben Jacob Halaban of Prague takes an important place among the Tossafists; he wrote a profound commentary on several Talmudical treatises. His brother Petachya made distant journeys (about 1175–1190) through Poland, Russia, the land of the Chazars, Armenia, Media, Persia, Babylonia, and Palestine. His abridged description of his journeys gives interesting notices on the Jews in the East. Even the Jews living in Poland and Russia began to take part in Talmudical learning, which in later times they were to possess as a monopoly.

It is remarkable that the Italian Jews of this period seem more destitute of intellectual productions than the Bohemian or Polish Jews. They did not produce a single authority on the Talmud. When it was said in Tam's time, "The law goes forth from Bari, and the word of God from Otranto," it was meant ironically, for they did not advance the study of the Talmud in any way. The times were most favorable to them; certainly as favorable as to the Jews of southern France. With the exception of a single case, the expulsion of the Jews from Bologna (1171), the Jews in Italy were about this time remarkably free from persecution. The clever Pope Alexander III was well-disposed to them, and entrusted the management of his finances to a Jew, named Yechiel ben Abraham, a member of the family dei Mansi, and nephew of Nathan, the famous author of the Aruch. On the entrance of this pope into Rome, whence he had been banished for many years by a rival pope, the Jews among others came to meet him with a scroll of the Law and with banners, an honor to the pope shown by Jews which the chronicles do not fail to record. They were treated with respect, and were not obliged to pay any imposts or Jew-taxes. The favorable feeling of Alexander is proved in the resolutions of the great council in the Lateran Church (1179), at which more than three hundred princes of the Church were present. Several anti-Jewish prelates endeavored to pass certain mischievous laws against the house of Jacob. The Jews, who received information of their hostile intentions, lived in tormenting anxiety, and in many congregations a fast of three days and special prayers were ordained, that Heaven might frustrate the wickedness of men. History has not recorded the discussions of the great Church assembly, but the final decrees bear witness that the gentle spirit of tolerance prevailed over the mania for persecution. The council only forbade the Jews to keep Christian servants, or in other words, an old Church prohibition was renewed. On the other hand, it was particularly insisted upon that they were not to be forcibly baptized, nor to be apprehended without a judicial warrant, nor robbed, nor disturbed on their religious festivals. The limitation of a privilege of the Jews, that henceforth Christians were also to be competent witnesses against Jews, was justly decreed. It was said in explanation that the evidence of a Jew was valid against Christians, and it was surely not equitable that the Jews, who in reality were subject to the Christians, and were tolerated only out of pure humanity, should in this respect enjoy an advantage over the Christians. What a contrast to that old Byzantine law and the resolution of the Visigothic council, that Jews could not act as witnesses against Christians! Not that the spirit of the Church had grown milder during these five centuries; but the Jews had earned respect for themselves, and accordingly the representatives of Christianity durst not repeat that old charge, "He cannot be true to men who denies God," i. e., the Christian God.

In southern Italy, in Naples, and the island of Sicily, under the Norman dominion, Jews were still less fettered. Roger II and William II expressly confirmed the privilege of trial according to their own laws, equally with the Greeks and Saracens. In Messina they enjoyed equal rights with the Christians, and were eligible to office. A favorite minister and admiral of King Roger of Sicily had a leaning towards Judaism, frequently visited the synagogues, donated oil for their illumination, and in general subscribed money to meet the requirements of the community. Seeds of a higher culture were scattered in profusion at that time in Italy, in consequence of its close intercourse with the East during the crusades, and of the immigration of the Greeks and Arabs into the kingdom of Naples. The Jews, who have special facility in mastering foreign languages, spoke Arabic and Greek, in addition to the vernacular and Hebrew. The versatile Ibn-Ezra, during his residence in Rome, Lucca, Mantua, and elsewhere, was the means of spreading among them a loftier conception of the holy Scriptures and of Judaism. His disciple, Solomon ben Abraham Parchon, of Calatayud, stayed in the university town of Salerno for a long time, and endeavored to make the Italians acquainted with the science of the Hebrew language and Bible exegesis, they being very ignorant in these departments, and for this purpose he composed a Hebrew lexicon (1160). But all these incitements had no effect on the Italian Jews. They remained ignorant, and the history of Jewish literature is unable to mention even an insignificant literary production by an Italian till the second half of the thirteenth century. The land which in later times gave rise to a new style of Hebrew poetry, cannot at this period show one Hebrew poet.

In the circumstance that the northern and central Italian cities were mostly engaged in trade, is to be found the true reason why they were not so numerously populated with Jews as the southern Italian cities. The great commercial houses, which had a determining voice in the municipal council, would not suffer the competition of the Jews. In Genoa there lived only two Jewish families, who had emigrated to that place from Ceuta, on account of the oppression of the Almohades. Pisa, Lucca, and Mantua had only small congregations. The two largest, which consisted of 1300 and 200 families, dwelt in Venice and Rome respectively. On the other hand there were 500 families in Naples, and 300 in Capua, who were well treated and respected. The chief of the Neapolitan congregation was David, who bore the title of prince (principino). In Benevento there was a congregation of 200 Jews, in Salerno 600, in Trani 200, in Tarentum 300, and in Otranto 500. The Jewish congregations in the island of Sicily were still more numerous. In Messina there lived 200 families, and in the capital, Palermo, 1500. This congregation had been strengthened by the arrival of Greek Jews, whom King Roger, after his conquests, had transplanted to that place, in order to establish the breeding of silk-worms.

If one sailed from Brundisium across the Adriatic Sea, he landed in the Byzantine empire. Here were numerous and populous Jewish communities, especially in Greece proper, Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace. In Arta (or Larta) there dwelt 100 families, whose president, curiously enough, was named Hercules; in Lepanto the same number; in Crissa, at the foot of Mount Parnassus, 200, who pursued agriculture. In Corinth there were 300 families, in Negropont 200, in Jabustrissa 100, in Saloniki 500, who had a Jewish mayor of their own (Ephoros), appointed by the Greek emperor. In Rodosto there lived 400 Jewish families, in Gallipoli 200, in the island of Mytilene there were 10 congregations, in Chios 400 families, in Samos 300, in Rhodes the same number, and in Cyprus several congregations, among which was one that had the custom of commencing the Sabbath in the morning, not in the evening, and continuing it till Sunday morning. The most important congregations in the Græco-Byzantine empire were those of Thebes and Constantinople, in both of which were nearly 2000 families, the latter containing 500 Karaites besides. The Theban Jews were the most skilful manufacturers of silk and purple in the whole of Greece. They had among them also rich merchants, silk manufacturers, and learned Talmudists. A wall separated the rabbinical from the Karaite community in Constantinople.

If the Byzantine empire in the time of its glory under Justinian and Alexius oppressed the Jews, we may be sure that it was not better disposed towards them in the time of its decline, when it lay in the throes of death. The principle that Jews and heretics were not to be admitted to any military post, or office, but were to be thoroughly despised, was, of all the enactments of this most erratic of states, the one most strictly and consistently adhered to.

The rich and the poor, the good and the bad Jews were, without distinction, hated most bitterly by the Greeks. No Jew was allowed to ride on a horse, the privilege of freemen; it was only by way of exception that the emperor Emanuel vouchsafed this privilege to Solomon, the Egyptian, his physician in ordinary. Any Greek might molest the Jews publicly, and in general treat them as slaves; the law did not protect them. Byzantium, from time immemorial celebrated for its avarice, imposed burdensome taxes on them. They endured this insolent brutality with the resignation of martyrs; nor did it make them forget to practise virtue, and extend charity to the poor. But the Greek Jews were unable to pay any attention to the cultivation of their minds. Not one of their Talmudists has immortalized his name by a work. There were indeed many skilful Hebrew versifiers among them, but their poems are ungainly, "hard as granite, without taste and fragrance." Charisi concedes merit to the verse of only one Jewish poet, Michael ben Kaleb, of Thebes, and he explains this circumstance by the fact that the poet had learned his art in Spain. In Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine, the size of the Jewish congregation at a given place might have been taken as the criterion by which to compare Christian with Mahometan tolerance. Where the cross was supreme, there were but few and poorly populated Jewish communities to be found, but where Islam had the ascendancy, there were many and populous Jewish communities. In Antioch, which belonged to a Christian prince, there lived only 10 families, nearly all glass-workers. In Leda (Laodicea), 200; in Jebilé, which belonged to the Genoese, 150; in Bairut (Berytus), 50; in Saida (Sidon), 10; only in Tyre was there a congregation containing 400 members, and there the Jews possessed farms, and were even allowed to pursue navigation. At their head stood Ephraim of Cairo. On the other hand, in Haleb (Aleppo), which had been raised, through the great Mahometan prince, Nureddin, to the position of second capital after Bagdad, there lived 1500 Jewish families, among whom were many opulent men, respected at court. Here dwelt the Hebrew poet, Jehuda ben Abbas, the friend of the prince of poets, Jehuda Halevi. He had emigrated to this place from Fez on account of the religious persecution. In the neighborhood of ancient Palmyra there lived nearly 2000 Jewish families, whose men were warlike, and often carried on feuds with the Christians and Mahometans. The congregation of Damascus counted 3000 members, among whom were many learned Talmudists, one of them being the famous Joseph ben Pilat, who originally came from France. In Damascus there was also a Karaite congregation of some 200 families, and a Samaritan congregation of 400 families, who, although they did not intermarry, nevertheless carried on a peaceful intercourse with the Rabbanites. In the whole of that part of Palestine in the hands of the Christians, there lived scarcely more than 1000 families. The largest congregations, each of 300 members, existed at that time in Toron de los Caballeros, in Jerusalem and Askalon; in each of the most important towns of Judæa, on the other hand, there lived only about 200 Jews. The Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem were mostly dyers, having bought the exclusive right to exercise this trade from the Christian king; they lived at the end of the town to the west of Mount Zion. Between the years 1169 and 1175 they were all, except one, expelled from that city (probably under the youthful and leprous phantom king, Baldwin IV), and he had to pay a high price for the privilege of carrying on the dyer's trade. The Christians, deeply sunk in vice, believed the holy city to be polluted by the continent Jews. In Askalon there lived, at about this time, 300 Samaritan and 40 Karaite families. In Cæsarea, which had before harbored many thousands of Jews, there lived then only 10 families and 200 Samaritans. Of this sect there were many also in their aboriginal seat, Samaria and Neapolis (Shechem), with not one Rabbanite Jew among them. Minor congregations of 50 there were in Tiberias and Ulamma, 20 in Gischala, 22 in Bethlehem, and in each of the other towns from one to three families. Thus was the heritage of Israel given away to strangers. The Jewish inhabitants of Judæa vegetated rather than lived; not even the study of the Talmud was cultivated by them. Accho alone possessed Talmudists, one Zadok, and another Japhet ben Elia, and these were foreigners. About this time many emigrants from Europe, and particularly from southern France, settled in Palestine; and these enjoyed such recognition among the Jewish natives, by reason of their intellectual superiority, that they were able to move them to celebrate the New Year's festival for two days, which, till then, and from time immemorial, the Palestinians had been accustomed to solemnize, like the other festivals, for only one day.

From the point of view of number and material importance, we must consider the district between the twin rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, as the chief seat of Judaism. Here there were congregations which numbered thousands. The former academical cities, Nahardea, Sora, and Pumbeditha, had certainly disappeared; but in their stead the congregations of Bagdad and Mosul (called New Nineveh) had gained an ascendancy over all Asia. The Bagdad congregation contained 1000 Jewish families with four synagogues, and lived in undisturbed quiet as in the best days of the Caliphate. So free did the Jews of this part feel that they even dared try to hinder the Mahometan crier in his business in a mosque in Madain (near Bagdad), because he disturbed their service in the synagogue. The caliph, Mahomet Almuktafi, had conceived an affection for an estimable and wealthy Jew, Solomon (Chasdaï?), and bestowed on him the office of Exilarch, and created him prince over all the Jews in the caliphate. The Prince of the Captivity was once more allowed to be surrounded by a retinue, to ride on a horse, to wear silk clothes and a turban; to be accompanied by a guard of honor, and to use an official seal. If he appeared in public, or repaired to court for an audience, both Jews and Mahometans were bound to rise before him, on penalty of being bastinadoed; a herald went before him, crying, "Make way for our lord, the son of David." The Exilarch appointed and confirmed rabbis, judges, and readers, in all parts of the caliphate, from Persia to Khorasan and the Caucasus, and as far as Yemen, India and Thibet. He appointed these officials by commission, for which he expected gifts. Thus the exilarchate was once more raised to the splendor of the time of Bostanaï. There also arose in Bagdad an important Talmudical college, whose principal assumed the title of Gaon. Isaac Ibn-Sakni, who had emigrated from Spain to the East towards the end of the eleventh century, appears to have once more awakened, in these circles, an interest for Talmudical learning. The Exilarch was himself a learned Talmudist. Ali Halevi was at that time the principal of the college, which was once more numerously attended by students. The city of Akbara, in the neighborhood of Bagdad, contained 10,000 Jews, but it had no special importance.

The congregation of Mosul was still more considerable than that of Bagdad. It numbered nearly 7000 families. This city was elevated to the position of capital through the hero Zenki, father of the great Nureddin, and like him the terror of the Christians, and as Zenki was not ill-disposed to the Jews, they enjoyed extensive liberties under him. The Arabic historians relate the following story. Once he came with his army to the city Jesirat-ul-Amar (on the upper Tigris), where there dwelt 4000 Jewish families. They had a synagogue which they believed had been built in the time of Ezra, and Zenki took up his quarters in the house of a Jew. His host complained to him of the impoverishment of the city through these constant military expeditions, and Zenki thereupon left the city, and ordered his army to encamp in tents before the gates. His successor, Saif-Eddin Ghasi (1146–1149), observed the same friendly attitude towards the Jews. At the head of the Mosul congregation was a man named Zaccaï, who also proclaimed himself to be a scion of the house of David, in consequence of which he bore the title of "Prince." He divided his authority with another, who was considered a distinguished astronomer, and bore the honorable title "Profound Connoisseur of the Sphere of Heaven," and was in the service of the Prince of Mosul.

The Jewish inhabitants of New Nineveh were regarded as the most ignorant among the Jews, and were not even conversant with the Talmud. North of Mosul, among the Carduchian mountains, or among the mountains of Chaftan, there were many large congregations, some of which were oppressed under the Sultans and the Persians, but others were free and wild as the mountains on which they dwelt. These free Jews in the land of Adher-Baijan (Aserbeidsan) used weapons, lived in friendly intercourse with the fanatical assassins who dwelt in that part, were the enemies of every one who was not one of their co-religionists or allies, and often made descents into the valley for booty. They were themselves inaccessible, and lived in primitive ignorance, without knowledge of the sources of their religion. They accepted the rabbi whom the Exilarch sent to them, and acted according to his directions. There suddenly appeared amongst them (about 1160) an ambitious and versatile man, who thought to profit by the military ability, the bravery and ignorance of these Jews for a purpose which is now unknown. This man, named David Alrui (Alroy) or Ibn-Alruchi (Arruchi), achieved considerable notoriety in his time, and in our own days became the hero of a brilliant novel. This young man, an inhabitant of Amadia, of handsome appearance, clear mind and high courage, had attained to deep knowledge of the Bible and the Talmud, as well as of Arabic literature. On his return to Amadia, which appears to have been his birthplace, the Jews were not the only persons who were amazed at his vast acquirements, but others also, among whom was the commander of the town, named Zain-Eddin. At this time violent tumults arose in consequence of the crusades, and of the weakness of the Caliphate, and made the whole of the country as far as Asia Minor a veritable pandemonium. The government was divided among the weak Caliph, his vizirs and generals, the Seljuk Sultan, and the Emirs, every one of whom played a distinct part, and sought only conquest and increase of power; and subordinate persons like Nureddin and Saladin obtained mighty conquests. All these circumstances combined in encouraging David Alrui to play a political part. He wanted, however, to gain as confederates his countrymen and co-religionists, many of whom were efficient warriors. This he could only accomplish if he were able to awaken their national sentiment. David Alrui, or as he was sometimes called, Menahem ben Solomon, accordingly issued a spirited appeal to the Jews of Asia, saying that he was appointed by God to deliver them from the yoke of the Mahometans, and to bring them back to Jerusalem. For this purpose they were to assist him in waging war against the nations. The first place to which David Alrui turned his eyes was the strong castle of Amadia, which he thought would serve as an excellent base of operations for his enterprises. To get possession of it, he wrote to the Jews of Adher-Baijan, Mosul, and Bagdad, to come in great numbers to Amadia, and bring swords and other weapons under their cloaks. In response to this summons, many Jews who believed Alrui to be the promised Messiah, met in the town at an appointed time, with sharpened weapons concealed about their person, and the commandant at first entertained no suspicion, as he thought that this great crowd was attracted to the town by Alrui's fame as a scholar.

At this point history abandons us, and we can only have recourse to legend, which continues the thread of the story as follows: At the invitation of the Persian Sultan, David Alrui is said to have appeared before him, unattended by his retinue; he then boldly declared himself to be the Messiah, and was thrown into prison in Taberistan. Whilst the Sultan was deliberating what punishment he should mete out to him and his adherents, Alrui suddenly entered the council chamber, and informed him and his astonished counselors that he had set himself free from prison by the aid of occult arts, adding that he feared neither the Sultan nor his ministers. The Sultan ordered Alrui to be seized, but the latter, it is said, made himself invisible, and in this manner crossed a river, defying capture, and traveled in one day to Amadia, a journey which ordinarily took ten days. When he suddenly made his appearance among his credulous followers, and related to them his adventures, the authorities were seized with a panic. The Sultan gave orders to the Caliph that he should inform the Jewish representatives in Bagdad, that, if they did not turn David Alrui from his purpose, he would put all the Jews of his empire to the sword.

The enthusiasm for David Alrui had spread, especially among the Jews of Bagdad, and afforded two knaves an opportunity for defrauding the ignorant populace of their property. They produced letters, which they gave out were written by the hero of Amadia, in which the redemption was fixed for a certain night. The two impostors now practised on the credulity of the enthusiasts; they were all to fly from Bagdad to Jerusalem on the appointed night, and for this purpose they were to mount their roofs, put on green robes, and await the hour. In their confidence that the hour of redemption was about to arrive, they committed their property into the hands of the two impostors for proper distribution. The night came, the crowd was assembled on the roofs of their houses in eager expectation; women wept, children shouted, every one was on tiptoe of anxiety to try to fly, until daybreak opened their eyes to the imposition practised on them. The rogues had decamped with the property entrusted to them. The people of Bagdad called this time "the year of flying," and thereafter reckoned time from this event.

The Exilarch and the principal of the college in Bagdad conceived it their duty, partly on account of the enthusiasm, which was passing all bounds, and partly on account of the punishment with which they had been threatened, to address themselves to David Alrui, and try to turn him from his purpose by threats of excommunication. The representatives of the congregation of Mosul, Zaccaï and Joseph Barihan Alfalach, wrote to him in the same strain; until at last the Mahometan commandant of Amadia, who was most of all eager to be rid of him, persuaded the father-in-law of Alrui to put him out of the way. He killed his son-in-law whilst asleep, and thus put an end to the disturbance. The Sultan nevertheless decreed a persecution of the Jews of those provinces which had adhered to Alrui, and the Prince of the Captivity with difficulty appeased his wrath with a present of a hundred talents of gold. It is only after his death that a Messiah is actually believed in and revered; many Jews of the congregations in Adher-Baijan continued to venerate the murdered Alrui for a considerable time; they called themselves Menachemists, and swore by his name.

There dwelt an independent, warlike Jewish tribe, at that time, east of Taberistan, in the province of Khorasan, on the highlands by Nishabur. This tribe numbered 4000 families, and was governed by a Jewish prince named Joseph Amarkala Halevi. These Jews around Nishabur believed that they were descendants of the tribes of Dan, Zebulon, Asher, and Naphtali. They bred cattle in the valleys and on the mountain slopes, were good archers, had in their midst learned Talmudists, and stood in friendly relation with the Turkish hordes called Ghuzz. The latter, who lived on the banks of the river Oxus, between Balch and Bokhara, were accustomed to make incursions in the surrounding countries, and were the terror of the civilized nations. Once, when the Ghuzz had been on a ravaging tour, the Seljuk Sultan Sinjar Shahin-Shah undertook an expedition against them (1153). His army, however, lost its way in the desert, and many of the men perished through hunger and exhaustion. At length he came to the country of the free Jews, and demanded of them provisions and a free passage to the province of the Ghuzz. The Jews objected that they owed no one any allegiance beyond their own prince and his allies, adding that they would treat their friends' enemies as their own. Immediately they prepared for battle, but Sinjar sent them a message that, if they refused to satisfy his demands, he would on his return order the execution of all the Jews in his dominions. This threat had effect; the leaders of the Jews met in council, and decided that they would consider the safety of their distant brethren, and give the Seljuk army provisions; but at the same time they warned the Ghuzz of the danger menacing them, and bade them be prepared. In consequence, Sinjar's army, which pressed forward, was routed by the Turkish hordes, and their leaders were taken prisoners.

The congregation of Ispahan in Persia numbered at that time 15,000 Jews, and at their head stood Sar Shalom, who had been appointed by the Exilarch rabbi over all the congregations of Persia. In the second Persian town, Hamadan, there are said to have been 50,000 Jews, and in Shiraz 10,000. In the city of Tuster, formerly called Susa, there were still 7000 Jews, who lived on the banks of the river. The community had fourteen synagogues, and near one of them was supposed to be the grave of Daniel. As the markets of the town lay on one side of the river, and the Jews of the other side were thus shut out from all commerce, those on the one side were more affluent than the others. The latter ascribed their poverty to the circumstance that they had not Daniel's grave in their midst; and they requested that the coffin should be allowed to be in their possession. The others, however, were not prepared to give it up, and the consequence was that feuds and bloody fights arose between the two congregations, until they came to an agreement that each side of the town, in turn, should enjoy possession of the coffin each time for the space of one year. The removal of the coffin was effected every time with great pomp, and it was accompanied by crowds of Jews and Mahometans. When the Sultan Sinjar once came to Susa, and saw this procession in honor of the removal, he thought it shameful that the bones of the pious Daniel should be disturbed in this manner, and commanded that the coffin should be deposited at a spot midway between the two parts of the town. As the river was at an equal distance from both, the coffin was hung on chains over the river, and under it no one dared fish. The bier of Daniel nevertheless proved unable to protect the congregation. At the time when Petachya of Ratisbon was there (about 1180), only two Jews, who were dyers, lived in Susa. The cause of this decrease is not known.

North of the Black Sea and in the Crimea there were only Karaite Jews; these lived in the most primitive ignorance, and had no knowledge of their rival doctrine, the Rabbanite law; they even cut their bread before the Sabbath, and on the evening of the Sabbath remained in total darkness. The Rabbanite Jews, however, had spread to Khiva, where there was a congregation of 8000 families, and to Samarkand, which had as many as 50,000 Jews, at whose head was Obadiah. About the community in India, Petachya mentions that there existed Jews with dark skins, that they lived according to the precepts of their religion, but had very little knowledge of the Talmud. Many Jews knew nothing more of Judaism than the celebration of the Sabbath and the circumcision. In the island of Kandy (Ceylon) there are said to have been at this time 23,000 Jews, who stood on an equality with the rest of the inhabitants. The king of this island had sixteen vizirs, four of his own nation, and the same number of Jews, Mahometans, and Christians.

In Aden, the key to the Arabian and Indian seas, there was a large Jewish congregation, which was independent, and had several castles; it carried on war with the Christians of Nubia, and was in communication with Egypt and Persia.

In Arabia there were likewise Jewish congregations, although the first Caliph banished them from the country. It is true they were not allowed to dwell in Mecca and Medinah, cities sacred to the Mahometans, and it may be that there was nothing specially attractive for them in those cities, for they had become quite insignificant during the five hundred years since Mahomet. But in the fruitful and commercial city of Yemen, and in the desert tracts of northern Arabia, on the other hand, there were Jewish congregations. In Yemen there dwelt, it is true, only about 3000 Jews, who, on account of their busy commercial relations with the neighboring countries, were by no means uncultured, and numbered learned Talmudists in their midst. The most learned among them was Jacob ben Nathaniel Ibn-Alfayumi. The Yemen Jews were known for their benevolence: "Their hand is stretched out towards every traveler, they keep open house for strangers, and every weary person finds rest among them." The Jews of northern Arabia, on the other hand, were more numerous, and, as in the time before Mahomet, they formed independent, warlike tribes, possessed castles, pursued agriculture, and to some extent also cattle-breeding, and journeyed in caravans to transport goods, or, after the fashion of Bedouins, to attack travelers and plunder them. Their number is said to have amounted to 300,000 souls, but this is certainly exaggerated. A large portion dwelt in Taima, and had a Jewish prince named Chanan, who boasted of Davidic descent. They had among them ascetics, who had borrowed from the Karaites gloomy principles; they refrained from wine and flesh, and generally fasted the whole week, with the exception of Sabbaths and festivals; lived in caves or rickety houses, clothed themselves in black, and called themselves "the Mourners of Zion." The farmers and cattle-owners allotted to these pious men, and also to those who occupied themselves with the Talmud, a tenth part of their yearly produce. A second group of Arabian Jews lived in the neighborhood of Talmas, and likewise had a prince named Solomon, brother of Chanan, of Taima. This prince lived in the old capital Sanaa (Tana), in a strongly fortified castle. Among these, too, there were ascetics who fasted forty days every year, in order to bring about redemption from the dispersion. A third group, some 50,000, inhabited the province of Chaibar; they were most warlike, but also possessed some Talmudical scholars. Even at that time the legend was spread about that the Chaibar Jews were remnants of ancient Iraelitish tribes, Gad, Reuben, and half Manasseh. The semi-Arabian cities Wasit, Bassra and Kufa, also had numerous Jewish inhabitants, the first 10,000, the second 2000, and the third 7000.

As a large part of Asia, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus, acknowledged the supremacy of the Abbassid Caliphs of Bagdad, the Jews of this dominion were subject to the Exilarch of Bagdad. The second Prince of the Captivity, who was surrounded with pomp, was Daniel, the son of Solomon (Chasdaï), who held office about 1165–1175. He was as much respected by the Caliphs Almustanjid and Almustadhi as his father had been by Almuktafi. Under Daniel, the Talmudical college of Bagdad was raised to such a height that it recalled the old times of the Amoraim and Geonim. It owed its rise to a man who, at the end of the twelfth century, was called upon to play an important part. Samuel, son of Ali Halevi, the rabbi of Bagdad, who traced back his genealogy to the prophet Samuel, possessed profound knowledge of the Talmud, such as but few in Asia equaled. But as he was unacquainted with the advance of the study of the Talmud in Spain and France, he continued to maintain the letter of the Talmud, and had not the ability to form an independent opinion. Samuel ben Ali had also a thin varnish of philosophical culture, but in that branch he was three centuries behind his time, being a disciple of the school of the Mutazilites. He knew nothing of the new discoveries of Ibn-Sina and Alghazali, nor of the later development of the philosophy of his Spanish co-religionists, of Ibn-Gebirol, Jehuda Halevi, and Abraham Ibn-Daud. Despite his limited range of vision, he deemed his own attainments very considerable, and was extremely proud of them. He was an arrogant and ambitious man. It appears that Samuel ben Ali assumed the pompous title of Gaon, that his college might obtain supremacy over the whole of Judaism. Two thousand students attended his Talmudical discourses; but before they were admitted to his lectures, they had to complete a preparatory course under another Talmudist. Samuel ben Ali delivered his lectures from a kind of throne, and clothed in gold and embroidery; he re-introduced the old custom of not personally addressing the audience, but of expounding the Law to an interpreter (Meturgeman), who repeated in a loud voice what he heard from the master. Besides him, there were nine men, who likewise delivered lectures, and decided questions of law. But Samuel ben Ali was regarded as judge of appeal, and every Monday he sat in court surrounded by the nine men who occupied subordinate positions.

When the Exilarch Daniel died (1175), Samuel thought the time propitious for obtaining the highest dignity and authority over the Asiatic congregations. Daniel left no male heir, and two of his nephews, David and Samuel, both of Mosul, were now contending for the Exilarchate. But whilst each of them was endeavoring to win over the political leaders and the congregations to his cause, Samuel ben Ali assumed all religious and judicial power. He appointed rabbis, judges, and other functionaries on his own authority, appropriated the revenues of the congregation, and delivered the specified portion to the state. His seal was more respected than that of the pretenders for the Exilarchate; his name was a protection to travelers, and through it they obtained access to all curiosities. The political and religious officials acknowledged only Samuel ben Ali, the principal of the college, and the Gaon of Bagdad. He, moreover, maintained his dignity by rigorous measures. Sixty slaves were continually at his call to bastinado any one pointed out by their lord. He had a palatial mansion in Bagdad, and magnificent pleasure gardens in the neighborhood of the capital. Thus Samuel ben Ali ruled at that time over all the Asiatic congregations from Damascus to India, and from the Caspian Sea to Arabia. His daughter was looked upon as a marvel, being so learned in the Bible and Talmud that she used to deliver lectures to young men, but in such a manner that she could not be seen by her audience. Ambassadors from a heathen nation, from the Moshic hills in Armenia (Tartars?), came to him to obtain Jewish religious teachers for their country, to instruct the people in the tenets of Judaism, seven of their chiefs having resolved to embrace that faith (about 1180–1185). The traveler Petachya, who has recorded these facts, and is a trustworthy witness, saw the ambassadors from the Caucasian hills with his own eyes. Many poor students from Babylonia and Egypt determined to repair to this remote nation of proselytes, and instruct them in the Bible and Talmud.

The condition of Judaism in Asia was at that time very low indeed. Without higher knowledge, without spirit or enthusiasm, the Jews of Asia, learned as well as unlearned, discharged their religious duties in a perfunctory, mechanical way. Even Talmudical scholars thought of the divine essence as a bodily form, with limbs, eyes, and motion. The Agada had so far perverted their understanding that they could not comprehend what was purely spiritual; and so saturated were these literalists with these perverted notions, that they looked upon those who upheld the belief in a spiritual God as heretics and atheists.

The Asiatic Jews had borrowed from the Mahometans and Christians the custom of making pilgrimages to the graves of pious men. A chief resort of pilgrims was the grave of the prophet Ezekiel in the neighborhood of Kufa. Seventy thousand to eighty thousand Jews came annually from New Year till the Day of Atonement, or Feast of Tabernacles, to pray at the supposed grave of the prophet of the exiles, among them also the Exilarch and the principal of the college at Bagdad. The tomb was protected by a vault of cedar wood, overlaid with gold and adorned with beautiful tapestry. Thirty lamps burned there day and night. Beside the tomb there was a handsome synagogue, which was regarded as a temple in miniature, and alleged to have been built by King Joachin and the prophet. In this synagogue a scroll of the Law of considerable size was shown, which was believed to have been written by the hand of the prophet himself. A separate room (Ginze) was set aside for books. Sepulcher and synagogue were enclosed by a turreted wall, the entrance to which was through a low narrow gate, which, however, according to popular belief, became higher and wider at the time of the pilgrimage. In the space inside the wall the pilgrims used to erect their booths for the Feast of Tabernacles. At this sepulcher they were not only devout, but also merry. The period after the Day of Atonement was dedicated to gaiety and feasting. As the Mahometans also reverenced the tomb, and even the wild Karmates, who lived nearby, swore by the God of Ezekiel, the region became a peaceful asylum, and later on an annual market (Pera) was held there, and a city (Kabur Kesil) sprang up. The offerings for the maintenance of this mausoleum proved so rich that the surplus was used for the support of Talmudical students and marriageable orphans.

Another resort of pilgrims was the supposed mausoleum of Ezra the scribe. Although this great regenerator of Judaism exercised his activity only in Judæa, legend nevertheless fixes his grave at Nahar-Samara, in the neighborhood of the Tigris. The Mahometans, as well as the Jews, reverenced this tomb, offered presents for its maintenance, and made pilgrimages to it. Like the Catholic Church, the Jews of Asia also showed sacred relics: the tree, separating into three parts, against which the angels who visited Abraham leaned, and the stone with which Abraham circumcised himself. All these mythical stories arose during the period of degeneration which followed the dissolution of the Gaonate.

It is possible that it was owing in part to this decay that many educated Jews apostatized to Islam. One apostate was a celebrated physician of Bagdad—Nathaniel, with the Arabic name of Abul-Barkat Hibat-Allah ben Malka, one of the three leading medical men of like name, but different creeds. The Jewish Hibat-Allah was surnamed "The only one of his time" (Wachid-al-Zeman), on account of his extraordinary accomplishments. In addition to a knowledge of medicine, he was versed in philosophy and Hebrew philology, and, whilst still a Jew, wrote a commentary on Ecclesiastes. A son of the itinerant Ibn-Ezra, named Isaac, who had accompanied his father in his travels, and remained in Bagdad, was assisted by the rich Hibat-Allah, and wrote spirited verses in praise of his benefactor and his commentary. At the end of his poem, Isaac Ibn-Ezra expressed a wish that his life might extend to the time of the Messianic redemption, and that he might yet behold the majesty of new Jerusalem. Neither, however, waited for this time, but renounced Judaism, and embraced Islam (1160–1170).

A third apostate of this time was Samuel Ibn-Abbas, son of the poet Jehuda, of Fez. A poet using beautiful Hebrew, a profound mathematician and philosopher, Samuel had emigrated to the East on account of the religious coercion exercised by the Almohades. His father settled at Haleb, and Samuel took up his residence in Adher-Baijan, entered into the service of the ruler of that place, and ultimately became a convert to Mahometanism. The old Jehuda Ibn-Abbas, on hearing of his son's change of religion, hastened to him full of grief, in the hope of bringing him back to his hereditary faith, but was suddenly seized with illness in Mosul, and died there. Samuel became a rancorous enemy of Judaism and his former co-religionists. He wrote a polemical work, "To the confusion of the Jews" (about 1165–1175), in which he lays bare and exaggerates their faults, and affirms that the Jews had eliminated all passages alluding to Mahomet in their holy writings.

If the Rabbanites in Asia were degenerate, the Karaites of this time were still more so. The Karaites, after an existence of 400 years, had failed to establish Judaism on a purely Biblical basis, but had of necessity been compelled to adopt many precepts of the Talmud, in spite of all their endeavors to steer clear of Talmudical tradition.

As the Mahometans of Egypt, under the dynasty of the Fatimides, were separated from those of the Abbasid Caliphate in Asia, the Egyptian Jewish community likewise had no connection with the Asiatic community. They had a chief of their own, recognized by the Caliph, who exercised spiritual and judicial functions, bore the title Nagid (Arabic, Reïs), and was, in a sense, the Egyptian Exilarch. The Nagid had authority to appoint or confirm rabbis and precentors, and to impose fines, scourgings, and imprisonment, for transgressions and crimes. He received a regular salary from the congregations and fees for the drawing up of legal documents. There is a legend that the institution of the Nagid was introduced into Egypt at the instance of a Bagdad Caliph's daughter, who was married to a Fatimide Caliph. About this time Nathaniel, succeeding Samuel Abu-Mansur, was invested with this dignity. His Arabic name was Hibat-Allah Ibn-Aljami, and he served as physician in ordinary to Aladhid, the last Fatimide Caliph of Egypt, and later on to Saladin. Ibn-Aljami was a man of considerable culture and learning. He spoke Arabic with great fluency, wrote several medical treatises, among others a guide for the soul and the body, and a treatise on the climatic character of Alexandria. He was much praised for having cleverly discovered life in a man who was about to be interred. This accomplished man was also chief of the college in the Egyptian capital, but he had no reputation as a Talmudist.

The chief congregation was in Cairo (New Misr), and it consisted of 2000 Jewish families, including many men of great wealth. The city had two synagogues, one following the Palestinian ritual and the other the Babylonian. According to the first the reading of the Pentateuch on Sabbaths extended over a cycle of three years. The adherents of the Babylonian system, on the other hand, completed it in a cycle of one year. Only on the Feast of Weeks and on the Festival of the Rejoicing of the Law the two congregations had a common service. In Cairo there existed also a Karaite congregation which is said to have been still more numerous than that of the Rabbanites. It also had a Chief Rabbi who possessed plenary power in religious and judicial matters, and bore the title Prince (Nasi, Reïs). About this time, Chiskiya and Solomon I, who believed themselves to be descendants of Anan, successively held this office (about 1160–1200). Many Karaites in Egypt enjoyed favor at court, and were in general superior to the Rabbanites.

The congregation next in importance was that of Alexandria, numbering 3000 families; they had a rabbi from Provence, Phineas ben Meshullam. So poor were the Jews of Egypt in Talmudical authorities at this time that they were obliged to import a Talmud instructor from France. A Karaite congregation existed also in Alexandria. In Bilbeïs (east of the Nile) there was a large congregation, consisting of 3000 members, which suffered much during the campaign of Amalrich, the Christian king of Jerusalem. In Fayum, the native city of Saadiah, there lived at that period only twenty Jewish families.

The state of culture of the Egyptian Jews about this time was not more brilliant than that of their Asiatic brethren. They added nothing to the wealth of Jewish literature. The lower classes were so ignorant of the principles of their own religion that they borrowed customs from the neighboring Karaites, even such as stood in glaring contradiction to Talmudical Judaism. The Egyptian congregations also had a pilgrims' shrine of their own. In Dimuh, not far from Fostat, in the neighborhood of the Pyramids, they showed the synagogue of Moses, which they believed the greatest of the prophets had built; they admitted that it had been rebuilt after the destruction of the Temple by Titus. Near this synagogue there was a tree of stupendous height, with evergreen leaves and slender stem. This tree, according to the belief of the Egyptian Jews, had shot up from the rod of Moses. On the Feast of Weeks the Jews of Egypt used to make a pilgrimage to Dimuh, and pray in the hallowed synagogue. And it was out of this land of ignorance that there went forth a second Moses for the deliverance of the Jewish race, whose mission it was to promulgate a more refined Judaism, to declare relentless war against superstition, and put an end to ignorance. Egypt became, through Moses Maimuni, the center of Judaism.