During the Middle Ages (1000-1350) Jews living in Europe experienced oppression and discrimination in large part due to Greco-Roman influences. During the ninth century, although the population of the Jewish community was small in comparison to the Christians living in Western Europe, Jews managed to prosper economically, politically and socially. The ninth century was the peak for the Jews as they were valued for their capacity in international trade and banking, and were prominent land owners, particularly in southern France. It was this success of the Jews that apparently threatened Christians and caused the segregation of the Jews for the following three hundred years. The Catholic Church's persecution of the Jews in the Middle Ages throughout Europe demonstrated a continuation of values from Greece and Rome that sought to unify members of a certain identity (Christians) in opposition of "the other"( Jews) in order to create stability and order.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Jews were isolated both economically and politically. For example, Jews were ruled by and lived under the protection of Christian kings. They were vulnerable to the kings' power and were treated as resident foreigners as opposed to citizens. Because Christian laws said that Christian people could not lend money out at interest, and yet most kings and queens need to borrow money, the Jews played a major role in the medieval economy as moneylenders. This put them in dangerous territory as the Jews were defenseless against the king and never knew whether their money would be returned, or if the king would decide that the Jews themselves could not return. King Edward I of England, for instance, solved some of his money problems by throwing all the Jews out of England in 1290 and they were not allowed back for more than 300 years. Other English Jews tried to move to France, but King Philippe threw them out of France in 1291.
