The invention of printing, the revival of learn ing, and the Reformation are generally asserted to have been beneficial to the Jews; but this can be regarded as true only in a limited sense. When the .hews began to use the presses at their curliest stage for their own literature. sacred and otherwise, the Emperor Maximilian was urged to older all Hebrew writings to be committed to the flames; and but for the strenuous exertions of Johann Reuchlin (q.v.). ignorance, treachery, and bigotry might have secured a triumph. Luther. in the earlier part of his career, looked with no unfavorable eye on the adoption of violent. means for their conversion; hut, on the other hand, we find at least one distinguished P,oman Catholic, Pope Sixtus V.. animated by a far more wise and kindly spirit toward them than any Protestant prinee of his time. In 1558 he abolished all the persecuting statutes of his predecessors, allowed the .Tews to settle and trade in every city of his dominions, and to enjoy the free exercise of their religion. and in the adminis tration of justice and taxation placed them on a footing with the rest of his subjects. That the Pefo•netion itself had nothing to do with subse quent ameliorations in the conditions of the ,Jews is plain from the fact that in many parts of Germany. Protestant as well as Catholic, their lot became actually harder than before. They were driven out of Bavaria (1553), out of Bran denburg (1571), and similar treatment befell them elsewhere. What really caused the change iu their favor was the great uprising of human reason that marked the middle of the eighteenth century.
Holland was one of the first countries in modern times to rise out of the barbarism of the Middle Ages. As early as 1593 it permitted Jews to settle and trade, though they did not acquire the rights of citizenship till 1796. Hol land, therefore, became a refuge in the seven teenth century, of which the Spanish Alaranos availed themselves; and by the middle of that century Amsterdam had a considerable Jewish population, renowned for its learning and enter prise. Nor has there been any instance of perse cution of Jews in Holland from the time of their entrance to the present day, except such as ortho dox Jews themselves indulged in against 'here tics,' e.g. the cases of Gabriel Acosta and Spinoza (qq.v.).
In England, the edict of Edward I. remained in force for more than 300 year., though Jews are known to have lived secretly in London, and to have had a synagogue there during the whole of this period. The first attempt made by the Jews to obtain a legal recognition in England was during the Protectorate of Cromwell in 1655. (See I‘IANASSEH BEN ISRAEL.) Cromwell himself was favorable to their admission; so were the lawyer'; but the nation generally, and particu larly the emphatically religious portion of it, were strongly hostile to such a proceeding; and the wearisome, controversial jangling of the di vines appointed to consider the question pre vented anything from heing done till the reign of Charles IT., who, standing much and frequently in need of their services, permitted them quietly to settle in the land. In 1723 they were per mitted to give evidence in courts of justice; in 1753 they obtained the right of naturalization. Since 1830 civic corporations. since 1833 the profession of advocate. and since 1845 the offices of Alderman and of Lord Mayor have been opened to them. The last triumph of the principle of toleration was achieved in 1858 by the admission of Jews into Parliament. In the year 1885 Lord Rothschild took his seat as memher of the House of Lords.
Some of the exiles from Spain and Portugal found their way into France, where they long lingered in a miserable condition. In 1550 they
were received into Bayonne and Bordeaux; they were also to be found in considerable numbers in Avignon, Lorraine, and Alsace. In 1784 the capitation tax was abolished. In 1790, in the early period of the French Revolution, the .Jews presented a petition to the national rep resentatives, claiming full rights as citizens. Mirabeau was among their advocates. and their cause was not unsuccessful. From this time their technical designation in France has been Israelites. In 1806 the Emperor Napoleon sum moned a 'Sanhedrin' of Jews to meet in Paris, to whom a variety of questions were put. mainly with a view to test their fitness for citizenship. Their answers were satisfactory, and they were allowed to reorganize their religious institutions in the most elaborate manner. No material change has since taken place in the laws regard ing them, though since 1895 Anti-Semitism has been very virulent in France, and has been espe cially noteworthy in connection with the case of Alfred Dreyfus (q.v.).
Jews appeared in Russia at an early date; in the eighth century the ruler of the Khazars and part of his people were converted to Judaism. During the Middle Ages, as in most countries of Christendom, they were received, persecuted, and banished. Admitted into Russia proper by Peter the Great, they were expelled—to the num ber of 35,000—by the Empress Elizabeth in 1742. The partition of Poland (1772-95) brought a large Jewish population under Russian sway. Readmitted by Catharine II. into Russia proper, they were further protected by Alexander I., who in 1805 and 1809 issued decrees insuring them full liberty of trade and commerce; but of the lib erties which he conferred upon them they were deprived by the Emperor Nicholas. After 1835 a scheme of gradual emancipation was entertained by the Government, and was partially carried out by Nicholas I. and Alexander 11. But the reac tion under Alexander III., due to the influence of Pobiedonostseff, procurator of the Holy Synod. was of the direst consequences to the Jews. From the year 1881 and the promulgation of the igna tieff law of 1882, the most restrictive measures have been piled up against them. They have been confined to one huge ghetto—the Pale of Settle ment—and since 1891 the laws have been applied with the utmost severity. The Jews have been forced out of all offices of trust and from nearly all the professions; restricted in the use of schools and universities, and have been forced to live in the direst poverty and neglect. Their only hope lies in conversion to the Orthodox faith or in emigration. Fully 800,000 have sought safety in flight, and have settled in various parts of Europe and America. Many have benefited by the munifi cence of Baron Maurice de Hirsch, from whom the Jewish Colonization Association received many millions of dollars. The Jews are more numerous in Russia than in any other part of the world, be ing found mainly in those portions of the Empire which formed part of the ancient Kingdom of Poland, and the governments nearest to these ter ritories. As early as 1264 the Jews enjoyed in Poland and in Lithuania certain important privileges. They were favored by Casimir the Great of Poland (1330-70), because of the love lie bore to a Jewish mistress. After 1343 their numbers were swelled by fugitives from Germany and Switzerland. For many years the whole trade of the country was in their hands. During the seventeenth century and the greater part of the eighteenth, however, they were much persecuted and sank into a state of great igno rance and poverty; but education—in spite of the severity and barbarism of Russian intolerance —has, since the French Revolution, made great progress among them.