[30] The Old Jewry is the current name of the Jewry street, which was the main street at the London Ghetto, established in 1070.
William I, who led the Normans to conquer England for him in 1066, and in the process devastated London and its economic infrastructure, didn’t want to invest the riches he plundered back into the economy (a tradition which is kept by politicians till today) so he found an original solution: He invited rich Jews from France, to come and settle in London, on condition that they lend him money (under his conditions.) The Jews were lured to England with the promise that, as opposed to their (non)rights in Europe, here they will have the liberty of movement throughout the country, exemption from tolls, protection from misuse, free recourse to royal justice and most extraordinarily - permission to retain land pledged as security.
It was all spelled out in "De Judaismo" law, which listed also numerous severe and arbitrary penalties to the Jews, and even the ever-since-popular Yellow Badge.
Still, the Jews who could afford it, preferred to move to England, since all over Europe, Jews were not allowed to own lands, and were forced to work as labourers, or as petty traders. In France, they were practically treated as slaves.
Keeping the Jews in Ghettos, away from the rest of the population, was one more expression of Divide and Rule, with the expected result that, Jews were periodically massacred. In 1290 the remaining Jews were expelled from England. Apparently, their financial services were no longer needed.
But in 1656 Jews were needed again, this time by Oliver Cromwell, who lifted the ban on Jewish settlement in England and Wales. Through the centuries, Jews fared well in England, so much so that a Jew named Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), joined the Church of England and consequently rose to prime ministership.
It’s curious to note that the area of Old Jewry is till today London’s financial center, home to the Bank of England, Lloyds of London, and the Reserve Bank of Australia.