July 11

1174: Amalric I who had been King of Jerusalem since 1162 passed
away.  During his reign most of the Jews
were expelled from Jerusalem; a ban that would last until 1175.

1244:
“Khorezmian Turkish horsemen launch an
attack on Jerusalem, s…

 July 3

324:  Constantine the Great defeated Licinius at
the Battle of Adrianople. Constantine ruled the western half of the Roman
Empire.  Licinius ruled the eastern half.  In 313 the two rulers had issued the Edict of
Milan which…

JUNE 19

325: Promulgation of the Nicene Creed. The
creed dealt with various splits among the various Christian groups and only
dealt in a tangential manner with matters pertaining to Jews. The creed altered
the method for selecting the date of Easter….

JUNE 18

1155:
In Rome, the coronation of Frederick Barbarossa makes him the Holy Roman
Emperor. Compared to other medieval monarchs, Frederick’s treatment of his
Jewish subjects was comparatively benign. Frederick viewed the Jews as “his subjects”
whi…

 JUNE 16

1221: Massacre of the Jews of Erfurt, Germany which at one
time  was commemorated as a Fast Day on
the 25th of Sivan.

1295: Mahmud Ghazan the seventh ruler of the Mongol
Empire’s Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran converted to I…

 JUNE 4

1039
Conrad II passed away.  Born in 990, he
served Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death. His reign was part of
positive period for the Jews of the Rhineland. The first synagogue was built in
Worms in 1034 and Rabbi Gershom b…

May 24

1218:  The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. The
driving forces behind the crusade were two Popes who broke new ground in the
mistreatment of the Jews – Innocent III and his successor, Honorius III.   One of their most infamou…