The Church of England will apologize for the first time for the expulsion of Jews from medieval England, reported the Telegraph.
Bishops confirmed to the newspaper that the apology will take place, and that the Church of England will offer an “act of repentance” ahead of the marking of the 800th anniversary of the anti-Semitic 1290 Edict of Expulsion.
The Edict was a royal decree issued by King Edward I of England on July 18, 1290 that expelled every Jew from the kingdom.
In the order, the king notified the sheriffs of every country that all Jews were to be expelled by November 1.
The expulsion was not overturned until 1657 when Oliver Cromwell allowed the Jews to return to England.
King Edward’s expulsion was the culmination of a period of 200 years of increasing anti-Semitism in England, including frequent cases of blood libels and pogroms, including the infamous York massacre of 1190 in which over 100 Jews were killed.
In 1218, King Henry III issued the Edict of the Badge forcing all Jews to wear a yellow badge, and taxes were increased to unbearable levels on the Jewish community during the era.