Servi+camerae

Servi camerae

Servi camerae regis was the legal status of the Jews in Christian Europe

in the Middle Ages. This status was defined by the rules and laws enacted

in European kingdoms. The ruler had the right to tax them for the benefit

of his treasury (camera regis), but at the same time he had a duty to

protect them when they were in danger from others.

For example, The Laws of Edward the Confessor in the 12th century defined

the status of the Jews as follows:

All Jews, wherever in the realm they are, must be under the king's

liege protection and guardianship, nor can any of them put himself under

 the protection of any powerful person without the king's license,

because the Jews themselves and all their chattels are the king's. If,

therefore, anyone detain them or their money, the king may claim them,

if he so desire and if he is able, as his own.