A HISTORY OF SUSSEX possessions thus fall to the Crown, but the popularity of the act enabled Edward to obtain a fresh subsidy from his already over-taxed Com- mons. As in the later instance of the ' popish recusants,' so with the Jews, their persecution was partly religious and partly political ; alike as enemies of Christianity and as usurers and clippers of coin, they were regarded as undesirable subjects. They had never played so large a part in Sussex as in Norfolk and some other counties, but Deulebenie and Leo, Jews of Chichester, occur in 1 190 ' ; and Solomon, Benedict and Deulebenie, Jews of Chichester, occur with a number of other Jews probably belonging to the same place in 1199.^ In 1272 the Jews of Chichester were taxed at 3 shillings, those of Arundel at the same, although they, like their brethren of Lewes who were assessed at 2 shillings, had ' nothing except some empty houses,' and those of Sea- ford at 2 shillings.^ A tallage of a third of their goods was levied on the Jews in 1 274, when the only two mentioned in Sussex were Moses son of Jose of Dogstrete (10 marks), and Jornin de Kane' (20 marks)*; the former of these was amongst the Jews imprisoned in 1278 in the Tower for clipping coin,^ and another Jew accused of the same offence was Sampson, a resident in Henhurst hundred.* Several Jews were also living at Hailsham ^ and carrying on the same nefarious trade in 1263 and in 1278 ; and if we may judge from the name of Aaron of Rye,^ a prominent Jew of the period. Rye was also one of their resorts, though an order was issued in 1273 for their expulsion from Winchelsea on the ground that they were only allowed to live in places where they had been long established and that there had not previously been any Jews there." In the Welsh and Scottish wars of Edward I. the commons of Sussex played a naval rather than a military part ; buti they, of course, contributed with the rest of the kingdom towards the numerous sub- sidies of money and victuals for the army, and in 1295 William Dawtrey, William de Stoke and John de Mounceaus were commissioned to raise a force of four thousand archers and crossbowmen in Surrey and Sussex to assemble at Winchelsea in November '" ; this is the only notable levy of soldiers in the county recorded during this reign. At the same time that this force was raised a system of coastguards was established for the defence of the county against the French, who were now in alliance with Scotland ; William Dawtrey was appointed warden of West Sussex and William de Stoke of East ; under them was one mounted officer for each rape in command of from fourteen to twenty- four unmounted men, who were distributed amongst the various harbours along the coast." « Pipe R. I Ric. I. 2 Ibid. 10 Ric. I. 3 Select Pleas of the Jewish Exchequer (Selden Soc), 69. * Exch. Q. R. Accts. 249-18. » Assize R. 921, m. I. « Ibid. m. 6. ' Salzmann, Hist, of Hailsham, 35. B Selden Soc. op. cit. passim. » Close I Edw. I. m. jd. «> Pat. 23 Edw. I. m. 5. " Pari. Writs (Rec. Com.), i. 274. The ' fedites ' assigned to the different ' rivagia ' were as fol- lows : Chichester rape, — Horemouth (4), Selsey (4), Wittering and Coast of ' Cacan ' (6) ; Arundel, — Felpham (4), Codelawe (10), Kingston-Tewkesbury (2) ; Bramber, — ' Pende ' (4), Shoreham (4), King- 506
