Source 4

‘If any man chance to censure me, as overharsh or earnest in my expressions against the Jews; I hope that speech of their royal Prophet, (a man after Gods own heart) […] Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies: for they speak against thee wickedly; depart from me therefore ye bloody men: will apologize for me’

William Prynne Esq, ‘A short demurrer to the Jewes long discontinued barred remitter into England’, 1656.

Here we have a counter voice to the Jews’ appeal to Cromwell in Source 3. William Prynne’s ‘Short demurrer’ was – despite its title – a lengthy petition against readmitting Jews to England. Prynne concludes with these words, in which he tries to justify his anti-Jewish stance by quoting from Psalm 139:21. Prynne here sets Jews up as the enemies of God, thereby drawing on Christian antisemitic traditions. He justifies his antipathy towards Jews by suggesting it is his duty as a good Christian to hate them.

Questions to consider:

1. Why might Prynne have chosen to use the Bible to try and justify his hatred of Jews?
2. Prynne’s text was published in the very same year as the Jews’ petition to Cromwell. What does the speed of publication suggest about the urgency with which the debate about Readmission was taking place?