Jews

ethnoreligious group and nation from the Levant

45 dated entries naming Jews, drawn from 44 separate years between 538 BCE and 1969 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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6th century BC

538 BCEThe Babylonian captivity of the Jews in Babylon ends when Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, allows them to return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest; possible start of construction of the Second Temple.source
537 BCEThe Jews lay the foundations for the Second Temple.source

1st century BC

37 BCERomans conquer Jerusalem from the Parthians. Herod the Great becomes king of Judea and Ananelus is installed as High Priest; both positions are seized from Antigonus II Mattathias after a five-month siege. Thousands of Jews are slaughtered by Roman troops supporting Herod.source

1st century

49Likely date for the expulsion of the Jews from Rome.source
50In Judaea, a Roman soldier seizes and burns a Torah scroll. Procurator Cumanus has the culprit beheaded, calming down local Jews and delaying for almost two decades the outbreak of their revolt.source
66Mid–late October – Cestius Gallus, legate of Syria, marches into Judea and leads a Roman army of 30,000 men to put down the Jewish rebellion. At its core is Legio XII Fulminata, plus 2,000 selected men from the other three Syrian legions, six more cohorts of infantry and four alae of cavalry, plus over 14,000 auxiliaries furnished by Rome's eastern allies, including Herod Agrippa II and two other client kings, Antiochus IV of Commagene and Sohaemus of Emesa, who lead their forces (largely archers and cavalry) in person.source
67Siege of Yodfat: Its 40,000 Jewish inhabitants are massacred. The historian Josephus, leader of the rebels in Galilee, is captured by the Romans. Vespasian is wounded in the foot by an arrow fired from the city wall.source

2nd century

136Following the Bar Kokhba revolt, Emperor Hadrian expels the Jews from Judea, and receives a triumphal arch near Scythopolis. The Roman province of Iudaea (plus Galilee) becomes Syria Palaestina (the name Palestine as a designation for this land has been used since at least the 5th century BC (mentioned by Herodotus)).source

3rd century

212The edict of Emperor Caracalla (Constitutio Antoniniana) extends Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire, with the exception of a limited group that may include Egyptians. The Jewish people are among those who receive citizenship. All free women in the Empire are given the same rights as Roman women.source
300Approximate date of the Synod of Elvira in Elvira, Spain, which prohibits interaction with Jews, pagans, and heretics.source

4th century

305The Council of Illiberis decrees that priests must be celibate. Additionally, it condemns visiting the homes of Jews and prohibits Christian women from marrying Jews, unless they have converted.source
351May 7 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out. After his arrival at Antioch, the Jews begin a rebellion in Palestine. The Roman garrison in the town of Diocesarea is wiped out.source
352Constantius Gallus sends his general (magister equitum) Ursicinus to forcefully put down the Jewish revolt in Palestine. The rebels destroy the cities Diopolis and Tiberias, while Diocesarea is razed to the ground. Ursicinus gives the order to kill thousands of Jews, even children. After the revolt, a permanent garrison is stationed in Galilee.source

5th century

415March – Hypatia of Alexandria, Neoplatonist philosopher, is murdered by a Christian mob of Nitrian monks at the church (former temple conceived by Cleopatra VII) called Caesareum. Having driven out the Jews, Alexandria's new patriarch, Cyril, has instigated the mob after taking offense at Hypatia's scientific rationalism (approximate date).source
416The Visigoths continue their invasion of Hispania, and take control of Tarraconensis. King Wallia occupies the gold mines at Las Médulas, and forces Jewish citizens to convert to Christianity.source
441Chrysaphius, chief minister, persuades Emperor Theodosius II at Constantinople to dismiss his sister Pulcheria, for her policy of exiling the Jews, and destroying their synagogues.source
451Yazdegerd II issues a decree to abolish the Shabbat, and orders the execution of Jewish leaders, including the Exilarch.source

6th century

513The Jewish community revolts at Ctesiphon against Mazdakism, and establishes an independent Jewish kingdom that lasts for seven years.source
589The Council of Narbonne is held. In Septimania, Jews are forbidden from chanting psalms while burying their dead.source
591Pope Gregory I criticizes the bishops of Arles and Marseille for allowing the forced baptism of Jews in Provence (France).source

7th century

616Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628: The Jews of Jerusalem gain complete control over the city; much of Judea and Galilee becomes an autonomous Jewish province of the Persian Empire. The Jewish Temple is rebuilt by Nehemiah ben Hushiel (exilarch of Jerusalem), who establishes a High Priesthood.source
623The Jewish community in Medina (Saudi Arabia) rejects the idea of Muhammad being a leader of Judaism. He and his followers stop bowing toward Jerusalem and start bowing toward Makkah.source
628The Shariah enjoins women as well as men to obtain secular and religious educations. It forbids eating pork, domesticated donkey, and other flesh denied to Jews by Mosaic law (approximate date).source
681January 9 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council, in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews. Laws against violence to slaves are suppressed.source
694November 9 – King Ergica of the Visigoths accuses the Jews of aiding the Muslims, and sentences all Jews to slavery.source

8th century

740The Khazars, a nation of the Black Sea steppe, though not ethnically Jewish, voluntarily convert to Judaism.source
794A paper mill begins production at Baghdad during the Abbasid era, as the Arabs spread the techniques developed by Chinese papermakers. Baghdad becomes a great seat of learning, with Christian and Jewish scholars as well as Muslims, while Europe remains largely unlettered. The Arabs will become the world's most proficient papermakers.source

10th century

920Dunash ben Labrat, Spanish Jewish commentator (d. 990)source
973Cloves, ginger, black pepper, and other Eastern spices are available for purchase in the marketplace at Mainz. The spices are brought to the city by Jewish traveling merchants, known as the Radhanites, who have contacts in the international trade between the Christian and Islamic world (approximate date).source

12th century

1181King Philip II (Augustus) annuls all loans made by Jews to Christians, and takes a percentage for himself. A year later, he confiscates all Jewish property and expels the Jews from Paris.source
1182Spring – King Philip II (Augustus) confiscates all the lands and buildings of the Jews and expels them from Paris. The measures are profitable in the short-term – the ransoms alone bringing in 15,000 marks and enriching Christians at the expense of Jews. Ninety-nine Jews are burned alive in Brie-Comte-Robert.source
1194Ordinance of the Jewry: Beginning of strict records of financial transactions by Jews liable to taxation. The Exchequer of the Jews at Westminster regulates the taxes and the law-cases (also in Wales).source
1194Jacob Anatoli, French Jewish translator and writer (d. 1256)source

13th century

1205July 15 – Pope Innocent III lays down the principle that Jews are doomed to perpetual servitude, because they had crucified Jesus.source
1210November 1 – John orders that Jews across the country have to pay a tallage, a sum of money to the king. Those who do not pay are arrested and imprisoned. Many Jews are executed or leave the country.source
1215May 17 – The gates to London are opened by supporters of the rebellious Barons. The houses of Jews are targeted for ransacking and burning. The rebels, under Robert Fitzwalter, call for the English nobles still on the side of King John to join them, and repair the walls. The Tower of London, held by John's supporters, is too well defended to fall into the hands of the rebels.source

14th century

1348November 1 – The anti-royalist Union of Valencia attacks the Jews of Murviedro because they are serfs of the King of Valencia and thus "royalists".source

15th century

1450October 5 – Jews are expelled from Lower Bavaria, by order of Duke Ludwig IX.source
1454Isaac Zarfati sends a circular letter to Rhineland, Swabia, Moravia and Hungary, praising the happy conditions of the Jews under the crescent, in contrast to the "great torture chamber" under the cross, and urging them to come to the Ottoman Empire.source
1462The Jews are expelled from Mainz, Germany.source

16th century

1506April 19 – The Lisbon Massacre begins in Portugal with three days of violence, in which thousands of Jews are tortured and killed by Catholics.source
1509August 19 – Maximillian I orders all Jews within the Holy Roman Empire to destroy all books opposing Christianity.source

18th century

1740July 11 – Pogrom: Jews are expelled from Little Russia.source

19th century

1881October 13 – Determined to bring about the revival of the Hebrew language as a way of unifying Jews, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda has what is believed to be the first conversation in Modern Hebrew, with friends living in Paris.source

20th century

1969January 27 – Fourteen men, 9 of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel.source