Silent Prayers

Henry III, from Cassell's History of England

January 31 1253 – 30 Shevat 5013

Henry III, King of England, ordered his Jewish subjects to pray silently in their synagogues so that passing Christians wouldn’t have to hear their prayers. He also forbade the employment of Christian servants and wet-nurses in Jewish houses, and decreed that Jews were not to attempt to dissuade their co-religionists should they decide to abandon Judaism for Christianity.