ng as they accumulated money, and so long as the
sovereign could extort from them whatever portion of their
accumulations he saw fit to demand, they were worth guarding. A time
had now come when the populace clamored for their expulsion from the
island, on the ground that their usury and rapacity was ruining the
country.

Edward yielded to the clamor, and first stripping the Jews of their
possessions, he prepared to drive them into exile. It is said that
even their books were taken from them and given to the libraries of
Oxford. Thus pillaged, they were forced to leave the realm,--a
miserable procession, numbering some sixteen thousand. Many perished
on the way, and so few ventured to return that for three centuries and
a half, until Cromwell came to power, they disappear from English
history (S458).

223. Death of Queen Eleanor.

Shortly after this event, Queen Eleanor died (S216). The King showed
the devoted love he bore her in the beautiful crosses of carved stone
that he raised to her memory, three of which still stand.[1] These
were erected at the places where her coffin was set down, in its
transit from Grantham, in Lincolnshire, where she died, to the little
village of Charing (now Charing Cross, the geographical center of
London). This was the last station before her body reached its final
resting place, in that abbey at Westminster which holds such wealth of
historic dust. Around Queen Eleanor's tomb wax lights were kept
constantly burning, until the Protestant Reformation extinguished
them, nearly three hundred years later.

[1] Originally there were thirteen of these crosses. Of these, three
remain: namely, at Northampton, at Geddington, near by, and at
Waltham, about twelve miles northeast of London.

224. Edward's Reforms; Statute of Winchester (1285).

The condition of England when Edward came to the throne was far from
settled. The country was overrun with marauders. To suppress these,
the Statute of Winchester made the inhabitants of every district
punishable by fines for crimes committed within their limits. Every
walled town had to close its gates at sunset, and no stranger could be
admitted during the night unless some citizen would be responsible for
him.

In addition, both sides of the main roads were cleared of bushes in
order that desperadoes might not lie in wait for travelers.
Furthermore, every citizen was required to keep arms and armor,
according to his condition in life