organized in communities, which were marked by intense
solidarity, and in which harmony and tranquillity [tranquility
sic] were assured by the rabbinical institutions. Failure to
respect these institutions was punished by excommunication-a
severe penalty, for the excommunicated man encountered the hate
of his co-religionists and was driven to baptism.[3]

At the head of the communities were provosts (praepositi),
charged with surveillance over their interests, and doubtless
their representatives before the civil authority. Many Jews were
highly esteemed by the kings or seigneurs, holding positions of
honor and bearing honorific titles; but in general the Jews of
France, unlike those of Spain, were not permitted to take part in
the government, or even have a share in the political life of the
nation. They contented themselves with the enjoyment of the
fruits of their labor and the peaceful practice of their
religion. They were the less disturbed because they lived under
a special regime. Being neither French nor Christian, they
were therefore not citizens; they formed a state within the
state, or rather a colony within the state, and, being neither
nobles nor serfs, they did not have to render military service.
They administered their internal affairs, and in general were not
amenable to civil or ecclesiastical legislation. For the
solution of their legal difficulties they applied to the
rabbinical tribunals. In all other respects they were dependent
upon the lord of the lands upon which they established
themselves, provided they were not under the tutelle et
mainbournie of the king. In either case they had to pay taxes
and constitute themselves a constantly flowing source of revenues
for their protectors.