Thread by @DavidCranmerUn1

Colony of Virginia - Wikipedia

The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed proprietary attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_of…

and the subsequent farther south Roanoke Island (modern eastern North Carolina) by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 1580s.

Charter of 1606 – creation of London and Plymouth companies

King James granted a proprietary charter to two competing branches of the Virginia Company, which were supported by investors. These were the Plymouth Company and the London Company.

The Popham Colony—also known as the Sagadahoc Colony—was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America. It was established in 1607 by the proprietary Plymouth Company and was located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Maine, near the mouth of the Kennebec River.

Sir John Popham (1531 – 10 June 1607) of Wellington, Somerset, was Speaker of the House of Commons (1580 to 1583), Attorney General (1581 to 1592) and Lord Chief Justice of England (1592 to 1607).

His nephews included George Popham, founder of Popham Colony (of which Sir John

was one of the principal financial backers) and Sir William Pole (1561–1635), the historian of Devon.

Sir Ferdinando Gorges (c. 1565-1568 – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's

Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the main conspirators. His early involvement in English trade with and settlement of North America as well as his efforts in founding the Province of Maine in 1622 earned him the title of the "Father of

English Colonization in North America," even though Gorges himself never set foot in the New World.

Ferdinando Gorges was by blood in the male line a member of the Russell family of Kingston Russell, Dorset and of Dyrham in Gloucestershire, an early member of which was

Sir John Russell (died c. 1224) of Kingston Russell, a household knight of King John (1199–1216), and of the young King Henry III (1216–1272), to whom he also acted as steward.

Russell had obtained a loan from Aaron the Jew of Lincoln (died 1186), the greatest of the Jewish

financiers licensed to trade in England, and on the seizure of Jewish assets by King Henry II (1154–1189) in 1186 his debt became due to the crown. It appears the Treasury was content for a while to leave these debts uncollected, but the position changed following King John's

peace treaty with King Philip II of France (1180–1223) signed in May 1200, which required the English king to pay Philip the sum of 20,000 marks.

Aaron of Lincoln (born at Lincoln, England, about 1125, died 1186) was an English Jewish financier. He is believed to have been the

wealthiest man in Norman England; it is estimated that his wealth exceeded that of the King.

He made a speciality of money lending for the purpose of building abbeys and monasteries. Among those built were the Abbey of St Albans, Lincoln Minster, Peterborough Abbey, and no

fewer than nine Cistercian abbeys.

Aaron not only advanced money on land, but also on corn, armour and houses, and in this way acquired an interest in properties scattered through the eastern and southern counties of England. Upon his death Henry II seized his property as the

escheat of a Jewish usurer, and the English crown thus became universal heir to his estate.

In 1190, Richard de Malbis (Richard Malebisse), a debtor of Aaron of Lincoln, led an attack on the family of Aaron's late agent in York that resulted in the death of the entire Jewish

community, some 150 men, women, and children, at York Castle.

A house sometimes associated with Aaron of Lincoln still stands, also known as Norman House, and is probably the oldest private stone dwelling in England the date of which can be fixed with precision (before 1186).

While the house is associated with a Jewish banker, and historically known as "Aaron the Jew's house", it is not known whether the house actually had any association with Aaron of Lincoln. Originally the house had no windows on the ground floor—an omission probably intended to

increase the facilities for protection or defence.

The first motte and bailey castle on the site was built in 1068 following the Norman conquest of York. After the destruction of the castle by rebels and a Viking army in 1069, York Castle was rebuilt and reinforced with

extensive water defences, including a moat and an artificial lake. York Castle formed an important royal fortification in the north of England.
In 1190, 150 local Jews were killed in a pogrom in the timber castle keep; most of them died by suicide in order not to fall into the

hands of the mob. Henry III rebuilt the castle in stone in the middle of the 13th century, creating a keep with a unique quatrefoil design, supported by an outer bailey wall and a substantial gatehouse. During the Scottish wars between 1298 and 1338, York Castle was frequently

used as the centre of royal administration across England, as well as an important military base of operations.