The Roma people, or Gypsies, had reached…
1546 CE
The Roma people, or Gypsies, had reached the Balkans by the fourteenth century, Germany by 1424, and Scotland and Sweden by the sixteenth century
Some Roma had migrated from Persia through North Africa, reaching Europe via Spain in the fifteenth century.
The Ottoman conquest of the Balkan in the fifteenth century had precipitated he arrival of some branches of the Romani people in Western Europe.
Although the Roma themselves are refugees from the conflicts in southeastern Europe, they are mistaken by the local population in the West, because of their foreign appearance, as part of the Ottoman invasion (the German Reichstags at Landau and Freiburg in 1496-1498 had declared the Roma as spies of the Turks).
The Egyptians Act 1530 (22 Henry VIII, c. 10), an Act passed by the Parliament of England in 1531 to expel the "outlandish people calling themselves Egyptians", meaning Gypsies, accused Gypsies of using crafty and subtle devices to deceive people, notably by claiming to tell fortunes whilst also frequently committing felonies such as robbery.
The statute forbade any more Gypsies from entering the realm and gave those already in England sixteen days notice to depart from the realm.
Goods stolen by Gypsies were to be restored to their owners and property confiscated from Gypsies was to be divided between the Sovereign and the Justice of the Peace or another arresting officer.
Those of England’s Gypsies without a trade are forced on board ships in 1546 and expelled to the English-ruled French Channel port of Calais.
Locations
Regions
North Europe
View →Subregions
