Historical Background and Glossary of Terms
in connection with
the Jewish Communities of England & Wales
prior to 1290

Jews began to settle in England shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066, the first group brought over from Rouen by William the Conqueror.  They escaped the massacres that Continental European Jewry witnessed during the period of the first and second crusades and, despite occasional manifestations of anti-Jewish sentiment (including the prototype of the ritual murder accusation) and the imposition of periodic fines and special levies, initially their numbers and prosperity increased under the protection of the king. The era of prosperity and relative calm ended in 1189, on the death of King Henry II and the coronation of his son, King Richard I, when English Jewry became subject to outbreaks of extreme violence and increasingly more repression measures, stimulated by the third crusade, culminating in the expulsion of the impoverished Jews by King Edward I in 1290, at which time they may have numbered as many as 16,000 souls.  It was to be over 350 years before they would be permitted to return.

Glossary of Terms

Historical Background and the kings of England during the period

Glossary of Terms

• Archa (plural Archae)– An official chest, provided with three locks and seals, in which a counterpart of all deeds and contracts involving Jews was to be deposited in order to preserve the records.  The introduction of archae was part of the reorganization of English Jewry ordered by King Richard I in light of the massacres of Jews that took place in 1189-1190 at, and shortly following, his coronation, and which had resulted in a heavy lose of Crown revenue partly as a result of Jewish financial records being destroyed by the murderous mob (in order to conceal evidence of debts due to the Jews).  The archae were intended to safeguard the royal rights in case of future disorder.  All Jewish possessions and credits were to be registered and certain cities were designated to serve as the centres for all future Jewish business operations and the registration of Jewish financial transactions, each such city having an archa.  In each centre, a bureau was set up consisting of two reputable Jews and two Christian clerks, under the supervision of a representative of the newly established central authority that became known as the Exchequer of the Jews.
  
  Initially there were six or seven cities to serve as centres with archae (London, Canterbury, Lincoln, Norwich, Oxford, Winchester and possibly Bristol, Cambridge, Gloucester, Northampton or Nottingham).  However, the number of centres gradually increased to 27 by the middle of the thirteenth century, although by the time of the expulsion in 1290, there were only 19 active archae, as Jews had already been excluded from eight of these centres.
   

• Arch-Presbyter - (Also know as Presbyter Judaeorum), an officially appointed Jewish official.  The office appears to have emerged in about 1199 from the office of the Jewish representative among the Wardens of the Jews, who presided over the Exchequer of the Jews. The Arch-Presbyter was generally an extremely wealthy member of the community.
  The Arch-Presbyters, with the dates of their appointment are:
  1199 – Jacob of London
  1207 – Josce fil’ Isaac (son of Isaac fil’ Rabbi, the son of Rubi Gotsce),
  1236 – Aaron of York
  1243 – Elias le Eveske
  1258 – Hagin fil’ Rabbi Moses of Lincoln
  1281 – Cok Hagin fil’ Deulecresse
   

• Blood Libel – See Ritual Murder Accusation
   

• Exchequer of the Jews – (Also know as Scaccarium Judaeorum), a branch of the Royal Exchequer in England from about 1194 to 1290, set up to supervise the affairs of the Jews, and presided over by Royal Wardens (or Justices) of the Jews specially appointed.  The establishment of the Exchequer was part of the reorganization of English Jewry ordered by King Richard I in 1194.  Initially, its principal function was to act as the central authority supervising the system of archae that had been instituted throughout the kingdom, but it developed into something an institution far more important than originally planned, evolving certain judicial functions.  Initially, the Wardens of the Jews (who were Christians) worked in collaboration with a Jewish representation.  From about 1199, the was no Jewish representative, and the office of Arch-Presbyter (or Presbyter Judaeorum) emerged.
   

• Northampton Donum – A meeting held in the town of Northampton on March 30, 1194 of representatives of English Jewry in order to decide what amount each Jewish community would pay to raise the disproportionate levy of 5,000 marks imposed upon the Jews as part of the payment of the ransom to free King Richard I.  He who had been captures by the Duke of Austria (and handed over to Emperor Henry VI) while returning from the Crusades.  About twenty major communities participated in the meeting.  At the time London, Lincoln, Canterbury, Gloucester and Northampton were the five most important Jewish communities in England, sending between 20 and 40 contributors to the meeting.  The Jews were only able to raise one-half of the sum demanded, hardly unreasonable in light of the outbreaks of violence against the Jewish communities that had taken place four years earlier, which left a number of communities impoverished.  In fact, five hitherto important or active communities, Lynn, York, Stamford, Bury St. Edmunds and Dunstable, had effective been wiped out and were therefore not represented at the meeting.
   

• Presbyter Judaeorum – See Arch-Presbyter
   

• Ritual Murder Accusation – One of the greatest lies perpetrated against the Jews.  The first ever recorded instance in the medieval world of the infamous accusation of Jewish Ritual Murderer occurred in the city of Norwich in 1144.  A young skinner’s apprentice, William of Norwich, was found dead in the woods near Norwich on Easter Eve.  At the time a convert from Judaism, Theobald of Cambridge, had made a preposterous charge that the Jews that the Jews killed a Christian every year before Passover as a sacrifice, and the Jews are falsely accused of crucifying William after their synagogue service.  The evidence against the Jews was so flimsy that they were not even required to answer the charge. Although the authorities tried to protect the Jews and they were given sanctuary in the castle by the Sheriff of Oxford, several were murdered when they left the refuge.
  
  The accusation of ritual murder continued to rear its ugly head in England periodically throughout the remainder of the twelfth century and throughout the thirteenth century, with incidents at Gloucester  (1168), Bury St. Edmunds (1181), Bristol (1183), Winchester 1191, London (1244), Lincoln (1255) and elsewhere. The first recorded such accusation on Continental Europe was in 1171 in Blois, France, which was accompanied by infamous blood libel, and resulted in all thirty-three Jews of the town – men women and children- being burnt at the stake.
   

•  Scaccarium Judaeorum – See Exchequer of the Jews.

Historical Background - and the kings of England during the period of Jewish settlement

House of Normandy

1066 – 1087

William I (“William the Conqueror”). Brought over a body of Jews to England from Rouen, but apart from this, little is known about his relationship with the Jews.

1087 – 1100

William II (William Rufus”), third son of William I.  Little is known about his relationship with the Jews. On one occasion was reputed to have jestingly sworn that he would embrace Judaism if the Jews proved victorious in a debate he persuaded the Jews to have with a group of churchmen.

1100 – 1135

Henry I, youngest son of William I and brother of William II.  He encouraged the Jews and granted to them a charter of protection, under which they were granted a number of rights, including freely of movement throughout the country, without paying tolls or customs, the right of fair trial by their peers, protection from misusage, and permission to retain land taken in pledge of security. During his reign the Jews appear to have prospered.

House of Blois

1135 – 1154

Stephen, son of Adela, daughter of William I, and the Count of Blois.  During much of Stephen’s reign, there was a civil war between him and the empress Matilda (Maud), daughter of Henry I, in which the Jews appear to have suffered more than the rest of the populations, facing demands from both sides of the conflict.  One Oxford Jew who refused to pay certain monies demanded of him by the king, had his home torched.  It was also during Stephen’s reign there arose, in Norwich, the first ever allegation against the Jews in medieval Europe of ritual murder. However, Stephen is generally considered with given protection to the Jewish community.

House of Plantagenet

1154 – 1189

Henry II, son of Matilda, daughter of Henry I, and Geoffrey Plantagenet.  It was under the reign of Henry II that the Jews enjoyed their longest period of relative peace and prosperity.  The number of Jewish communities increased significantly throughout the kingdom and several Jews grew to great opulence, including Aaron of Lincoln and Isaac fil’ Rabbi.  However, Henry’s apparent favour and protection of the Jews was undoubtedly a matter of self-interest, enabling him to heavily tax a prosperous  Jewish community and elicit from them loans and impose fines when needing to raise capital.

1189 – 1199

Richard I (“Richard Coeur de Lion”), son of Henry II.  The calm and tranquility of the Jews ended with the rule of Richard I, largely spurned on by the crusader zeal that was now sweeping the kingdom.  Jews are killed in London by the mob at a riot that broke out at Richard’s coronation. Despite a proclamation by the King that the Jews of England (and his French domains) were not to be molested, the violence spreads while Richard is in France preparing for the Crusades, with attacks against the Jews in Lynn, Norwich, Stamford, Bury St. Edmunds, Dunstable and Lincoln, culminating with the most tragic episode in English Jewish history with the York massacres of 1190.  Many Jewish financial records were destroyed by the murderous mob in the massacres of 1189-90, resulting in Richard suffering heavy lose of revenue.  Accordingly, in 1194, after Richard’s return to England (towards whose ransom the Jews were forced to pay three times the amount paid by the whole city of London), he initiates a complete reorganization of English Jewry, including the introduction of the system of archae and the establishment of the Exchequer of the Jews.

1199 – 1216

John (“John Lackland”), son of Henry II and brother of Richard.  Although in 1201 John reissued the charter guaranteeing the liberties of the Jews of England and Normandy (originally issued by Henry I), the condition of English Jewry continued to deteriorate under his rule, with exorbitant sums periodically being demanded of the Jews. In 1210, John places a levy of 66,000 marks (the “Bristol Tallage”) on the Jewish community (imprisoning and torturing many of the community until collected).  Not surprisingly, many English rabbis join the exodus of their French colleagues to the Holy Land in 1211 - probably the earliest known case of English aliyah (emigration to the Land of Israel).

1216 – 1272

Henry III, son of John, who acceded to the throne at the age of nine. Although there were a number of measures taken against the Jews during the early years of Henry III long reign, there was initially a generally respite from the harsh conditions and outbreaks of violence seen during the reigns of his uncle and his father. In 1218, Jews were required (in conformity with a decision of Fourth Lateran Council) to wear a distinctive badge on their clothing.  In 1222, a provincial synod in Oxford enacted anti-Jewish ecclesiastical legislation, forbidding Jews from mixing with Christians, holding Christian slaves or building new synagogues, which was shortly thereafter reversed by royal decree.  However following Henry becoming of age in 1227, the oppressive measures against the Jews were revived with even greater intensity. Jews were forbidden to leave England (they were a valuable source of Crown income), and, in 1230, Henry levied in tax one-third of all the property of the Jews. Over the next few years the taxes on the Jews increased at an alarming rate. By 1253, the Church was also again making its influence felt with another wave of repressive anti-Jewish measures.  In 1255, Henry, considering the Jews his own personal property, sold all the Jews of England to his brother, Richard of Cornwall, for five thousand marks.

1272 – 1307

Edward I (“Edward Longshanks”), son of Henry III. By the time Edward came to the throne, the Jews were already in an impoverished state due to repressive legislation and the excessive taxation levied by his father. Edward put the final nails in the coffin of English Jewry.  As he no longer needed them as bankers (they in any case had very little left to lend), as the Lombards of Northern Italy were now filling this task, he specifically banned them from usury.  With few other trades or skills open to them or able to be acquired within a short time (membership of the various guilds was not, in any case, generally freely available), the Jews fell even further into the abyss.  A number of new edicts of Edward in 1279-81, ensured that there was to be a minimum of contact by Jews with their Christians neighbours and a virtual end to Jewish spiritual live.  It become a capital offence for Jews to “blaspheme the Christian religion”, Jews were ordered to listen to conversion sermons, were forbidden to have Christian servants, hold public meetings, have Christians eat at their table, build new synagogues appear in public without a distinctive badge, and so on and so forth.  Finally, on July 18, 1290 (which corresponded in the Jewish calendar to 9th of Av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples as well as other tragedies that befell the Jewish nation), all Jews were ordered to leave the kingdom before All Saints Day (November 1) of that year.  They could carry with them their movable property.  Their homes were generally escheated to the Crown and the debts owed to the Jews became collectable by Edward (principal only), which amounted to nine thousand pounds.  Most of the Jews made their way to France (only to be expelled in 1306), but about ten per cent went to Flanders.

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List of Pre-1290 Communities (arranged according to community)

List of Pre-1290 Communities   (arranged according to county)

List of Regions

Local Research Libraries, Bibliography and other sources

Researched, compiled and formatted for JCR-UK by
David Shulman

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