Teaching resource
This lesson uses original documents from 1066–1216 to examine why Jewish families settled in England, their relationship with the English crown and escalating tension with local Christian populations.
Photograph of the Jew’s House in Lincoln, 1900. It is associated with the Jewish community in Medieval Lincoln.
Rijksmuseum (Public domain)
The background information on this page contains a description of torture. It is presented here to represent our records and to help us understand the past.
Why did Jews settle in England after 1066?
These are extracts from a royal charter issued by King John on 10 April 1201 that outline how Jews should be treated during his reign as king.
Carte Libertatum concessarum et confirmatarum Judeis Anglie anno Regni Johannis Secundo.
Johannes, Dei gratia etc. Sciatis Nos concessisse omnibus Judeis Anglie et Normannie libere et honorifice habere residenciam in terra nostra, et omnia illa de Nobis tenenda que tenuerunt de Rege Henrico, avo patris nostri, et omnia illa que modo racionabiliter tenet in terries et feodis et vadiis akatis suis, et quod habeant omnes libertates et consuetudines suas, sicut eas habuerunt tempore predicti Regis Henrici, avi patris nostril, Melius et quiecius et honorabilius.
Et si querela orta fuerit inter Christianum et Judeum, ille qui alium appellaverit ad querelam suam diracionandam habeat testes, scilicet, legittimum Christianum et legittimum Judeum. Et si Judeus de querela sua breve habuerit, breve suum erit ei testis; et si Christianus habuerit querelam ad versus Judeum, sit judicata per pares Judei.
[…]
Et liceat Judeis omnia que eis apportata fuerint sine occasione accipere et emere, exceptis illis que de Ecclesia sunt et panno sanguinolento. Et si Judeus ab aliquo appellatus fuerit sine teste, de illo appellatu
erit quietus solo sacramento suo super Librum suum. Et de appellatu illarum rerum que ad Coronam nostram pertinent similiter quietus erit solo sacramento suo super Rotulum suum.
Et si inter Christianum et Judeum fuerit dissensio de accommodatione alicujus pecunie, Judeus probabit catallum suum et Christianus lucrum.
[…]
Et Judei non intrabunt in placitum nisi coram Nobis, vel coram illis qui turres nostras custodierint, in quorum ballivis Judei manserint.
[…]
Et mandamus vobis et precipimus, quod eos custodiatis et defendatis et manuteneatis. Et prohibemus, ne quis contra Cartam istam de biis supradictis eos in placitum […]
Charter of Liberties granted and confirmed to the Jews of England in the Second Year of the reign of King John.
[Issued by King] John, by the grace of God, etc. Know that we have granted to all the Jews of England and Normandy free and honourable residence in our land, and to hold all that from us, which they held from King Henry, our father’s grandfather, and all that now they hold in land, fees, mortgages and goods, and that they have all their liberties and customs just as they had them in the time of the aforesaid King Henry, our father’s grandfather, in better and more peaceful and honourable enjoyment.
And if any dispute arises between a Christian and a Jew, he who summons the other to answer his complaint should have witnesses: a lawful Christian and a lawful Jew. And if a Jew has a writ (a written command) about his complaint the writ shall be a witness for him, and if a Christian have a complaint against a Jew, let it be judged by peers of the Jew.
[…]
And let it be lawful for Jews to receive and buy without difficulty things that may be brought to them except things of the church or blood-stained cloth.
And if any Jew is summoned by anyone without a witness, he shall be quit (freed) of that appeal by his oath upon his Book [the Torah]. And in like manner, he shall be quit (freed) of an appeal of those things that belong to our crown by his oath upon his Roll [a Torah scroll].
And if there is a dispute between Christian and Jew about a loan of money, the Jew shall prove the capital (evidence of the loan) and the Christian the interest.
[…]
And Jews shall not enter court proceedings except before us and before those who guard our castles (royal sheriffs) in whose bailiwicks the Jews live.
[…]
And we order you to guard, to defend, and to maintain them. And we prohibit anyone from summoning them against their charter on the above points […]
Extract from the Charter of Liberties – King John confirms King Henry I’s liberties to the Jews, around 1201. Catalogue Reference: C 53/4, m. 4
These are extracts from the Great Roll of the Pipe for the fifth year of the reign of King Henry II, 1158-1159.
England’s Jewish community first settled in London, England’s main financial centre. However, by the end of King Stephen’s reign in c. 1154, Jewish communities were appearing in other locations such as Norwich and Cambridge. The amounts contributed by each Jewish community to the tax (donum) levied in c. 1159 shows the location of these settlements. The Pipe rolls provide information about where Jews lived and the contributions they made to the tax.
A: Norhantscira: Id[em] vic[ecomites] redd[it] Comp[otum] de XV li[bris] de Judeis de Norh[antscira]
B: Lundonia et Middelsexa: Id[em] vic[ecomites] redd[it] Comp[otum] de CC m[arcis] p[er] Judeis.
C: Wirecestrescira: Id[em] vic[ecomites] redd[it] Comp[otum] de II m[arcis] p[er] Judeo.
D: Oxinefortscira: Id[em] vic[ecomites] redd[it] Comp[otum] de XX m[arcis] de Judeis.
E: Gloecestrescira: Id[em] vic[ecomites] redd[it] Comp[otum] de V m[arcis] de Judeis.
F: Lincoliescira: Id[em] vic[ecomites] redd[it] Comp[otum] de XL li[bris] per Judeis.
G: Norwyci: Id[em] vic[ecomites] redd[it] Comp[otum] de XLIIII li[bris] et VI s[olidis] et VIII d[enariis] de Judeis de Norwyci
A: Northamptonshire: And the same sheriff renders an account of 15 pounds of the Jews of Northamptonshire.
B: London and Middlesex: And the same sheriff renders an account of 200 marks by the Jews.
C: Worcestershire: And the same sheriff renders an account of 2 marks by the Jew.
D: Oxfordshire: And the same sheriff renders an account of 20 marks by the Jews.
E: Gloucestershire: And the same sheriff renders an account of 5 marks of the Jews.
F: Lincolnshire: And the same sheriff renders an account of 60 marks by the Jews.
G: Norwich: And the same sheriff renders an account of 44 pounds and 6 shillings and 8 pence by the Jews of Norwich.
Extracts from the Great Roll of the Pipe for the fifth year of the reign of King Henry Second, 1158 –1159. Catalogue Reference: E 372/5
By the end of the twelfth century, it was clear that Christians in England did not always ‘guard’ and ‘protect’ Jewish individuals as the Charter of Liberties outlined. Growing tensions surrounding ‘blood libel’ accusations and the start of the Third Crusade soon opened Jewish communities to persecution and violence from their Christian neighbours. However, it was not only the wider population that came to harm Jews; the king himself also participated in the escalating exploitation of England’s Jewish community. Jews were forced to pay large sums of money as tallages (taxes) to the crown.
Although some medieval chroniclers (writers) are known to have exaggerated to make their stories more exciting, do you believe that Jews were treated fairly by the king in the early 1200s?
Use Sources 3a, 3b and 3c to help explain your answer.
Rex constab[ularius] Bristol’ etc. P[re]cipim[us] ti[bi] quod stati visis litt[er]is istis salvo et sub bo[n]a custodia mittatis Isaac fil. Jurneti ad Turri Lond’ et ibi ip[su]m G. fil. Pet[ri] Justic[iario] n[ost[ro v[e]l constab[ularius] suo lib[er]ari facias. P[rae]cipim[us] aut[em] ip[s]i Justic[iarius] q[uo]d illu[m] recipe faciat cu[m] illuc ven[er]it […] Teste me ip[s]o ap[u]d Dorc’ xxvj. die Jul[ii].
The king to the constable of Bristol etc. We order that you […] safely and under good custody, send Isaac son of Jurnet to the Tower of London and there he be delivered to G. son of Peter, justice, or our constable. We also order that the justice should record when he arrives […] With myself as witness at Dorchester on 26th July.
Letter to the Constable of Bristol ordering that Isaac son of Jurnet is delivered to the Tower of London. Catalogue Reference: C66/10, m. 10
Rex constab[ularius] Bristol’ etc. P[re]cipim[us] ti[bi] q[ua]tinus om[ne]s Judeos q[ui] no[n] acq[ui]etav[er]int se de tallag[ium] suo de Bristol’ q[u]os vic[ecomitis] et constab[ularius] n[ost]ri p[er] litt[er]as suas ti[bi] s[i]t missuri, recipias et eos i castro n[ost]ro ibid[em] custodiri facias prisona sic[ut] ante fecisti don[e]c aliud in[de] de illis ti[bi] sig[ni]ficav[er]im[us] […] Teste me ip[s]o ap[u]d Dorc’ ut p[ro]x[im]o s[upr]a.
The king to the constable of Bristol etc. We order you that all Jews who have not acquitted themselves of (paid) their tallage in Bristol, whom our sheriff and constable will be sending to you by their letter, should receive and cause them to be kept in prison in our castle, as you did before, until we have given you additional information about them […] With myself as witness at Dorchester as above.
Letter to the Constable of Bristol ordering the imprisonment of Jews. Catalogue Reference: C66/10, m. 10
Idem redd[it] comp[otum] de cccc et xxx li. et xiiij s. et ob. de taillagio Judeorum facto apud Bristo’ quas ab eis receipt quod tallagium factum fuit in festo omnium sanctorum anni preteriti. Et de xvij li. et xviij s. et xj d. de Meir f. Samsonis de Stanford de eodem taillagio. Et de xx s. de Meir de Abbendon’ de eodem. Et de viij li. de tallagio Ysaac de Winton’. Et de M et ccc et xxxvj li. et ix s. et vj d. et ob. de fine Ysaac cyrograph’ et uxoris sue et puerorum suorum […] Et de xx li. de Peiteuin de Norwiz. Et de c et xxxix li. et xiij s. de Ysaac de Norwiz scilicet de catallis sui. Et de c m. de catallis Abraham f. Auigaie. Et de xxx li. de catallis Ysaac de Cantuar’ […] Et de xxviij li. et x s. (et vj d.) de domibus Judeorum Lond’ […] Summa MM et c et lix li. et xj s. In thes.
The same renders an account of 430 pounds and 14 shillings and a half pence of the tallage of the Jews made at Bristol […] on the feast of All Saints (1st November) of the past year. And of 17 pounds and 18 shillings and 11 pence from Meir, son of Sampson of Stanford of the same tallage. And of 20 shillings from Meir de Abbendon of the same (tallage). And of 8 pounds of the tallage [from] Isaac of Winchester. And of 1,336 pounds and 9 shillings and 6 and a half pence from Isaac the chirograph clerk (who was responsible for looking after records of Jewish loans in Winchester), his wife and his children […] And of 20 pounds from Peitevin of Norwich. And of 139 pounds and 8 shillings from Isaac of Norwich, namely of his chattels. And of 100 marks of the chattels of Abraham, son of Auigaie. And of 30 pounds of the chattels of Isaac of Canterbury […] And of 28 pounds and 10 shillings (and 6 pence) of the houses of the Jews of London […] The sum of 2,159 pounds and 11 shillings. In the treasury.
Extract from the Great Roll of the Pipe for the thirteenth year of the reign of King John, 1210-1211. Catalogue Reference: E 372/57, m. 22
The Pipe rolls reveal that the first instalment of the tallage was paid to the king on 1 November. Read through Source 3c and consider the following questions:
This is the first lesson of three on England’s medieval Jewish communities in the years 1066–1290. It offers an initial path for teachers to integrate a deeper awareness of medieval religions, tolerance and diversity, and religious persecution into the classroom. Recommended reading is included with accessible sources to aid schools, and equip students, with the skills and awareness to challenge misconceptions, tackle adversity and recognise their responsibility as global citizens in the modern world.
Learning objective: To understand the origins of England’s medieval Jewish community.
Differentiated learning outcomes:
This lesson opens the door to the sensitive topic of Christian-Jewish relations in medieval England. In doing so, it aims to educate students on the persecution faced by Jewish communities as well as exposing students to the vast array of medieval sources that showcase the turbulent relationship between two faiths.
The lesson is focused around three tasks that in turn provide context to the arrival of Jews in England, their settlement and contribution to royal taxation, and their vulnerability to religious persecution and exploitation. These tasks are focused on the governmental documents that survive in The National Archives, namely the Charter rolls, Pipe rolls and Patent rolls. The notes below discuss the nature of this material and offer advice on how to aid pupil discussion in each case.
Charter rolls:
Charter rolls present enrolments of royal charters, which were used by the Crown to grant benefits; such as liberties, privileges, immunities, and exemptions, as well as grants of land. The enrolments are usually one of two things; either of the original granting charter, or of confirmation charters of previous grants. The main difference between charters and letters patent is that charters were always created in the presence of witnesses to ensure the charter’s validity. The most famous charter issued in relation to England’s Jewish community was the Charter of Liberties (Source 1) that offered Jews protection in return for their continued services to the crown. Here King John’s charter is a confirmation of the privileges granted to Jews by his royal predecessors.
Pipe rolls:
Pipe rolls present the annual financial records of the Crown. They record the audit process of the monarchy’s accounts for each financial year. Payments made to the Crown recorded in the Pipe rolls include debts owed, offerings for the king’s favour, tax payments, and financial penalties imposed in the king’s courts (to name but a few examples). The Pipe roll entries selected for this lesson present the tax payments made by Jewish communities to the crown in 1159. The format of the accounts is highly formulaic and you may wish to help the students consider the Latin record to try and detect key vocabulary/numbers.
Patent rolls:
Letters patent were letters issued open, or ‘patent’, expressing the king’s will on a variety of matters of public interest. Entries on the rolls are very diverse. They concern treaties, truces, correspondence and negotiations with foreign princes and states, letters of protection and of safe-conduct (to name but a few). England’s Jewish community are regularly mentioned or referred to in the Patent rolls for a variety of reasons. There are records of grants, confirmations of liberties, offices and privileges to private individuals in addition to records, such as in this lesson that outline orders affecting Jews or Jewish communities.
The documents offer a great way to introduce your students to the nature of original medieval sources and what they actually look like. They will help them to develop their powers of evaluation and analysis. Encourage the class to look at the originals, if possible, although some are more difficult than others, in an attempt to understand the nature of the material and to see if they can pick out any key Latin vocabulary.
Nevertheless, all documents have Latin transcripts and simplified translations to allow pupils to delve into the subject matter. For teachers alone, however there is a translation for Source 2 in these notes.
Ensure too that students are familiar with terms like ‘interfaith’, ‘persecution’, ‘tolerance’ and ‘moneylending’, before they start. They can study the document extracts and questions in pairs and report back to the whole class. Alternatively, they can work through the tasks independently. Care should be taken, however, when discussing ‘blood libel’ allegations to ensure it is some sensitively in the classroom.
Source 2: Translation – Teacher use only
Extracts from the Great Roll of the Pipe for the fifth year of the reign of King Henry Second, AD 1158 –1159, Catalogue Ref: E 372/5.
Entry A: Northamptonshire
And the same sheriff renders an account of 15 pounds of the Jews of Northamptonshire.
Entry B: London and Middlesex
And the same sheriff renders an account of 200 marks by the Jews.
Entry C: Worcestershire
And the same sheriff renders an account of 2 marks by the Jew.
Entry D: Oxfordshire
And the same sheriff renders an account of 20 marks by the Jews.
Entry E: Gloucestershire
And the same sheriff renders an account of 5 marks of the Jews.
Entry F: Lincolnshire
And the same sheriff renders an account of 60 marks by the Jews.
Entry G: Norwich
And the same sheriff renders an account of 44 pounds and 6 shillings and 8 pence by the Jews of Norwich.
This lesson fits within the KS3 curriculum for the thematic strand ‘The development of Church, State and Society’. In particular, ‘Christendom, the importance of religion and the Crusades’ and ‘Society, economy and culture: religion in daily life’.
GCSE Edexcel Migrants in Britain, c800–present
Complete source activities and with reflection on the account of the attack on the Jews at York in around 1190, students write a letter to the king that shows their concern for the wellbeing of Jewish communities in England. Why do violent attacks go against the Charter of Liberties? What needs to change to allow a harmonious interfaith kingdom to thrive?
The Norman Conquest prompted the arrival of Jews to England for the first time. William I needed to borrow large sums of money to consolidate his position as the King of England and he turned to Jewish merchants from Rouen, Normandy to provide him with this much-needed income. Lending money with interest or ‘usury’ was forbidden to Christians and considered a sin. As a result, the English king paved the way for Jewish individuals to migrate and settle across the Channel. Jews and Christians now lived alongside each other in settlements across the country.
Initially settling in London, the 12th century saw Jews move into other important centres such as Norwich and Lincoln. Many of England’s Jews were skilled individuals – who worked as doctors, goldsmiths and poets – but lending money was their primary source of income.
In return for their protection from English kings, England’s Jewish community had to recognise and respect the king as the person in charge of their non-religious affairs and contribute to royal revenue through their moneylending endeavours. This relationship can be traced in its earliest form in documents such as the Leges Edwardi Confessoris – the Laws of Edward Confessor – and the later Charter of Liberties issued under King Richard I and King John. Here it is outlined that Jews may live ‘freely and honourably’ in England and enjoy the same ‘liberties and customs’ as their predecessors for as long as they served the king in charge. This meant that Jewish people had a special relationship with English law. By the end of the 12th century, they were even primarily administered by their own special court: The Exchequer of the Jews.
The special, protected status of Jewish people was not readily accepted by the Christian population in England. Resentment soon intensified alongside growing anti-Jewish feeling across Europe. This was partly fuelled by something called the ‘blood libel’: false allegations that Jews abducted and murdered Christian children for magical rituals. Such cases led to a shift from a tolerance of Jews in England to increasing hostility.
The Crusades, which began in 1096, were another source of escalating anti-Jewish feeling. Christians trying to reclaim the Holy Land increasingly saw Jews as ‘Christ-killers’ and saw it as God’s mission to fight the so-called enemy at home. This crusading zeal caused many Englishmen to believe that they could legitimately use violence against Jews in God’s name. This famously led to an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence in 1189 at the same time as King Richard I’s coronation and the start of the Third Crusade. Mob violence led to attacks on the Jewish community in London, across East Anglia and Lincolnshire, and the attack on the Jewish community in York in March 1190. Following these attacks, King Richard I introduced a new system where records of Jewish loans had to be kept safely in an archae (chest) in each Jewish settlement (to prevent the records being destroyed as they were at York). Three keys were made for each chest; one for the Jewish clerks, one for the Christian clerks and one for the scribes. This meant that the chest could only be opened, and business transacted, when both Christians and Jews were present.
During the reign of King John (1199–1216), England’s Jewish community were forced to pay large sums of money as taxes (tallages). Famously in 1210, it was recorded that King John summoned the leaders of England’s Jewish community to Bristol where he imprisoned and tortured them, claiming that they had illegally concealed their assets (what they owned) earlier in 1207. Soon thereafter, all the Jews of England were seized and imprisoned, and their bonds (records of loans) confiscated. To free their bonds and themselves from prison, the Jewish community was forced to promise the king 66,000 marks (£1,000,000 in modern money). If they did not pay, Jewish individuals would face continued imprisonment, torture, or expulsion. Roger of Wendover, a chronicler (writer) at the time, described the consequences of one Jewish man who failed to pay on time:
'The King, therefore, ordered his torturers to pull out one of his molar teeth each day until he should have paid the sum of 10,000 marks. For seven days, a tooth was extracted with almost intolerable suffering…' (Roger of Wendover, Flores Historiarum, ed. Coxe, iii, 231)
Although the Jews had a so-called special relationship with the king, this did not mean they were safe from royal persecution.
sourcebooks.fordham.edu
This extract presents an example of ‘blood libel’, from Thomas of Monmouth’s Life of William of Norwich, 1173. Thomas of Monmouth, a Benedictine monk, accused the Jews of Norwich of the graphic murder of a young Christian boy, William. It reveals how anti-Jewish lies and rumours were spread and supported by members of the Church.
sourcebooks.fordham.edu
Roger of Hoveden, The Persecution of Jews, 1189. From the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, a brief translated account from a medieval chronicle, describing the attacks on Jews at King Richard I’s coronation.
Abulafia, A. Sapir. Christian-Jewish Relations 1000–1300: Jews in the Service of Christendom (Harlow, 2011).
Bale, A.P. Feeling Persecuted: Christians, Jews and Images of Violence in the Middle Ages (London, 2010).
Brand, P. ‘The Jews and the Law in England, 1275–90’, Economic History Review 115 (2000): 1138–1158.
Carpenter, D.A. ‘Crucifixion and Conversion: King Henry III and the Jews in 1255’, in Law, Lawyers and Texts: Studies in Medieval Legal History in Honour of Paul Brand, ed. S. Jenks, J. Rose and C. Whittick (Leiden, 2012): 129–148.
Dobson, R.B. ‘The Jews of Medieval York and the Massacre of March 1190’, in The Jewish Communities of Medieval England: the collected essays of R.B. Dobson, ed. H. Birkett (York, 2010): 1–52.
Hyams, P. ‘The Jews in Medieval England, 1066–1290’, in England and Germany in the High Middle Ages, ed. A. Haverkamp and H. Vollrath (Oxford, 1996): 173–192.
Moore, R.I. Formation of a Persecuting Society: Power and Deviance in Western Europe, 950–1250 (Oxford, 2007).
Mundill, R.R. The King’s Jews: Money, Massacre and Exodus in Medieval England (London, 2010).
Richardson, H.G. The English Jewry under Angevin Kings (London, 1960).
Roth, C. A History of the Jews in England (Oxford, 3rd ed., 1964).
Rubin, M. Gentile Tales: the Narrative Assault on Late Medieval Jews (New Haven, 1999).
Stacey, R.C. ‘‘Adam of Bristol’ and the Tales of Ritual Crucifixion in Medieval England’, in Thirteenth Century England XI: Proceedings of the Gregynog Conference, 2005, ed. J. Burton, B. Weiler, P. Schofield and K. Stöber (Woodbridge, 2012): 1–15.
Stacey, R.C. ‘The English Jews under Henry III’, in Jews in Medieval Britain: Historical, Literary and Archaeological Perspectives, ed. P. Skinner (Woodbridge, 2003): 41–54.
Stacey, R.C. ‘The Massacres of 1189-90 and the Origins of the Jewish Exchequer, 1186–1226’, in Christians and Jews in Angevin England: The York Massacre of 1190, Narratives and Contexts, ed. S. Rees Jones and S. Watson (York, 2013): 106–24.
Tartakoff, P. ‘From Conversion to Ritual Murder: Re-Contextualizing the Circumcision Charge’, Medieval Encounters 24 (2018): 361–362.
Vincent, N.C. ‘Jews, Poitevins, and the Bishop of Winchester, 1231–1234’, Christianity and Judaism, Studies in Church History 29, ed. D. Wood (Oxford, 1992): 119–132;
