Monday, October 11, 2010

The Jews of Medieval Norwich

This cartoon was drawn on an English tax roll of 1233 (click to enlarge), and it was posted as part of a school lesson at the National Archives of the UK. The three-faced character at the top is not the king, but a Jewish moneylender of Norwich named Isaac fil Jurnet. His leading debt collectors were two other Jews named Mosse Mokke and his wife Abigail. The cartoon probably gives a fair idea of how English Christians felt about Jews and their businesses.

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