Prisoners, Sanctuary‐Seekers, and Workers: Jews at the Tower of London, 1189–1290

Abstract

AbstractThe most significant built remnant of the Jewish history of medieval England is not a synagogue but a castle: the Tower of London. From 1189 to 1290, hundreds of Jews entered the Tower as prisoners, sanctuary‐seekers or workers. In the thirteenth century, the Constable of the Tower not only had authority over the London Jewry but also had the unique right to arrest Jews anywhere in the kingdom and to preside over certain legal cases involving them. Even if Jews were arrested elsewhere, they would often be transferred to the Tower. This history of imprisonment reached its height in 1278 to 1279, when at least 600 Jews were held on charges of coin‐clipping. The Tower appears in the indices of most books on the medieval Anglo‐Jewry and is often alluded to in articles on the same topic, though usually merely in passing. None of this prior research has been specifically dedicated to the various stories of Jews at the Tower, however, something that this present article will be the first to discuss in depth. It is derived from a recent project at Historic Royal Palaces on the Tower's Jewish history, which created biographies of every Jewish individual known to have been at the Tower in the medieval period.