Three Jewish Businesswomen in Thirteenth-Century Winchester

Abstract

Through tracing the lives of three women and their families in the pipe rolls and other contemporary documents, it is possible to discover how they dealt with their business and family interests through the increasing persecution of English Jews during the thirteenth century. Single, married or widowed, Jewish women were freer than their Christian counterparts to conduct their moneylending activities, and could operate legally through male attorneys or agents. In the cases of these three women they rose to head their own family consortia. They were in contact with many levels of the social strata, ranging from royalty and the upper eschelons of the Church to small farmers, tradesmen and Christian women. In times of upheaval and riot they attracted hatred and physical attack, and their fortunes diminished in the rising tide of anti-Jewish feeling.