Dr Dean Irwin

Judith has already written a fair bit on the topic, including www.brepols.net/products/IS-...

My comments will be in my book project on Jews and Christians as Neighbours, which will hopefully be finished next year.

Jewish Worlds and Words in Medieval England | British Library Rare manuscripts can give an insight into the Jewish population and presence in medieval England, and some of the most remarkable and important of all have

There’s still time to book for ‘Jewish Worlds and Words in Medieval England’! On Mon Judith Olszowy-Schlanger and I will be at the British Library, talking about the Jews of Medieval England, Christian knowledge of Hebrew and the world of medieval Anglo-Jewry. Do join us events.bl.uk/events/jewis...

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All of this is to say, if I can put together this thread before my second cup of coffee on a Saturday morning, a local MP might put in a bit of an effort 😀... 15/15

It's not clear whether they stayed, but we know that contacts with the county continued with a number of churches purchased Jewish debts (including at Ludlow) and building up their landholdings that way. 14/

Bridgnorth took no steps to enforce the expulsion (and could have done) and don't really seem to have cared if the Jews stopped, so long as the heavy wear to the road stopped. Jews continue to be associated with Bridgnorth into the 1280s, although listed under Oxfordshire 13/

When you read the complaint however, it's clear that they're primary concern was the damage which was being done to the road by them coming back three or four times a week. This seems to me, therefore, to be that most classic of English local government complaints: moaning about pot-holes 12/

Crucially, we know that the Jews of Bridgnorth continued to return to the town in the year after the expulsion. This prompts a complaint to the Crown the following year. Historians typically interpret this as evidence of local antisemitism. 11/

Side note: a lot of Edward's earliest activities in relation to the Jews seem to have been dictated by nothing more than having actually read the legislation that his father had passed but not enforced... 10/

On 2 October 1274, Edward I issued an edict expelling the Jews from the town. This was not specific to the Jews there, but by an effort by Edward to enforce earlier legislation which had generally not been enforced by Henry III. 9/

was quite heavily indebted to the Jews who had settled in the town. Incidentally, the debts couldn't have been contracted in Bridgnorth, because it was not an approved centre, so I'm not sure where in the Marches that might have happened. 8/

As a case in the Eyre Roll of 1292 (referring backwards to c. 1272-4) makes clear, a Jew was arrested and taken to Shrewsbury to be held. One possible reason for this is the castellan of Bridgnorth. Hugh Donville, was a thoroughly disreputable character and, crucially, 7/

As part of the settlement order, the named Jews were to be given shelter in the castle in the event of violence (a particularly important provision in the immediate aftermath of the Second Baronial Revolt). They probably wouldn't have been imprisoned there though, in the event it was necessary. 6/

Oxford, I hasten to add, was not the great Jewish community of the historiography, so this is slightly odd. Other Jews in the region seem to have favoured Bridgnorth, notably a couple of Jews at Chipping Campden. 5/

Although we think of Hereford as the major Jewish community in the Marches, actually a lot of Jewish communities in the region to be much more firmly connected with Oxford (another good example, for south wales, is Aaron of Caerleon who always looks to Oxford). 4/

In 1267, Josce son of Deulecresse and Meir son of Isaac, Jew of Oxford, paid four Bezants to settle in the town with their wives (whether they also wanted their children with them is not recorded...). The Oxford connection is super important here. 3/

In the thirteenth century, we get isolated references to Shropshire, but it's not until 1267 that permission is granted for a Jewish community to be established. Significantly, this was not at Shrewsbury but at Bridgnorth. 2/

OK, Shropshire and the Jews #101. By the standards of medieval Jewry, particularly weak evidence. Gerald of Wales provides case (involving a Jewish joke - do look it up), which tells that a Jew travelled down the Marches (in the company of Christians), presumably passing through Shropshire. 1/

One of my students likes to tease that there is a direct correlation between how obscure an Anglo-Jewish topic is and how likely it is that I'll have researched it... So you could also have taken a punt 😂

On the basis of this Tweet, that does seem to be a an especially low bar, but as it happens I do know a thing or two (and, indeed, gave a lecture in Shropshire on the county's Jewish history - up to 1307 - last year). Let me dig out my notes...

In addition to the two days of ‘Borders, Boundaries, and Barriers: Real and Imagined in the Middle Ages’, (20-21 April) those who register also have the option to join us on the Oxford Medieval Jewish Walking tour on 19 April.

Just two weeks left to register! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

My Biographical Memoir of Jinty Nelson for the British Academy is now available on their website, open access on this link www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/m...

I was very excited ordering this up yesterday! Obviously, I then had to get the Jewish receipt rolls out where the serious excitement is to be found!

Sent to your History Today account.

It looks like I do, what do you need?

Troubling in and of itself, but the fact that these are unique examples (with no other exemplars), to be sold possibly into private collections, makes it even more difficult to justify.

Perilously Christian, but very early in the reign of Edward II. 1308/09?

I feel as organisers, we could have done more to express our conference aims through the medium of Minions gifs, and will look to correct that oversight in future posts. Definite topic to address in the introductory remarks...!

Be Doo Be Doo Minion GIF ALT: Be Doo Be Doo Minion GIF

Things are moving quickly now! Just one month to go to register for Borders, Boundaries, and Barriers: Real and Imagined in the Middle Ages (20-21 April). We're super excited to see everyone there!

Registration: buytickets.at/bordersbound...

Programme: docs.google.com/document/d/1...