There is somewhat of a standard history of Jews in England in the 13^th century and it goes like this: Jew-hating Kings and Queens forced Jews to live in certain places and only have particular careers such as moneylending, which made the Jews unpopular with the broader population. Then, because King Edward I had spent so much money fighting the Welsh, he expelled England’s Jews in 1290 and took their money. Much of that statement is true, Jews were concentrated in places like London and Hereford and then ultimately expelled from England, but that’s not the whole story. There is a great deal more nuance and greyness about it. Whilst not wanting to excuse the crimes of Edward I (the Scots and the Welsh have their own reasons to dislike Edward I) the story of the Christians and Jews and their relations in places like Hereford was not just a case of Christians hating Jews for theological and financial reasons and then the Jews got kicked out. It turns out that relations between ordinary Christians and Jews, not the elite of England of course, but the ordinary Englishmen and women, were not as hostile as we might like to think.

Today’s guest post is from an author whose work has been widely published but which is being published under the pseudonym of ‘BlackCat’ for their own personal reasons, which I respect. It’s an account of a lecture given at Hereford Cathedral last year on the subject of the Jews of medieval Hereford. The author has written before on Jewish information sources and in particular the theology and practises of Britain’s non-Orthodox Jewish community.

This is a great look at an often overlooked aspect of relationships between Christians and Jews in medieval England which shows that there was a distinct class difference between those in the ruling elite both administrative and religious and the ordinary people in how Jews were seen at that time. There was also a willingness for Jewish traders to break Jewish Sabbath rules and trade on a Saturday because that was the main day that the non-Jewish traders operated. It appears that there was a willingness by members of both communities, Christian and Jewish, to set aside religious rules when there was something of mutual benefit to be had. This meant that Jews would trade on their Sabbath whilst the ordinary Christians set aside Christian religious Jew hatred and made use of the Jews trade contacts to get goods that they might otherwise not have been able to access. It appears that outside of the elite in government and the church, relations between Christian and Jew were not as hostile as we might be led to believe.

Here’s the piece by today’s guest post author.

“Medieval Jewish history of Hereford

One reason given for the hostility towards Jews before the Expulsion was that they were extensively involved in usury, lending money at high rates of interest, because Christians were not allowed to do that. In fact records show that only 1% of the Jewish community was involved in usury, Joe traced the movement from moneylending into trade. He showed 53% of transactions took place on a Saturday, including the Easter Fair and the Feast of St Denis, because these were good times to see people. The scholar Rev DrJames Parkes reckoned that in medieval times there may have been a community of around 5000 or more Jewish people in Hereford, with a mikvah and a cemetery and there was a pragmatic relationship between the Jews and the Christians.

In general, Jews and Christians were subject to the same laws, so they had to get on. One amusing story is of a spectacular marriage in 1286 where Jews and Christians celebrated together, to the great displeasure of the Bishop who was concerned that the ceremony would disparage the Christian faith and preach heresies. He told Christians not to attend, but they went anyway. He excommunicated them and called them children of wickedness and rebellion. A letter tells that they ate, drank, played, joked and played sports together, delighted to humiliate their Bishop by living happily as neighbours. The feast following the marriage is being researched by Natashsa Jenman of the University of Trier, looking at the circumstances and the interactions between the Jews and Christians.

Another reason for antisemitism was the stigmatisation of Jews as greedy, filthy, diabolical and even ritual murderers. Joe Hillaby traced the ritual child murder accusation to its dissemination by Harold of Gloucester, though it started with the death of William of Norwich in 1144.

The Jews were subject to payment of a toll of £40 a year, wealthy families paid most of it, the whole community could be imprisoned if it was not paid. Even then, they knew we are all responsible for each other, as we remind ourselves at Yom Kippur. I am pleased to say that a new generation of researchers are continuing with this work, one is mapping Christian and Jewish communities across England and there was a further lecture in January 2026 on the 1290 expulsion. The lecture was followed by a lively question and answer session, asking such things as where did the English Jews come from and where did they go when they left England? The answer was they came from Rouen and Mainz, to places like Bristol, Oxford and Lincoln. They were given 3 months to leave and safe passage to France and Morocco.

I was surprised to find that records of the period are quite wide-ranging, for example, there is a Charter in the Cathedral Archives showing the houses where the Jews used to live.  Other records are on pipe rolls, court records, letters and even Hereford’s Mappa Mundi which has antisemitic imagery and was the subject of a future lecture. Currently there is no memorial to the Jews of Hereford, Joe advocated for a plaque and there will be a book type of memorial.”

I’m delighted to be able to present this guest post and it is to be hoped that the continuing researches by academics who specialise in the subject of Anglo-Jewry will uncover more about the fascinating subject of Jews in England prior to the 1290 expulsion.