Aaron of Lincoln
Aaron of Lincoln (born at
Money lending
He made a speciality of
Aaron not only advanced money on land, but also on corn, armour and houses, and in this way acquired an interest in properties scattered through the eastern and southern counties of England. Upon his death Henry II seized his property as the
So large was the amount that a separate division of the exchequer was constituted, entitled "Aaron's Exchequer" (Madox, History of the Exchequer, folio ed., p. 745), and was continued till at least 1201, that is, fifteen years after his death, for on the pipe-roll of that year most of the debts to Aaron (about £7,500) are recorded as still outstanding to the king, showing that only half the debts had been paid over by that time, though, on the death of Aaron, the payment of interest ceased automatically, since the king, as a Christian, could not accept usury.[citation needed]
Massacre of Jews at York
In 1190, Richard de Malbis (Richard Malebisse), a debtor of Aaron of Lincoln, led an attack on the family of Aaron's late agent in York that resulted in the death of the entire Jewish community, some 150 men, women, and children, at York Castle.
Norman House
A house sometimes associated with Aaron of Lincoln still stands, also known as Norman House, and is probably the oldest private stone dwelling in England the date of which can be fixed with precision (before 1186). While the house is associated with a Jewish banker, and historically known as "Aaron the Jew's house", it is not known whether the house actually had any association with Aaron of Lincoln. Originally the house had no windows on the ground floor—an omission probably intended to increase the facilities for protection or defence.
See also
- Exchequer of the Jews – the successor body to Aaron's Exchequer
References
- ISBN 0-521-84666-8.
- ^ "Jewish communities and their expulsion from England in 1290". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Aaron of Lincoln shows us the uncertain legacy of success". www.thejc.com.
Further reading
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Aaron of Lincoln". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- Hollister, C.; et al. (2007). The Making of England To 1399. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-618-00101-9.
- Koyama, Mark (2010). "The Political Economy of Expulsion: The Regulation of Jewish Moneylending in Medieval England". Constitutional Political Economy. 21 (4): 374–406. S2CID 7573759.
- Schofield, Phillipp; Mayhew, N. J., eds. (2002). Credit and Debt in Medieval England, c.1180–c.1350. Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 1842170732.
- Skinner, Patricia (2003). The Jews in Medieval Britain: Historical, Literary, and Archaeological Perspectives. Boydell Press. ISBN 0851159311.