What really burned at York Castle in 1190?
Medieval Jews, Medieval England and Angevin Empire, Faith Magic and Belief Rachel Elwiss Joyce Medieval Jews, Medieval England and Angevin Empire, Faith Magic and Belief Rachel Elwiss Joyce

What really burned at York Castle in 1190?

York Castle in 1190 was a large motte-and-bailey complex, not merely a tower. The Jewish community was trapped in the inner stronghold on the motte. Although this is usually reconstructed as wholly wooden, William of Newburgh’s account of stones removed from an inner wall may indicate a stone shell keep containing timber buildings.

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Bloodbath at the Lionheart’s Coronation
Medieval Jews, Medieval England and Angevin Empire, Faith Magic and Belief Rachel Elwiss Joyce Medieval Jews, Medieval England and Angevin Empire, Faith Magic and Belief Rachel Elwiss Joyce

Bloodbath at the Lionheart’s Coronation

We remember Richard the Lionheart as a crusader king, a warrior who fought Saladin, and whose name resounded across Christendom. But for England’s Jews, his reign began in fire and betrayal.

Benedict of York’s story embodies that betrayal. Beaten at the doors of Westminster Hall, baptised by a friend who meant him no harm, denied even a grave among his people, his fate symbolises the peril of being both essential and despised in medieval England.

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What Languages Did Jews Speak in Medieval England?
Medieval Jews, Medieval England and Angevin Empire Rachel Elwiss Joyce Medieval Jews, Medieval England and Angevin Empire Rachel Elwiss Joyce

What Languages Did Jews Speak in Medieval England?

In twelfth-century England, Jewish communities lived in a world of many languages: Hebrew for prayer and scholarship, Anglo-Norman French for daily life and business, early Yiddish among German-origin Jews, and Middle English among their neighbours. Here’s how that multilingual world shaped the Jewish characters in Lady of the Castle.

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