Book Notes: Jews in Medieval Britain: Historical, Literary and Archaeological Perspectives, Patricia Skinner (ed.)

<plain_text><page sequence="1">Jews in Medieval Britain: Historical, Literary and Archaeological Perspectives, edited by Patricia Skinner (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk 2003) isbn 085115 931 1, pp. 175, ?45 This is a well-organized and readable summary of the latest scholarship on the medieval Jewish community. Part I, on 'The History of the Jews in Britain', consists of three essays by expert historians, on the major periods of the community's development: Joe Hillaby's 'Colonization in the Twelfth Century' is new and important. Robert Stacey's 'The English Jews under Henry IIP is also a fresh and important study. Robert Mundill's chapter 'Edward I and the Final Phase of Anglo-Jewry' summarizes the latest published work by himself and Zefira Rokeah. In a book which refers solely to territories ruled by the English Crown at a time when the kingdom of Scotland had no known Jewish population, the use of the word 'British' in the title is an anachro? nism. Part 2, devoted to 'Case Studies and New Evidence', consists of six essays on specific topics: Paul Brand on royal administration, John Edwards on 'The Church and the Jews', David Hinton on archaeology, Susan Bartlet on women in the medieval community, Anthony Bale on 'Fictions' and Barry Dobson on the York community. The binding unfortunately does not do justice to the contents - my copy split down the spine in the normal course of reading. But this is a book to be strongly recommended. Edgar Samuel 219</page></plain_text>