The Jewish Communities

960EHR,cxxvii.527(August2012)BookReviewsTheJewishCommunitiesofMedievalEngland:TheCollectedEssaysofR.B.聽Dobson,ed.HelenBirkett(York:TheBorthwickInstitute,U.聽ofYork,2010;pp.xxvii+174.拢25).ItisafairindicationofBarrieDobson鈥檚influenceasanhistorian,nolessthanofthewideanddeepaffectioninwhichheisheldbyhiscolleagues,thatthisisthefourthvolumeofessayshonouringhimtohavebeenpublishedsincehisretirementin1999asProfessorofMedievalHistoryatCambridge.Previousvolumescelebratedhisscholarlycontributionstothestudyofmedi-evalcommunities(PragmaticUtopias,ed.RosemaryHorroxandsarahReesJones,2001);tolatermedievalecclesiasticalhistory(TheChurchandLearninginLaterMedievalSociety,ed.CarolineBarronandJennystratford,2002;rev.ante,cxix[2004],131鈥�);andtothehistoryofTheChurchinMedievalYork(ed.DavidM.聽smith,1999).Thisnewvolume,however,isthefirsttocom-priseDobson鈥檚ownessaysratherthanthoseofhisfriendsandadmirers;anditistheonlyonethatreflectstheenormousimpacthisscholarshiphashadonthehistoryoftheJewishcommunitiesofmedievalEngland.ItcontainsallofDobson鈥檚publishedessaysonJewishhistory,togetherwithanappreciationofhisworkbyJoeHillabyandanewpiecebyDobsonhimself,inwhichhereflects,withcharacteristicgenerosity,onthecontributionsofthecurrentgen-erationofAnglo-Jewishhistorianswhoseworkhasfollowedonfromhis聽own.ModernhistoricalstudyoftheJewsofmedievalEnglandbeganwiththeAnglo-JewishHistoricalExhibitionof1887.severalgenerationsofassiduousarchivalwork,mainlyundertheauspicesoftheJewishHistoricalsocietyofEngland,sawthepublicationby1939ofmostoftheessentialrecordsbear-ingonthehistoryofthissmallbutinordinatelyimportantcommunityofmedievalJews.But,despitetheeffortsofseveralnotablehistorianswhowerenotthemselvesJewish(sirHilaryJenkinsonandJamesParkesamongthem),medievalEnglishJewishhistorycontinuedtoberegardedbymosthistori-ans,andbythegeneralpublic,asasubjectofinterestonlytoJews.NeitherCecilRoth,thefirstReaderinPost-BiblicalHebrewstudiesappointedatanyBritishuniversity,theauthorofawidely-readHistoryoftheJewsinEngland(3editions,1941鈥�4;1steditionrev.ante,lvii[1942],495鈥�),andaninspiringteacherwhoseOxfordlecturesfirsttriggeredDobson鈥檚owninterestinthesubject;norH.G.Richardson,ahighly-respectedEnglishconstitutionalandlegalhistorianwhoseseminalstudyofTheEnglishJewryunderAngevinKings(1960)wasreviewedinlessthantenlinesbytheEnglishHistoricalReview(ante,lxxvii[1962],137鈥�),wereabletopersuade鈥榤ainstream鈥�historiansthatJewishhistoryhadanythingmuchtocontributetoabetterunderstandingofmedieval聽England.atZhejiangUniversityonDecember4,2013http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/Downloadedfrom961EHR,cxxvii.527(August2012)BookReviewsThebreakthroughcamein1974,whenBarrieDobson,whohadjoinedthefacultyofthenewly-establishedUniversityofYorkadecadeearlier,publishedhisstudyofTheJewsofMedievalYorkandtheMassacreofMarch1190intheUniversity鈥檚occasionalseriesofBorthwickPapers.WhatdistinguishedDobson鈥檚workfromthatofprevioushistoriansofmedievalAnglo-JewrywasthewayinwhichhebroughttobearonEnglishJewishhistorytheschol-arlymethodsandstandardsthat鈥榤ainstream鈥�Englishmedievalhistorianshadbeendevelopingsincethe1930s.TohisstudyoftheYorkmassacre,Dobsonbroughtathoroughunderstandingofthenationalandlocalcontextwithinwhichtheseeventstookplace;acriticalapproachtothenarrativesourceswhichdescribedthem;acommandofthearchivalsources;andcloseattentiontothepersonalandfamilyconnectionsoftheparticipantsinthemassacre.Healsohadanunerringabilitytoaskproductiveresearchquestions,andawillingnesstospeculateonwhatfutureresearchmightrevealinanswertothesequestions.InDobson鈥檚hands,forthefirsttime,onebegantoseewhatanintegratedhistoryofmedievalEnglandmightlooklike鈥攁history,thatis,inwhichChristiansandJews,menandwomen,thepowerfulandthehumbleallinteractedwitheachotherandparticipatedinshapingtheworldinwhichtheylived.Asanundergraduateduringthe1970s,I聽wasnotaloneinfindingtheexamplehesettobeexhilarating.Inhis1974paper,andinthefollow-upstudyhepublishedfiveyearslateron鈥楾heDeclineandExpulsionoftheMedievalJewsofYork鈥�Dobsonestab-lishedtheagendathathasdrivenresearchonEnglishmedievalJewishhistoryeversince.Theimpactwasnotimmediate;withthehonourableexceptionofPaulHyamsandZefiraEntinRokeah,Dobsonfoundfewfellowlabourersinthisvineyardduringthe1970sandearly1980s.sincethemid-1980s,however,RobinMundill,PaulBrand,NicholasVincent,JoeHillaby,RichardHuscroft,ChristophCluse,suzanneBartlet,JohnMaddicott,DavidCarpenter,Henrysummerson,andanumberofotherscholars,includingthepresentreviewer,haveextendedandprogressivelyrefinedtheframeworkforunderstandingmedievalEnglishJewishhistorythatBarrieDobsonfirstset聽out.Dobsonalsoplayedanimportantorganisationalroleinencouragingschol-arstopayattentiontoJewishhistory.ElectedPresidentoftheJewishHistoricalsocietyin1990,hispresidentialaddressontheJewsofmedievalCambridgereflectedhismovefromYorktoCambridgeasProfessorofMedievalHistorytwoyearsbefore.In1991,inarare鈥榙oubledouble鈥�hewaselectedpresidentoftheEcclesiasticalHistorysocietyandchose,asthethemeforthesociety鈥檚conferencesfor1991and1992,鈥楥hristianityandJudaism鈥�Thechoicewascontroversial,butDobson鈥檚instinctsweresound.Theresultingcollectionofessays,publishedin1992inthesociety鈥檚鈥榮tudiesinChurchHistory鈥�series,wasoneofthemostconsistentlystimulatingvolumesinthatdistinguished聽series.Dobson鈥檚owncontributiontothatvolume,鈥楾heRoleofJewishWomeninMedievalEngland鈥�constitutedhisfirstforayintowomen鈥檚history.Hefollowedthisupwithasecondstudyonthesamesubject,publishedin1996aspartoftheproceedingsofaconferenceheldatsewanee.Iftheseessayslackedsomeoftheexplosiveimpactofhisearlierpieces,thefaultlaymorewiththesourcesthanwithDobson鈥檚treatmentofthem.ThesurvivingrecordsforthemedievalEnglishJewishcommunityareoverwhelminglygovernmentalinorigin,mirroringtheCrown鈥檚interestsinthetaxationofJews,legalprocesses,andsettlementpatterns.Womenwereimportantactorsinallsuchmatters,butatZhejiangUniversityonDecember4,2013http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/Downloadedfrom962EHR,cxxvii.527(August2012)BookReviewsthereisacriticallyimportantdomesticelementtotheexperienceofmedievalJewishwomenthatsuchsourcescannotreveal.Recentwork,particularlybyElishevaBaumgarten(MothersandChildren:JewishFamilyLifeinMedievalEurope,2004),hasbeguntoshowhowmuchlightcanbeshedonthesemoreintimatedetailsofmedievalEuropeanJewishlifefromrabbinicalmaterials,whichdonotsurviveinabundancefrommedievalEngland.Butastheworkofanalysingtheserabbinicalsourcesproceeds,itwillundoubtedlyrevealmoreaboutthelifeofthemedievalEnglishJewishcommunityalso.Asitdoes,itwillcontinuetobuildonthefirmfoundationsthatBarrieDobsonhaslaidoutintheseessays.ROBERTC.sTACEYdoi:10.1093/ehr/ces151UniversityofWashington,SeattleatZhejiangUniversityonDecember4,2013http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/Downloadedfrom