Royal Taxation and the Social Structure of Medieval Anglo-Jewry: The Tallages of 1239-1242
Although historians have long asserted the importance of Jewish taxation to thirteenth century English royal finance, no accurate assessment of the scale of this taxation has hitherto been possible, because only very partial Jewish tax records were known to survive. The discovery of a virtually comp...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1985
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Judaism
/ Tax
/ England
/ History 1239-1242
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| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism TG High Middle Ages |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | Although historians have long asserted the importance of Jewish taxation to thirteenth century English royal finance, no accurate assessment of the scale of this taxation has hitherto been possible, because only very partial Jewish tax records were known to survive. The discovery of a virtually complete set of returns to the 20,000 mark tallage of 1241-1242 demonstrates for the first time that at least one of King Henry III's enormous Jewish taxes was in fact paid, in full and on time, by the English Jewish community. More than 75% of this total tax was paid by ten individuals; more than half was paid personally by three named Jews, one of whom appears to have been the wealthiest individual in the kingdom after the king himself. These tax records, reproduced in the accompanying appendices, reveal that wealth, both within and between the various Jewish communities in mid-thirteenth century England, was concentrated in significantly fewer hands than has previously been realized: This distribution pattern may in part have been the result of royal taxation policies during the preceding two decades. The records also provide us with a detailed picture of the assessment and collection procedures for the tax, as these were administered by the Jewish communities themselves. Additionally, these tax lists may also enable scholars to estimate more precisely the population of the various Jewish communities in medieval England, and perhaps even make possible some family reconstitution studies. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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