Fordham


IHSP

Medieval History


Selected Sources Full Text Sources Saints' Lives Law Texts Maps Medieval Films Search Help


Selected Sources Sections Studying History End of Rome Byzantium Islam Roman Church Early Germans Anglo-Saxons Celtic World Carolingians 10 C Collapse Economic Life Crusades Empire & Papacy France England Celtic States Nordic Europe Iberia Italy Eastern Europe Intellectual Life Medieval Church Jewish Life Social History Sex & Gender States & Society Renaissance Reformation Exploration
IHSP Credits

Medieval Sourcebook:
An Israelite Bishop without Guile (ca. 1168)


The easy terms on which English Jews and Christian mingled gave rise to this anecdote.  Jacobs noted:  “Bishop” was the term applied in England to each of the three Dayanim or judges who constituted the Beth Din or ecclesiastical tribunal which decided cases between Jews.

And so too that well-known saying of Henry of London was heard by many.  For there were one day in the Church of St. Paul at London many bishops and abbots taking cognizance of certain ecclesiastical cases by order of our lord the Pope, and with them a great multitude of clergy, citizens, soldiers, and others.  There chanced to enter certain Jews of London, who mixed with these and others in seeking for their debtors if they might see them.  And among them comes a certain Bishop of the Jews. And to him Henry said in joke: " Welcome, Bishop of the Jews!  Receive him among ye, for there is scarcely any of the Bishops of  England that has not betrayed his lord the Archbishop of Canterbury, except this one. In this Israelite Bishop there is no guile."


Source.

Source: J. C. Robertson,  Materials for History of Thomas Becket, iv., 151; ed. Joseph Jacobs, The Jews of Angevin England: Documents and Records (London, 1893), p. 45.

Scanned by Elka Klein


This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.

Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use.

© Paul Halsall, November 1998
[email protected]

 



The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of  Fordham University, New York. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University.  Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.

© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 11 March 2024 [CV]