ABSTRACT MARGOLIS, ETHAN LEVI. Evidence that the Majority of Medieval English Jews were not Moneylenders, with an Emphasis on Document E. 101/249/4. (Under the direction of Dr. Julie Mell.) The collective Western mind still today erroneously sees “the Jews” of medieval England as moneylenders. It is generally accepted that the Jews functioned to create a more liquid economy and to provide the crown with much needed financial support. However, while it is true that a select handful of Jews did operate as professional moneylenders, I will argue that the vast majority of Jews could not, and did not, operate as professional financers. The method I have employed to prove this thesis is to conduct a close economic analysis of the document E. 101/249/4. This document is the result of an archa scrutiny (an archa was a chest, held in each major town, within which were deposited any and all loans contracted within the town) that King Henry III ordered in preparation for the collection of his 1241-42 tallage of 20,000 marks. It is composed of two sections. The first section is found on membrane one recto. It is a summary of the returns of the aforesaid tallage and is especially valuable because it provides the names of every adult Jew in Lincoln in 1241-42. The second section provides the actual results from Henry III’s archa scrutiny. It contains eight hundred and eighty-six loans and takes up the vast majority of the document. The results of this economic study convincingly refute the idea that all Jews lent money and that all moneylenders were Jews. Of the one hundred and fifteen Jews listed in the first section (membrane one recto) only thirty-eight had loans in the Lincoln archa; the remaining seventy-seven Jewish residents of Lincoln simply did not lend money. Further, by carefully analyzing the loans found in the archa, one finds that a full seventy-four percent of all loans found in the archa were held by only ten men, and thirty-two percent were held by Aaron of York alone! The remaining seventy-five Jews with loans in the archa collectively held only twenty-six percent of the value of all the loans contained in Lincoln’s archa. These results are significant, for they overturn the nearly ubiquitous assumption that “the Jews” functioned only as moneylenders in medieval England. It is an assumption that is well entrenched in even academia today, and one that I hope to begin to dissolve with this thesis. Evidence that the Majority of Medieval English Jews were not Moneylenders, with an Emphasis on Document E. 101/249/4 by Ethan Levi Margolis A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts History Raleigh, North Carolina 2015 APPROVED BY: ________________________ ________________________ Dr. Karen Kletter Dr. S. Thomas Parker _______________________________ Dr. Julie Mell Chair of Advisory Committee BIOGRAPHY Ethan L. Margolis holds bachelor degrees in both business (from Penn State University) and history (from North Carolina State University). His interest in history lies particularly in the medieval period. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... v HISTORIOGRAPHIC INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 The “Pre-Heroic Age” ........................................................................................................ 1 The “Heroic Age” .............................................................................................................. 9 A Road Map ...................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 1: THE EVOLUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND DURING THE PERIOD FROM WILLIAM I TO FITZ NIGEL’S DIOLOGUS DE SCACCARIO ................................................................................................................................ 23 The King’s Household ...................................................................................................... 24 The Evolution of the Early Chamber and Treasury .......................................................... 27 The Origins of the English Exchequer .............................................................................. 31 The Operations of the Early Exchequer and its Relationship with the Treasury ............. 32 Chronology ....................................................................................................................... 35 The Ascension of Henry II and the Restoration of the Exchequer Court .......................... 42 Migration and Redefinition of the Treasury ..................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 2: SOURCE DOCUMENTS AND LINGUISTIC CONSIDERATIONS .................. 48 The Use and Misuse of Primary Sources: Limitations of the Pipe Rolls and Chronicles..48 The Pipe Rolls ................................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER 3: THE ORIGINS AND MOTIVATIONS BEHIND THE EVOLUTION OF THE EXCHEQUER OF THE JEWS ............................................................................................ 61 A Roadmap ....................................................................................................................... 63 Inventing a “Function” ..................................................................................................... 65 Jewish Legal Status and the Myth of Jewish Serfdom ...................................................... 71 “Fitz Nigel’s Law” ........................................................................................................... 78 A More Nuanced Understanding of the Motivations behind the Creation of the Exchequer of the Jews ...................................................................................................... 87 The Le Brun Fine .............................................................................................................. 92 Hubert Walter, the 1194 General Eyre, and the Archae Ordinances ............................... 96 CHAPTER 4: PECUNIA NON OLET ....................................................................................... 103 An Analysis of the Crown’s Borrowing Patterns: 1156-1166 ......................................... 106 An Analysis of the Crown’s Borrowing Patterns: 1162-1179 ......................................... 110 Why Borrow? .................................................................................................................. 119 CHAPTER 5: A CLOSE ANALYSIS OF THE LINCOLN ARCHA ......................................... 123 The Third and the Origins of the “Worcester” Tallage ................................................... 131 How the Process of Exaction for the 20,000 Mark “Worcester” Tallage Operated ....... 134 E.101/249/4: A Descriptive Explanation ........................................................................ 142 A Close Analysis of E.101/249/4: The Results ............................................................... 152 The Magnates ................................................................................................................. 159 Female Lenders .............................................................................................................. 161 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 163 References ..................................................................................................................... 167 Appendix A ................................................................................................................... 178 Appendix B ................................................................................................................... 179 Appendix C...............................................................................................................180 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 The First Year of Repayments from the Le Brun Fine ................................... 114 Table 4.2 Summary of Royal Loan Repayments Recorded on Pipe Rolls, 1156-1179 . 119 Table 5.1 Estimated Amount of the Crown’s Income from Jewish Tallages as Compared to the Estimated Crown Revenue per Year .................................................... 131 Table 5.2 Receipts from the “Worcester” Tallage Compared with Total Receipts Listed on E.101/249/4 Membrane 1 Recto ............................................................... 148 Table 5.3 Summary of Information E.101/249/4 Recto and Comparison with Total Loans in Inquest ...................................................................................................... 149 Table 5.4 A Comparison of Total Amount Lent for the Fifteen Most Prolific Lenders 161 Table 5.5 Total Amount Lent by Women Lenders Found in E.101/249/4 ..................... 162 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Amount Each Member of the Le Brun Fine Owed Over Time ....................... 97 Figure 4.1 Royal Loan Repayments to Major Lenders on the Pipe Rolls, 1156-1166 .... 110 Figure 4.2 Amount Each Magnate Owed Towards the Le Brun Fine As Recorded On the Pipe Roll for 23 Henry II