Medieval English rabbis : image and self-Image

Abstract

From at least the mid twelfth century until the Expulsion in 1290, England hosted a community of active rabbinic scholars. Although much of their literary heritage has been lost, several treatises and dozens of responsa still survive. This lecture will survey the state of research into the surviving rabbinic texts from medieval England and the life and times of those rabbis whose names are known. In traditional and critical scholarship alike, the rabbis of medieval England are perceived as minor figures, piquant but unimportant. To a large degree, this perception stems from the assumption that medieval Anglo-Jewry as a whole was nothing more than an offshoot of the larger and more vital Jewish community in France. This talk will consider the factual basis of that perception, examining the ways in which medieval English rabbis were seen by their continental Jewish contemporaries and how they saw themselves.