In the Shadow of Lincoln? The Jews of Stamford, c.1190-1290

Irwin, Dean

Abstract

This was an invited paper to participate in a conference on Small Jewish communities, with the paper being delivered virtually.

The county of Lincolnshire was home to two medieval Jewish communities. One, that of Lincoln, is incredibly well documented and, by the 1240s, was probably the second Jewry in England after London. Stamford, by contrast, has been largely ignored in the scholarship. This paper explored the reasons for that, and also explored way that we might access the community. As a result, I argued, Stamford does not follow the model that we would expect elsewhere, with small communities being attached to a much larger hub (as at Hereford or Winchester). Equally, there is remarkably little evidence of crossover between the two communities. They were, in this sense, quite distinct. Stamford, then, presents both a challenge and an opportunity for historians.

Citation

Irwin, D. (2024, April). In the Shadow of Lincoln? The Jews of Stamford, c.1190-1290. Paper presented at Abseits großer Gemeinden: Kleine jüdische Siedlungen im Mittelalter, University of Klagenfurt

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Abseits großer Gemeinden: Kleine jüdische Siedlungen im Mittelalter
• Conference Location: University of Klagenfurt
• Start Date: Apr 4, 2024
• End Date: Apr 6, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 8, 2024