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In the Middle Ages, Jews who converted to Christianity occupied a shadowy and often dangerous place between the two religions. Rejected by their former community, and sometimes not accepted fully as Christians, converts were often destitute and at the mercy of noble benefactors. Only in London was there an official, royally sanctioned and funded, policy of conversion. When Henry III founded the Domus Conversorum, in 1232, he created a unique institution, one intended to house, protect, and instruct converts from Judaism.
This book provides an analysis of Jewish conversion in England and continental Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries and offers a detailed look at London's Domus Conversorum: its finances, its administration, and its inhabitants. Using royal records, financial accounts and receipts, Church letters and documents, London wills and assizes, and chronicles, this book presents the most in depth account of Jewish conversion in London to date.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Conversion in Twelfth Century England
Chapter 2: Conversion in Thirteenth Century England
Chapter 3: Career Converts: Converts in the King's Service and in Trade
Chapter 4: The Domus Conversorum: A Royal Project
Chapter 5: The Domus Conversorum: Post Expulsion of the Jews
Chapter 6: The Domus Conversorum: The Converts
Chapter 7: The Domus Conversorum: Buildings and Administration
Appendix 1: The Converts of the Domus Conversorum
Appendix 2: The Wardens of the Domus Conversorum
About the author
Lauren Fogle is visiting lecturer in history at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
