Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe by Tartakoff Paola;

Author:Tartakoff, Paola; [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 2)
Published: 2020-10-03T20:00:00+00:00

Circumcision’s Ambiguities

If a Jewish attempt to recover a child did in fact spark the Norwich circumcision case, then the summary of the legal proceedings has the potential to shed light on Jewish practices. To begin, it suggests that a substantial portion—and veritable cross section—of a Jewish community could be involved in an effort to retrieve a single child. At least one-tenth of the Jewish population of Norwich—which Vivian Lipman estimated at about two hundred out of a total urban population of about eight thousand—may have participated in the Norwich circumcision affair, whether by attending Edward’s circumcision, seeking the constable’s aid, or attempting physically to remove Edward from Matilda’s house.84

These Jews spanned a range of social strata. As noted in the Introduction, at least five of the thirteen Jews whom Master Benedict accused in court—Isaac ben Solomon, Diaia (Elazar) le Cat, Senioret ben Josce, Meir ben Senioret, and Mosse ben Abraham—were leading moneylenders.85 Registers of debts contracted or repaid that were kept in special chests known as the Norwich archa reveal, furthermore, that two of these men—Isaac ben Solomon and Mosse ben Abraham—were close business associates. Isaac and Mosse engaged in five joint dealings—far more than any other Jewish creditors in medieval Norwich, most of whom operated independently.86 Seven Jews who appear in records associated with the Norwich circumcision case seem to have been “ordinary middle class,” based on data that Vivian Lipman culled from seven lists of Norwich Jews and the sums owed to or paid by each of them during the period between 1220 and 1240.87 These Jews included two men whom Master Benedict accused in court—Simon Cok ben Sarra and Sampson ben Ursel—as well as Aaron Henn, whom the Close Rolls of the reign of Henry III referred to in 1240, together with Mosse ben Abraham, as having been “arrested for the circumcision of a certain Norwich boy,” and three Jews who were listed around 1241 as fugitives on account of the circumcision case: Manasser ben Mosse, Meir ben Josce, and his wife Rosa.88 Significantly, Meir ben Josce, who resided in Norwich between about 1220 and 1240, was the most frequently mentioned rabbinic authority in Norwich at the time.89 Little is known about the eight other Jews whose names surface in conjunction with the circumcision case: Jacob—upon whom Master Benedict cast the primary blame—Leo ben Margareta, Deudone Joppe, F. ben Thea, Benedict ben Avegay, Abraham le Prestre, Josce ben Sampson, Elias ben Deudone, and Benjamin. It is likely that some of these Jews were of modest means.

In addition to providing a glimpse of the social composition of a group of Jews who may have organized to retrieve a child, the summary of the legal proceedings provides a surprising account of the rituals involved in naming a child who was being brought back into the Jewish community. According to this record, In 1234, nine-year-old Edward testified that, when he was five, Jews gave him a new name right after they circumcised him. He explained that the Jews chose this

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