Moses of Oxford

Moses of Oxford was one of the most prominent scholars and legal minds in Anglo-Jewry of the 13th century. Born in Oxford to a four-generation family of rabbis, he married into another prominent family. He had five children.

Two of his children—Elijah Menachem of London and Berachiah of Lincoln—became rabbis in England. Another son, Jacob, sold a property to Walton de Merton that became part of Merton College. Another son, Hagin, became treasurer for Richard of Cornwall and was chief rabbi of England until his death in 1280.

Moses was referred to in some documents as abir ha-olam ("the mighty one of the world"), attesting to his reputation as a scholar. One of his writings was Darchei ha-Nikud ve-ha-Neginot ("The Ways of Vowels and Accents") on the proper way to chant the Torah.

His legal decisions often disagreed with others, showing the differences that could develop between communities of Jews in different geographical locations. Moses felt it was okay to eat on Shabbat between the afternoon and evening prayer, while the tradition in France was to eat before the afternoon prayer and not after. Another question raised was whether it was permissible to allow an apostate to divorce without the wife's knowledge. Isaac be Peretz of Northampton said it was not permissible. Moses said it was fine, since a wife would benefit from no longer being married to an apostate.

Speaking of divorce, there was a particular divorce case at the time that has actually been studied quite extensively by modern historians and scholars. I keep running across it in my research, and it's time to see how it turned out and what the fuss was about. Tomorrow we'll visit David of Oxford and Muriel and Licoricia. See you then.

The Jews in Oxford

Just as London had a Jewish presence after the arrival of William and the Norman French, Oxford started to see a significant Jewish population about 10 years after the 1066 conquest. Living mostly around what was called the Great Jewry in the southern part of the city (now St. Aldate's), they held many important positions.

Their synagogue came later. An English Jew, Copin of Worcester, bought a building that belonged to a nearby priory for the purposes of making a synagogue. Extant no longer, the building was originally taken over by Balliol College.

After 1190 and the disaster at Clifford's Tower, King Richard allowed Jews to have a cemetery outside of London. It was established in Oxford, but had to be moved in 1231 when Henry III gave the land to St. John the Baptist Hospital. The place it was moved to is now the Oxford University Botanic Garden, and only a plaque remains there to acknowledge the cemetery. (The illustration shows the first plaque, placed in 1931. A more informative plaque was created later and can be seen here.)

Besides being moneylenders, Jews in Oxford were also landlords. Up to 10% of early student housing is estimated to have been owned by Jews. Lombard Hall, Moses Hall, and Jacob Hall were owned by Jews and rented to students.

Jews were not allowed to attend any of the Oxford colleges; that was reserved for Christians. But scholars consulted with Jews, one of whom was Moses of Oxford. Tomorrow we'll learn more about him.