-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Michael Prestwich, Plea Rolls of the Exchequer of the Jews, The English Historical Review, Volume CXXII, Issue 498, September 2007, Pages 1074–1075, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cem179
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
This volume is much more than a meticulously careful edition of interesting plea rolls. Its introduction contains an extremely valuable detailed discussion of the exchequer of the Jews. The functions and powers of the court are fully analysed, as is its personnel. The careers of the thirteen justices of the Jews, lay and clerical, from this period are examined in detail. Most of the clerics had experience of working in the main exchequer. Interestingly, one of them, Hamo Hauteyn, had been a strong supporter of Simon de Montfort, while Fulk Peyforer had been a sheriff in 1264–5. Hauteyn's career ended in disgrace; among other things, he had a new membrane inserted in a plea roll to hide some undoubted malpractice. Paul Brand demonstrates both the potential for corruption among royal servants, and the ability of Edward I's administration to identify and deal with it. The careers of the lesser officials are not easy to work out, but it is interesting that the number of Jews among them was very markedly fewer than in the 1240s or 1250s. The records themselves naturally reveal much about debts owed to the Jews. A number of entries detail the many debts (such as 1,000 marks from Ralph de Camoys) that were due to Hagin, son of Moses of London. These came into royal hands, and were granted by Edward to his queen, whose officials worked hard to recover them. Although these records are the product of a very short time-span, some of the cases go back to the later years of Henry III's reign. Unlike editions produced by the Selden Society, this volume provides no translations, but the entries are all printed in full. It is carefully indexed in a way that makes it easy to use. This is a major addition to the corpus of material which deals with the later years of the Jews in medieval England.
