The shocking massacre of the Jews in York, 1190, is here re-examined in its historical context along with the circumstances and processes through which Christian and Jewish neighbours became enemies and victims. The mass suicide and murder of the men, women and children of the Jewish community in York on 16 March 1190 is one of the most scarring events in the history of Anglo-Judaism, and an aspect of England's medieval past which is widely remembered around the world. However, the York massacre was in fact only one of a series of attacks on communities of Jews across England in 1189-90; they were violent expressions of wider new constructs of the nature of Christian and Jewish communities, and the targeted outcries of local townspeople, whose emerging urban politics were enmeshed within the swiftly developing structures of royal government. This new collection considers the massacreas central to the narrative of English and Jewish history around 1200. Its chapters broaden the contexts within which the narrative is usually considered and explore how a narrative of events in 1190 was built up, both at the timeand in following years. They also focus on two main strands: the role of narrative in shaping events and their subsequent perception; and the degree of convivencia between Jews and Christians and consideration of the circumstances and processes through which neighbours became enemies and victims. Sarah Rees Jones is Senior Lecturer in History, Sethina Watson Lecturer, at the University of York. Contributors: Sethina Watson, Sarah Rees Jones, Joe Hillaby, Nicholas Vincent, Alan Cooper, Robert C. Stacey, Paul Hyams, Robin R. Mundill, Thomas Roche, Eva de Visscher, Pinchas Roth, Ethan Zadoff, Anna Sapir Abulafia, Heather Blurton, Matthew Mesley, Carlee A.Bradbury, Hannah Johnson, Jeffrey J. Cohen, Anthony Bale

A series which is a model of its kind. Edmund King, History This volume demonstrates the vitality and range of studies in the area. It begins with an appropriately timely chapter on the Magna Carta, the Allen Brown Memorial Lecture, given by John Hudson. Further topics include seals; English towns and urban society after the Norman Conquest; the records of Barking Abbey; the Bayeux Tapestry; monastic writing; and medical practitioners in Normandy. Contributors: Anna Sapir Abulafia, Casey Beaumont, Elma Brenner, Giles Gasper, Kate Hammond, John Hudson, Alan Murray, Jean-Francois Nieus, Jonathan Paletta, Susan Raich, Luigi Rosso, Miri Rubin, Hugh Thomas.

The articles in this text use anti-Jewish disputational literature to shed light on the rise of anti-Judaism in the West. Christian theologians in the 11th century were particularly interested to work out the relationship between Christianity and Judaism because they were in the process of clarifying their own doctrines under the influence of classical material which had not been fully utilized since late Antiquity. In this context a response to the continued and vociferous Jewish rejection of Christianity seemed all the more urgent. It is not for nothing that the output of anti-Jewish rejection polemics rose sharply towards the end of the 11th-century and simultaneously became more and more sophisticated. Many of the anti-Jewish ideas of later centuries go back to what was formulated in the 11th and 12th centuries.

The shocking massacre of the Jews in York, 1190, is here re-examined in its historical context along with the circumstances and processes through which Christian and Jewish neighbours became enemies and victims. The mass suicide and murder of the men, women and children of the Jewish community in York on 16 March 1190 is one of the most scarring events in the history of Anglo-Judaism, and an aspect of England's medieval past which is widely remembered around the world. However, the York massacre was in fact only one of a series of attacks on communities of Jews across England in 1189-90; they were violent expressions of wider new constructs of the nature of Christian and Jewish communities, and the targeted outcries of local townspeople, whose emerging urban politics were enmeshed within the swiftly developing structures of royal government. This new collection considers the massacreas central to the narrative of English and Jewish history around 1200. Its chapters broaden the contexts within which the narrative is usually considered and explore how a narrative of events in 1190 was built up, both at the timeand in following years. They also focus on two main strands: the role of narrative in shaping events and their subsequent perception; and the degree of convivencia between Jews and Christians and consideration of the circumstances and processes through which neighbours became enemies and victims. SARAH REES JONES is Professor, and SETHINA WATSON Senior Lecturer, in History at the University of York. Contributors: Sethina Watson, Sarah Rees Jones, Joe Hillaby, Nicholas Vincent, Alan Cooper, Robert C. Stacey, Paul Hyams, Robin R. Mundill, Thomas Roche, Eva de Visscher, Pinchas Roth, Ethan Zadoff, Anna Sapir Abulafia, Heather Blurton, Matthew Mesley, Carlee A. Bradbury, Hannah Johnson, Jeffrey J. Cohen, Anthony Bale