The References to England in the Responsa of Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch of Rothenburg, 1215-1293

It is not surprising that Meir ben Baruch of Rottenburg,2 the outstanding and most influential rabbi of the thirteenth century, should have had some contacts with English Jewry. The fame of this “saint among rabbis and scholar among saints”3 was so widespread?he is one of the few upon whom the coveted tide of Meor ha-Golah, Light of the Exile, was bestowed?that letters were addressed to him from all over Europe and the near East.4

But quite apart from his almost universal renown, another important factor can account for the allusions to England in his Responsa.5 Commerical relations had been established between England and the Continent for some time; English wool and cloth, the staple products of the age, were interchanged for French wines and for other commodities which came overland across Europe from the East; while the Anglo-Jewish

1 Paper read before the Jewish Historical Society of England on 7th

Written by

Aron Owen

Published in

Volume 17

1951

Other articles within the volume

• The Mediaeval Christian Hebraists of England: HERBERT OF BOSHAM AND EARLIER SCHOLARS
• Some New Facts About the Portsmouth Jewish Community
• The Anglo-Jewish Contribution to the Education Movement for Women in the Nineteenth Century
• Baron Paul Julius de Reuter
• Isidor Gerstenberg (1821-1876): Founder of the Council of Foreign Bondholders
• Were There Jews in Roman Britain?
• A Survey of Anglo-Jewry in 1851
• Judah Benjamin
• Anglo-Jewish Notaries and Scriveners
• Solomon Bennett, 1761-1838 Artist, Hebraist and Controversialist
• Samson Gideon: Eighteenth Century Jewish Financier
• The References to England in the Responsa of Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch of Rothenburg, 1215-1293
• The Beginnings of the Jewish Trade Union Movement in England
• A Survey of the Jewish Institutional History of Liverpool and District
• The History of the Jewish Community in Gentile Society
• The Jews of Falmouth—1740-1860
• The Jewish Contribution to the British Textile Industry “BUILDERS OF BRADFORD”
• Leone da Modena and his English Correspondents
• An Anglo-Jewish Family
• Preface