The diversity of the history of the British Isles continues to be a subject of discussion in academic circles and in popular culture. Some communities have been around for hundreds of years, while others have been part of our societies and then disappeared or been eroded. One of the communities with a current-day presence, but a far from easy historical experience, is Anglo-Jewry. English and British society often thinks of itself as a tolerant place to live but the experience for the Jews of Medieval England was frequently very different.

In this article Dean A. Irwin provides an overview of the period and England’s Jewish community, some of its members and the treatment they received at the hands of their Christian neighbours. This article supports the Short Course also being run by the HA as part of our public engagement and development of our ‘Historian’ membership.