Vol 55

THE TOWER OF LONDON AND THEJEWISH EXPULSION OF 1290Jeremy AshbeeSUMMARYA closer look at the accounts of Ralph of Sandwich,Constable of the Tower of London, for the year 1290reveals the involvement of the Tower in the expulsion of thefews from England in that year. The Jews had to pay theConstable a toll before embarking for France.The historical relationship between the Jewsand the Tower of London is often portrayed incompletely negative terms, with the Jews herdedin their hundreds into the 'dungeons' underthe White Tower, and thence taken out eitherto forced conversion or to summary execution.'Modern scholarship, by contrast, is revealingthat this relationship was in fact a very mixedone.2 Episodes of mass-imprisonment did occur,as in the confinement of 600 and execution of269 Jews between 1278 and 1279,^ and earlierin the century, in connection with allegations ofritual murder, such as the death of 'Little SaintHugh' of Lincoln,'' but, for much of the periodof Jewish settlement, the Tower was equallyinvolved with the Jews' protection and welfare.As royal 'property', the Jews of London wereentrusted to the authority of the Keeper orConstable of the Tower. There are numerousdocumented instances in which the Jews andtheir chattels were taken into protective custodywithin the fortress;^ on one occasion, duringthe 1267 London uprising led by Gilbert deClare and the 'Disinherited', the Jews wereeven recruited by the papal legate Ottobuonoto assist in the defence of the Tower, in theevent, successfully.'' The Constable of the Toweralso held his own judicial sessions for the Jewryinside the fortress, and maintained an officer,the Serjeant of the Jewry, responsible for theregulation of all activities, Jewish and Christian,within the district, located well away from theTower, in which Jews predominantly lived.^Relations between the Jews and the Tower havealso left a more tangible legacy in the moat, theouter curtain wall, and the building now knownas 'Traitors' Gate', their construction funded inpart by a 'tallage' (tax) on the Jews during the1270S.8The medieval documentation for the Towerof London in the National Archive (PublicRecord Office) at Kew is likely to deter all butthe unwary and the obsessive. Hundreds ofrolls, many legible only under ultra-violet light,written in abbreviated Latin or idiosyncraticold French and in a variety of hands, theyencompass a huge range of activities. Documentsinclude inventories of contents (from weaponryto prisoners), writs ordering works to becarried out, documents of the Mint and RoyalWardrobe, and, most voluminous, accounts ofofficials working at the Tower, declaring theirincome and expenses to be refunded. Most ofthese accounts are formulaic and repetitive, anda cursory scan can easily leave the small detailsunnoticed.Such a document is ElOl 4/25, unpromisinglylabelled as an account of the income and expensesof Ralph of Sandwich, Constable of the Tower ofLondon, running from July 1289 to September1301. At the very end of the manuscript areseveral useful entries about building works inthe fortress, mentioning repairs to the king's andqueen's chambers, the kitchen and bakehouse, astable next to the Great Tower (now the WhiteTower), the drawbridge outside Pycardesgate (thepresent Middle Tower), and Ralph's expenses inmaintaining Welsh prisoners. The bulk of the35