Keeping Track of Jewish Debts

The catalyst for the 1189 tragedy in York after the coronation of King Richard I was three men who wanted to criminally erase the debts they owed to the Jewish moneylender Aaron of York. Richard Malbysse, Robert de Turnham, and Robert de Gant instigated the massacre in order to destroy the records of their debts and avoid paying them. (By the way, "Malbysse" may have been a real surname but more likely the nickname that has come down to us. William of Newburgh, a historian who was alive at the time of the massacre, referred to Richard as Ricardus vero agnomine Mala Bestia, homo audacissimus. ("Richard truly named Evil Beast, the most audacious man.")Richard, like kings of England before and after him, understood the financial value of keeping Jews safe under the Crown's protection. He created the Exchequer of the Jews (Scaccarium Judaeorum), an institution separate from the Royal Exchequer, designed to keep track of debts so that the incentive to free oneself from repaying money by…