Josce of York

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JOSCE OF YORK

JOSCE OF YORK (d. 1190), English financier and martyr. He was a leading agent of *Aaron of Lincoln and one of the Jewish representatives at the coronation of Richard i (1189), but escaped when the mob attacked the Jews. He survived the first attack on *York Jewry in March 1190 and led those who took refuge in the castle keep. When the keep was attacked, he died in the act of mass self-destruction, reputedly at the hand of R. *Yom Tov of Joigny. He is admiringly described as a patron of learning in the elegy on the York martyrs by *Joseph b. Asher of Chartres.

bibliography:

Roth, England, 22f.; M. Adler, Jews of Medieval England (1939), 128–31; jhset, 16 (1952), 213–20.

[Vivian David Lipman]

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