The Rise and Fall of a remarkable Jewish businesswoman (author Rebecca Abrams)

A review of the book from Jewish Historical Studies, Vol 56, 2024: https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/jhs/article/id/3417/

“Rebecca Abrams’s vivid new biography of Licoricia of Winchester introduces this remarkable “woman of worth” to a wide range of readers. This beautifully illustrated book also illuminates the history and everyday life of Anglo-Norman Jewry from their arrival around 1070 to their expulsion in 1290. Abrams draws on original documents as well as major studies by historians including Suzanne Bartlet, Joe Hillaby, and Robert Stacey. In his Foreword Simon Sebag Montefiore notes that Licoricia, at one point the wealthiest woman in Plantagenet England, was both “exceptional” for her wealth and influence, and “typical” in her vulnerability as a woman and a Jew in thirteenth-century England (p. xi).” 

Licoricia of Winchester rose from obscurity to become the most successful female financier in early thirteenth century England. Royal favourite, businesswoman and single mother, her life spanned seven decades and was filled with dramatic highs and tragic lows. In this inspiring chronicle of an extraordinary Jewish woman, Rebecca Abrams tells the story of Licoricia and the Jews of medieval England, set against a backdrop of political unrest and rising antisemitism, opening a window onto a period of English history whose aftershocks linger to this day.

Paperback guide price £14.99 online and at good bookshops (ISBN 978-1-3999-1638-7), including Waterstones, P&G Wells (near Jane Austen’s place of death in College St), Tourist Information, and the Hampshire Cultural Trust (ARC and City Museum) in Winchester. Also available as an ebook (ISBN 978-1-3999-1791-9) from Bookbaby and other good platforms. Please order your copy now.

“Totally fascinating, tragic and unforgettable – an untold story of female power, royal intrigue, high finance, civil war and antisemitism.”   – Simon Sebag Montefiore, eminent historian.

“A beautifully written account of the life of the most important Jewish woman in thirteenth-century England. Easily accessible to general readers yet informative even to specialists, this book deserves a wide and receptive audience.” Robert Stacey, Professor of History, University of Washington