THE YORK MASSACRE OF THE JEWS

John Wycliffe's Heresy, Hobson's Choice, and Saxon Paddington.

BOCN

Jun 23, 2025

BOC#025

4 MINUTE MUNCH

THE ENGLISH EXPULSION OF THE JEWRY:

Following the Norman conquest of 1066, Jewish money-lenders began arriving in England from the ‘Great Jewry of Northern France’ to help provide financial assistance for the building of castles and the establishment of William I’s Norman kingdom. By the 12th century, Jews had overtaken Christians as the primary money-lenders in England, and following debt related grievances and theological disputes between Christians and Jews, a pogrom at York saw the assault and massacre of some 130-150 Jews.

In 1275 a series of laws known as the ‘Statute of Jewry’ were introduced. These laws focused on segregation, economic restrictions, and required Jews to wear badges such that they could be visually identified. By 1290 King Edward I had expelled England’s entire Jewish population.

Recommended reading: The Jews of Medieval York and The Massacre of March 1190 by R.B Dobson.

IN THE LATE FOURTEENTH CENTURY…

…Oxford professor and theologian John Wycliffe took it upon himself to translate the Bible from Latin to English. The Bible had, until now, been a book exclusively written in Latin, which was considered to be a language reserved for God and his clergy. Wycliffe was of the unpopular opinion that the average Christian ought to be able to read scripture without the authority of a church official (he also questioned the need for a Pope and the entire Church hierarchy). So blasphemous was his crime, that when the Council of Constance convened in 1414, Wycliffe was a hot topic. While he may have gotten off lightly during his lifetime, four decades after his death, having already been condemned as a heretic by the Council, his bones were exhumed, burned to dust, and scattered into a river as per the orders of the Council, (and later Pope Martin V). His crime? Attempting to make the Bible accessible to the average joe.

PASSAGES FROM THE STAND BY STEPHEN KING*:

“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side. Or you don't.”

ON THIS DAY:

Today is the anniversary of the 2016 EU Brexit referendum that saw the UK leave the European Union.
Nintendo 64 was released in Japan on this day in 1996. An initial batch of 300,000 consoles sold on the first day!
And the Antarctic Treaty came into effect today in 1961. The treaty’s objective was to designate the Antarctic a place for scientific research, and not a place of military activity.

IDIOM: ‘HOBSON’S CHOICE’

A Hobson’s choice is a ‘choice’ that offers only one true option (something or nothing).

It is a choice between option A and option B where option B is nothing e.g. ‘you can accept a salary cut, or the termination of employment, the choice is yours.’

The idiom allegedly finds its origins with the 17th century stable owner Thomas Hobson who only offered the horse nearest the stable door, or no horse at all.

LONDON’S PADDINGTON STATION…

…was recorded as Padintune in 959, derived from the name of the Saxon Chieftain Padda, and ‘tun’ meaning farm in Old English. Paddington, then, was the Anglo-Saxon Chieftain Padda’s settlement. The name changed to Patyngton in 1398, and became Paddington over time.