The Mother Tongues of Medieval English Jews

Abstract Scholars of Anglo-Jewish history have traditionally described medieval English Jews as French-speaking, and there is strong and varied evidence of their facility with French, as well as with Hebrew, Aramaic, and (in some circles) Latin. The question of whether medieval English Jews spoke English, however, remains underdetermined. While many have noted the possibility in recent decades, no sustained study of the question exists. This article, by contrast, explores the likelihood of multiple vernaculars for medieval English Jews, including English. It queries scholarly commitment to a singularly French-speaking English Jewry, and it provides some proof of medieval Anglo-Jews’ use of English, both by summarizing available (written) evidence, and by incorporating the domestic (unwritten) environments of Jewish women into the discussion. Considering English Jews’ uses of literacy alongside an invisible archive of vernacular speech, it argues for more deliberate inclusion of English in Anglo-Jewry’s multilingualism.