Greenberg, Joanne (Goldenberg) - George E. Gravel

GEORGE E. GRAVEL

[The King's Persons] re-creates a little-known aspect of English history with an attention to the nuances of commonplace life usually lost amid the panoply of historical romances that are preoccupied with large and glamorous movements. It is centered on the massacre of the Jews of York in 1190, which came as a climax to the anti-semitism aroused during a decade of Jewish immigration resulting from similar atrocities in Paris….

This background is studied by Mrs. Greenberg through a reporting of day-to-day events … in three areas. Most prominent is the Jewish section of York, where the reader meets Rabbi Elias, the chief spokesman; Baruch, one of the wealthiest men in England; Abram and Rana, Baruch's son and wife respectively; Josce, Baruch's former partner; and Bett, attractive Christian servant-girl. A second part of the action is set at the nearby monastery and, through Brothers Lewis and Simon, it explores the diocesan decay and...

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