Thirty years ago, the oldest Jewish monument in France was discovered, by pure chance, beneath the courtyard of the Palace of Justice.
The Jewish monument is situated in part beneath the monumental stair-case of the Court of Appeals, which occupies the eastern wing of the Palace of Justice. The purpose of this magnificent romanesque edifice built around the year 1100, perhaps by the same architect as Saint-Georges’ Abbey in Saint-Martin de Boscherville, has long been wreathed in mystery : (…)

The settlement of the Jews in Rouen dates back to the very first centuries of our era, in fact, to the Roman colonization of Gaul. Testifying to this rather long presence are the location of the Jewish district -right in the midst of the Roman Castrum- and that of the Jewish cemetery, next to the Roman graves discovered near the northern part of the surrounding wall. This settlement was encouraged by the Roman authorities who wanted to strengthen their military conquest of Gaul by means of (…)

During the Roman period, the Jewish district, terra judaeorum, spread over some three-odd hectares, approximately a twelfth of Rotomagus, which was then occupied by the Veliocasses, a Gallic tribe. Located in the northwestern part of the Roman town, it was a rectangle of three hundred meters in length and one hundred meters in width, delimited at its southern end by the decumanus (today’s Rue du Gros Horloge) and at its eastern end by the cardo (today’s Rue des Carmes) -the two main streets (…)

For a long time, Jews and Christians had lived side by side rather peacefully. The Jewish religion was recognized and protected by the authorities. The Jews enjoyed extended economic rights and could also possess and inherit land. The Carolingian kings had appointed a Jewish high dignitary at the head of each of the main sections of the kingdom : a King of the Jews, rex judaeorum, in Narbonne, to rule over Septimania, one with the same title in Rouen for Neustria, and a Master of the Jews, (…)

The Pope’s decision did put a stop to the persecutions of the Jews of Normandy for a few decades. However, they still could be the victims of evil treatment, as in the case of Reuben bar Isaac, a land-owning resident of Rouen around the year 1032.
His story has reached us thanks to two handwritten letters, one by a Jewish scribe of Arles, the other by a high dignitary of the Academy of Palestine. These letters were stored for centuries in the ancient Palestinian synagogue of Fostat (Old (…)

It was on William the Conqueror’s initiative that Jews from Rouen settled in London after the conquest of England (1066). This immigration may have aimed at promoting the development of sea trade between London and Rouen or, more simply, at integrating the Jews already residing in England into the new administration.
Four years after the conquest, William confirmed the status of the Jews in his new kingdom during a council attended by noblemen and ecclesiastics, and guaranteed protection (…)

Robert Curthose, successor of William the Conqueror († 1087), left Normandy in the hands of his brother, William Rufus, when he decided to participate in the First Crusade launched by Pope Urban II. The crusader’s fervor was not long in turning against the Jews.
No sooner had the Normandy crusaders begun to set out on their journey (September-October 1096) than the Clos aux Juifs in Rouen was invaded and many of its inhabitants killed. Abbot Guibert de Nogent (a virtual contemporary of (…)

Mindful of the independence of western Jews from the educational centers of Baghdad and Jerusalem -whose expertise was acknowledged throughout the East- the Carolingian authorities had encouraged the creation of Jewish academies for higher studies.
The early educational establishments had often been possessed by private teachers, which was no guarantee of a high academic standard. As a result, an important rabbinic synod was convened-apparently in Rouen- in the tenth or eleventh century, (…)

After the persecutions linked to the First Crusade, the first eminent personality living in Rouen who had the academic title of Master, rab, was Rabbi Yossi (also called Rubigotsce) who was so famous he would be remembered simply as Rabbi. Reputed for both his wisdom and wealth, he attracted the attention of King Henry Ist Beauclerc, and his name can be found in documents dating back as far as the years 1130-1131.
When he was at its head, the School of Rouen was for some time the main (…)

The national council of French bishops convened at Etampes in October 1130 by King Louis VI the Fat had rallied the French bishops to Pope Innocent II, during the period of a schism that opposed him to Anacletus II. Bernard of Clairvaux had decided that Innocent was the right choice, and since he was one of the most prominent French abbots of his time, his opinion had influenced the king’s decision. In the months that followed, Bernard of Clairvaux tried to win over other important people to (…)