An "Absent Presence"

An "Absent Presence" is a look at the origin, growth and decline of the Jewish population of England between the Conquest in 1066 and their eventual expulsion under Edward I in 1290. Previously untranslated documents, which get beyond the mere economic history so common in other works, highlight the real relationship between the Crown and the Jews of England. Such a study, in such unique terms, is necessary because Insular Jews of the period neither fit into any of the usual Continental categories nor do they fit into any of the English groups. In historiographic terms, they are an anomaly which must be examined on their own terms if we are to have a full picture of medieval English life. Bennett's work involved the translation of documents from four countries involving six languages and is a unique synthesis of historical, historiographic, literary, religious, legal, and narrative sources both high and low. This unique work tells a human story which has thus far been ignored. Now is the time to tell it.