Licoricia of Winchester was a successful Jewish businesswoman and a community leader in England during the 13th century.
The first information found about Licoricia (early 13th century-1277) is from 1234, indicating that she was a widow moneylender who had three sons and a daughter.
Licoricia married David of Oxford, the wealthiest Jew in England, and became his business partner in 1242. Their son, Asher, was born a year later.
Tragically, two years into the marriage, David died.
The kings held Licoricia at the Tower of London until the loans David gave were repaid. Licoricia paid 5000 marks to the king, which he used to build Westminster Abbey and a shrine to Edward the Confessor. Licoricia returned to live in Winchester, managed David’s business, and launched some of her own, expanding her assets across England. Her close connections with the king and the royal family, who were also her clients, helped the Jewish community. In 1277, she was murdered in her home, probably during a robbery.
Life conditions for the Jewish community got worse due to high taxes, restrictions, and pressure to convert their religion. In 1290 they were forced to leave the country.
In 2009, Suzanne Bartlet published the book Licoricia of Winchester about the story of Licoricia and the significant Jewish community who lived in Winchester during medieval times. It led to the incorporation of the Licoricia of Winchester Appeal on August 2017, with the mission “‘To educate the public about Winchester’s medieval Jewish community, its role in society and its royal connections, and to promote religious tolerance and understanding.”
The Charity decided to commemorate Licoricia with a statue and chose the sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley to create it. Due to the lack of photos or portraits of Licoricia, he researched medieval-era clothes and used his daughter and grandson as models.
The sculpture depicts Licoricia in movement, wearing wealthy woman’s clothes. Her left hand holds Asher while her right holds the tallage demand, the high tax Jews had to pay. Asher holds a dreidel, a game that is played during Chanukah.
On the bronze plinth, the words from Leviticus 19:18 in the Bible and Matthew 22:39 in the New Testament are inscribed in English and Hebrew ‘LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF’.
It stands outside the Discovery Centre (library), close to the medieval Jewish quarter, where the city’s thirteenth-century synagogue and Licoricia’s house once stood.
The sculpture was dedicated on February 10th, 2021. It was supposed to be unveiled by Prince Charles (later King Charles III), but at the last minute, he tested positive for Covid-19 and could not attend the ceremony. He arrived on March 3rd, 2022, to visit the statue.
This Jewish medieval woman just got a statue | Dress historian on Licoricia of Winchester’s clothes
How did Licoricia of Winchester change medieval history, why did this medieval woman get a bronze statue, and does it show historically accurate medieval dress? This Jewish woman was an important part of Jewish history in Medieval England in the 13th century. Licoricia, Winchester's Jewish community, and the presence and role of Jews in medieval history deserve this representation. Let's take a look at the medieval clothes on the Licoricia statue and find out if she's wearing historically accurate medieval dress dress for a Jew in 13th century England.
The Licoricia of Winchester statue was unveiled on February 10th, 2022, to commemorate Licoricia herself and all medieval English Jews (more info at https://licoricia.org/ ). Fashion history is still only just starting to understand how medieval Jewish women would have dressed differently (or not differently) to non-Jewish medieval women living near them. Medieval Jewish clothing is not well understood, and we're still figuring out how it would have combined Jewish traditional dress and non-Jewish medieval fashion. Licoricia's clothes are a great example of medieval womens' fashion, well documented in illuminated manuscripts and medieval statues. But there's more to Jewish dress than ordinary medieval clothing. I'm so happy to see a Jewish-led project bringing to life an example of a medieval Jewish woman, and while I've done my best to analyze her outfit, I would absolutely love to talk to the researchers behind this project and find out more.
But who actually was Licoricia, and how did she make such a difference in medieval Jewish life? She was both a single mother and a savvy businesswoman, playing a huge role in both Jewish and Gentile business ventures and interceding for the Jewish community with the English King. The tax bill she paid on the death of her second husband paid to build part of Westminster Abbey! In the middle ages Jews were often structurally marginalized, but through resilience and community their stories endure. Through dress history I've gotten to learn more about Licoricia herself and the community around her, and just how many gaps and inaccuracies there are in our picture of history when we leave marginalized people out.
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While I did exchange a couple e-mails with the Licoricia of Winchester Appeal, this video was researched, written, and produced independently. I am not associated with or part of the project, and all my opinions are the result of my own study.
Attributions (All CC-by-SA 3.0, license available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode )
-The photo of Queen Isabella of Angouleme's effigy at Fontevraud Abbey is by Adam Bishop.
-The photo of the Uta von Ballenstedt portrait statue is by Linsengericht.
Chapters
0:00 A Jewish businesswoman got a statue!
1:18 About the statue project
2:40 Jews in Medieval England
5:36 Who was Licoricia of Winchester?
8:53 The Licoricia statue's clothes
9:47 Nope, no Jewish badges here.
10:32 The kirtle
14:10 The cloak
15:19 The headwear
16:23 Jewish womens's headcoverings!
21:28 We need more statues like this one.
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