Licoricia of Winchester: Power and Prejudice in Medieval England

Sheds light on Licoricia of Winchester, who rose from obscurity to become the most successful female financier in thirteenth century England.

Licoricia of Winchester: Power and Prejudice in Medieval England recounts the inspiring chronicle of an extraordinary Jewish woman. Rebecca Abrams narrates the story of Licoricia and the Jews of medieval England, set against a backdrop of political unrest and rising antisemitism, opening a window onto a period of English history whose aftershocks linger to this day.

Riveting in detail and accessible in style, this book sets Licoricia's experiences and achievements within the local landscape of medieval Winchester and in the wider context of Jewish life in England at that time, amid the power struggles and turbulence of early Plantagenet rule.

Licoricia's story is both inspirational and enlightening. In her long and eventful lifetime, she defied one stereotype after another: a woman who thrived in a patriarchal and misogynistic world; a commoner who became a powerbroker in a realm of aristocrats and monarchs; a member of a religious minority who achieved personal and professional success in a Christian country in an age of murderous religious persecution.