1080
The Domesday book records a ‘Manassess’ in the nearby village of Bletchingdon, who may be the first identifiable Jew in the county. Around this time, Jews arrive in Oxford and settle in St Aldates.
1141
The first mention of Oxford Jews when both King Stephen and Queen Matilda extort money from the community. Aaron ben Isaac's house is burnt down when the Jewry resists paying Queen Matilda.
1190 circa
The Jewish community open their first cemetery in Oxford, next to the river Cherwell.
1221
The Dominican Friars establish a priory in the Jewry; one purpose of the friary is to convert the Jews by the monks "exemplary carriage and gift of preaching".
1222
The Council of Oxford (following the direction of the Lateran Council of 1215) order the local Jews to wear a badge of shame above their left breast.
1222
Robert of Reading (or Robert "Haggai"), a Christian cleric is burnt to death by the Christian authorities for converting to Judaism and taking a Jewish wife. Another Jew is alleged to have been burnt at the Castle.
1228/1229
The houses of David of Oxford and Isaac ben Moses are confiscated. They provide a new town hall and court house, as well as a possible ‘house of converts’ for Jewish converts to Christianity. The modern town hall is still on the site.
1231
The original Jewish cemetery is taken over by St John's Hospital and redeveloped as a new hospital and a Christian cemetery. The Jews are given a smaller and inferior site as a cemetery opposite.
1244
Student rent rioters attack and sack Jewish homes. They claim that all study in the University has stopped as all their books are pawned to Jewish money lenders!
1268
A religious riot is started on Ascension Day. It is alleged that a local Jew trampled and broke a cross in a solemn University religious procession. The Jews are temporarily imprisoned, and then the king punishes them by forcing them to pay for a large marble cross eventually put up in Merton College.
1278
Many leading Jews, including some from Oxford, are accused of coin clipping and executed at the Tower of London.
1290
All English Jews are expelled from the country, and their goods and property confiscated. The Oxford Jewry goes to William Burnel, Provost of Wells, and then to Balliol College. The synagogue eventually becomes a tavern, and the cemetery is taken over by St John's Hospital, and becomes a Christian burial ground.
1550s
Richard Bruern, Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford, is deposed for ‘Judaising’.
1608
Jacob Wolfgang renounces Judaism and has a Christian baptism to become a member of Oxford University.
1610
Jacob Barnet, a Jew and former secretary of Causabon, works in the University. He offers to convert but at the last minute flees his baptism in the University Church. He is later arrested by the University and subsequently expelled from the country.
1655
Jews are officially readmitted to England under Cromwell.
1700 circa
Jewish stockbrokers from London visit Oxford as tourists, and attend Public ceremonies of the University.
1730 circa
A small Jewish community, mostly of traders and peddlers, is established in St Clements, Oxford.
1776/7
Marcus Wolf, a Jewish tradesman, is indicted by the University courts for dishonest trading, and is forbidden to trade in the city liberty.
1842
The modern Jewish community of Oxford is established.
1856
Jewish emancipation. Jews are allowed to study in Oxford University for the first time, but are still barred from holding college fellowships because most are still solely for Christian clergymen.
1871
Clerical restrictions are lifted on all fellowships.
1881-3
William "shifter" Goldberg of Lincoln College is amongst the first Jewish undergraduates at Oxford.
1882-93
Samuel Alexander becomes the second Jew to hold a fellowship in the University.
1892
The Oxford Jewish Congregation moves to its Richmond Road site, in the artisan quarter of Jericho.
1892
The Oxford Jewish Congregation moves to its Richmond Road site, in the artisan quarter of Jericho.
1896
There are 35 Jewish residents of the city and 10 undergraduates recorded. The minister is Rev. S Radnitzki.
1901
The Jewish community remains more or less static in numbers. There are a number of Jewish undergraduates, and a tiny number of assimilated (so called 'murrano') Jewish fellows.
1905
The Adler Society is founded in Oxford University.
1930
Herbert Loewe (The Reader in Rabbinics) is the only professing Jewish fellow in Oxford. Most Jewish undergraduates still hide their Jewish identity.
1932
Sir Isaiah Berlin is elected to his fellowship at All Souls College. He is only the fourth Jewish fellow in Oxford.
1940-5
The Jewish population of Oxford is massively increased by refugees (including Albert Einstein) and evacuees to about 3,000. A home is set up in 1 Linton Road for 15 ‘Kindertransport’ children.
1946-50
Most refugees and evacuees leave Oxford. Rabbi Weinberg leaves Oxford in 1948.
1948
A president of the Oxford Union society (Clive Wigram) refuses to allow a debate on ‘Jewish rights’ (vis à vis a Jewish homeland), because he is Jewish.
1990
A petrol bomb attack takes place on the home of Rabbi Shmuel Boteach - director of Oxford University L'Chaim society, and member of the Lubavitch movement. Arab extremists are blamed in the wake of the Hebron massacre.
1991
There are seven Jewish heads of college, numerous Jewish fellows, and up to nine percent of students are Jewish.
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