Jacob Of London

First known presbyter of the Jews of England; appointed to that position by King John in 1199, who also gave him a safe conduct. He appears to have died in 1217, when Josce is mentioned as his successor. He is possibly identical with the rabbi Jacob of London who translated the whole Haggadah into the vernacular so that women and children could understand it (Isserles, "Darke Mosheh," to Ṭur Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 473).

Bibliography:

  * Prynne, Short Demurrer, ii. 3-5;
  * H. Adler, in Papers of the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition, pp. 262-263.



J.