Stranica 169 [169]
COMMERCE 147
second existed at the corner of Lothbury and Old
Jewry. Mr. Jacobs has identified the actual sites of
the houses of some twenty wealthy Jews, and the fact
that after the expulsion some of these houses were
occupied by the most eminent citizens goes to show
the truth of the remark of Ralph of Coggeshale that
Jews’ houses were like kings’ palaces. Iwo fine
examples survive at Lincoln, but in London all have
perished. The Jews were probably the first Lon¬
doners to build in stone instead of timber. Mr.
Jacobs is inclined to derive the name Backwell
Hall—a name which, in one form or another, is very
ancient—from the former existence of a synagogue
—~ os in what is now
th ázh rare Masami Guildhall Yard ;
and more particularly from the
bath for women which used to
be attached to every synagogue.
As to the Old Jewry itself, there
seems to be good ground for
believing that it was so called even
before the final expulsion of the
Jews, for we find the king granting
away some of their houses to his
relations and favourites, and can
almost with certainty identify their
houses as being in that particular
street. It had thus before the ex¬
pulsion become the old, that is, the
former Jewry. Mr. Jacobs makes