Aaron of York or Aaron fil Josce was a Jewish financier and chief rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

 of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He was born in York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 before 1190 and died after 1253. He was probably the son of Josce of York

Josce of York

Josce of York was the leader of the Jewish community in York, England, and the leading figure in the York massacre of 1190. He committed suicide along with nearly the entire Jewish community, rather than face death or conversion at the hands of an angry mob.Josce is mentioned in the earliest...

, the leading figure in the York massacre of 1190

York Castle

York Castle in the city of York, England, is a fortified complex comprising, over the last nine centuries, a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruinous keep of the medieval Norman castle is sometimes referred to as Clifford's...

.

Chief Rabbi

Aaron appears to have obtained some of his father's money and commercial connection, for he was appointed Presbyter Judaeorum

Presbyter Judaeorum

The Presbyter Judaeorum or Presbyter Judæorum was the chief official of the Jews of England prior to the Edict of Expulsion. The office appears to have been for life, though in two or three instances the incumbent either resigned or was dismissed. Prynne, in his "Demurrer" The Presbyter Judaeorum...

, or chief rabbi, of the Jews of England in 1237, in succession to Josce of London

Josce of London

Josce of London was an English Jew and the Presbyter Judaeorum, or Chief Rabbi, of the Jews of England from 1217 to 1237.Josce succeeded Jacob of London as Chief Rabbi on his death in 1217. This would imply that Josce was very wealthy, as only the wealthiest of the Jews obtained this position...

. This would imply that he was very wealthy, as only the wealthiest of the Jews obtained this position. He did not hold the office more than a year, as he was succeeded in 1237 by Elias of London

Elias of London

Elias of London also known as Elijah ben Moses or Elias le Evesque, was Presbyter Judaeorum in thirteenth-century England. He succeeded Aaron of York, represented London at the so-called "Jewish Parliament" at Worcester in 1240, and in 1249 was allowed to have Abraham fil Aaron as his assistant...

 (Prynne, Short Demurrer, ii.38).

Transactions

In 1291 he was appointed by the King to act as a talliator (assessor of tallage) and was among the twelve wealthiest Jews of the Kingdom

In 1221 on the marriage of the Kings daughter to Alexander, King of Scotland, Aaron paid £14 15s towards her dowry.

In 1223 he paid £43 towards a tallage of £3000, making the second highest payment.

In 1235 Henry III had made an agreement with him that he would only tax him 100 marks, reduced to 60. This was never honoured

In 1236, Aaron agreed to pay to King Henry III of England

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

 100 marks a year to be free of all taxes (Tovey, Anglia Judaica, Oxford, 1738, p. 108). Notwithstanding this, in 1273 he was mulcted in 4,000 marks of silver and four of gold (Matthew Paris

Matthew Paris

Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...

, Chronica Majora, iv.260). This was not an unusual occurrence, for in 1250 he was fined 14,000 marks of silver and ten of gold for the use of the Queen, on the charge of having falsified a deed

Deed

A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...

. On this occasion he told Matthew Paris

Matthew Paris

Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...

 himself that he had paid the king altogether no less a sum than 30,000 marks in silver and 200 in gold (ibid. v.136). A number of Hebrew sheṭarot dealing with Aaron's transactions still exist, one of them entirely in his own handwriting.

When Henry III went to war in 1243 in his absence Aaron of York was accused of transgressions against the King; these are not recorded. He was sent to prison and managed to leave when he paid a fine of £100. The following year he was accused of forging a deed and was summoned before the King. On threat of imprisonment he paid the sum of £30,000 marks in silver to the King and 200 gold marks as a gift to the Queen. At this time the King was desperate for money as the war in France had not gone well. This left Aaron of York in ruins and the King realised that he was no more use to him and dismissed him from his office