Roderigo Lopez and Jews in 16th Century England

That Shakespeare Life

Close to 300 years before Shakespeare’s birth, in the year 1290, King Edward I expelled anyone of Jewish descent from England all together. It would not be until 40 years after Shakespeare’s death that Jews would be allowed to return to England. This law makes it somewhat confusing to find over 100 references to Jews and “Jewry” in Shakespeare’s plays. How did he know about Jewish people if there weren’t any in England? Additional history further muddies the waters with the story of Roderigo Lopez, a Spanish Christian of Jewish ancestry that worked as a private physician to Elizabeth I. Ultimately, Lopez was executed, his sentence being influenced heavily by rampant antisemitism in England at the time. Lopez was not the only Jew in England for Shakespeare’s lifetime, but his story shines a light on the plight of racial Jews as well as anyone seeking to practice the Jewish religion, who lived during the life of William Shakespeare. Here with us to tell us more about Lopez’s life, Jews in early modern England, and the references to Jews found in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice are our guests, Rhona Silverbush and Sami Plotkin.

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