The
Domus Conversorum (
House of the Converts) was a building and institution in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
for
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s who had converted to
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. It provided a communal home and low wages. It was needed because all Jews who converted to Christianity forfeited all their possessions.
http://books.google.com/books?id=rD7KpxEhRu8C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=%22domus+conversorum%22&source=bl&ots=3TOA6X1yQF&sig=app1v7_1yW9plENXVddHpWqdTrk&hl=en&ei=nkgCSqC5MYXuMrLZpOQH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7
It was established in 1253 by
Henry IIIHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to 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...
.
The
Domus Conversorum (
House of the Converts) was a building and institution in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
for
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s who had converted to
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. It provided a communal home and low wages. It was needed because all Jews who converted to Christianity forfeited all their possessions.
http://books.google.com/books?id=rD7KpxEhRu8C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=%22domus+conversorum%22&source=bl&ots=3TOA6X1yQF&sig=app1v7_1yW9plENXVddHpWqdTrk&hl=en&ei=nkgCSqC5MYXuMrLZpOQH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7
It was established in 1253 by
Henry IIIHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to 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...
. With the expulsion of the Jews by Edward I in 1290, it became the only way for Jews to remain in the country. At that stage there were about eighty residents. By 1356, the last one of these died. Between 1331 to 1608, 48 converts were admitted. The warden was also
Master of the RollsThe Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the third most senior judge in England and Wales, after the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Lord Chief Justice...
.
The building was in
Chancery LaneChancery Lane is the street which has been the western boundary of the City of London since 1994 having previously been divided between Westminster and Camden...
. No records exist after 1609, but, in 1891, the post of chaplain was abolished by
Act of ParliamentAn act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament....
and the location, which had been used to store legal archives, became the
Public Record OfficeThe Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
.
"
Domus Conversorum" was sometimes used also to describe the living quarters of
lay brotherIn the most common usage, lay brothers are those members of Catholic religious orders, particularly of monastic orders, occupied primarily with manual labor and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary, in contrast to the choir monks of the same monastery who are devoted mainly to the...
s in
monasteriesMonastery , a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer Monastery (plural: monasteries), a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios...
.
External links