Isaac of Southwark

Isaac of Southwark was a Jewish moneylender and lawyer from Guildford, England, one of the centers of the woolen trade, where his family enjoyed a great prestige and influence.

He was known as a successful moneylender and lawyer who flourished between 1241 and 1280. Possibly he has been “serviens Judeorum”, an official at the Exchequer of the Jews. Over the years, his name appears in numerous historical documents – in 1272 when his house is broken into and ransacked, when his grandson is accused of attacking a convert to Christianity and when various members of his family pass away.

He also had property in London and Winchester. Shortly before his death, Isaac sold his house in Southwark, south of the river Thames opposite London, to Richard Clerk and his wife, Alice.