She was Medieval England’s most prominent Jewish businesswoman who, in the face of brutal antisemitism and mysogyny, rubbed shoulders with Henry III himself.
The remarkable life of Licoricia of Winchester, twice a widow, who raised her three sons singlehandedly while carving out a position as a key source of financial aid for the aristocracy, is to be commemorated with a life-size statue in the city next month.
The bronze statue was designed by renowned British artist Ian Rank-Broadley, whose sculpture of Princess Diana, commissioned by her two sons, was unveiled at Kensington Palace last year.
Licoricia — whose name translates as “sweetmeat” — ran a successful money-lending business at a time when Jews faced restrictions on their activities. She counted Henry III and Queen Eleanor among her illustrious clients — but was also jailed several times and was infamously murdered in a mysterious attack in Winchester in 1277.
The six foot statue of Licoricia, whose links to the city can be traced back to 1234, will be erected on 10 February on Jewry Street where she lived. The project has been five years in the making.
A preliminary model of the statue (Credit: Ian Rank-Broadley)
It depicts her with her youngest son, Asser, who is shown holding a dreidel.
The designer, Mr Rank-Broadley, whose portraits of the Queen and other royals have appeared on coins, told the JC: “It’s cast in bronze, and bronze once it’s cast will survive 1,000 years or more. It truly gives her immortality at last.
“In many ways, she’s always been there but she’s been hiding in historical documents and books and it’s the first time, if you like, that she has appeared in three dimensions on the streets of Winchester where she lived.”
The sculpture will be erected on a stone plinth, forcing those passing by to look up to her.
Engraved on one side of the structure are the words “Love thy neighbour as thyself” from Leviticus, in English and Hebrew.
Mr Rank-Broadley said: “The broader message is that we all benefit from letting women take an equal part in our society. It also holds up the fact that as she was Jewish she was persecuted in those times.”
No known illustrations of Licoricia have survived and Mr Rank-Broadley drew inspiration from his Jewish daughter and grandson when creating her likeness.
Her first husband, Abraham of Kent, died, leaving behind three children.
She married again, moving to Oxford for a period.
She and her second husband — a wealthy Jewish divorcee called David of Oxford — had a son, Asser.
When David died in 1244, Licoricia was held in the Tower of London until the crown was paid its share of her late husband’s estate.
In 1277, she and her Christian maid were found stabbed in her home on Jewry Street, though the circumstances of her death were never revealed.
Maggie Carver, chair of the Licoricia Trust, said: “The aim is for people to learn about the medieval Jewish community and Licoricia herself was connected with royalty in her business and so we think it’s a gateway for people to learn about a royal medieval Winchester as well.”
