''Aaron, Son of the Devil'' is the name given to an

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

caricature of an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

appearing on an

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

county document dated 1277. The document concerns

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

s imposed on some Jews and Christians who had pursued a doe after it had escaped from hounds chasing it near the city of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

, an offence against the forest laws of the time. One Jew, however, had supposedly evaded arrest and became the subject of the caricature. The caricature is the earliest dated portrait of a Jew in England. He wears a

yellow badge Yellow badges (or yellow patches), also referred to as Jewish badges (german: Judenstern, lit=Jew's star), are badges that Jews were ordered to wear at various times during the Middle Ages by some caliphates, at various times during the Medieva ...

(with the

Tablets of the Law Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...

) on his upper garments.

References

* Joseph Jacobs, ''Jewish Ideals and Other Essays'', Macmillan, 1896 (pp. 229–233) *

Walter Rye Walter Rye (31 October 1843 – 24 February 1929) was a British athlete and antiquary, who wrote over 80 works on Norfolk. Early life Walter Rye was born on 31 October 1843 in Chelsea, London. He was the seventh child of Edward Rye, a solicitor ...

, ''History of Norfolk'', 1887 (p. 52) * J. Richard Green, ''

A Short History of the English People ''A Short History of the English People'' is a book written by English historian John Richard Green. Published in 1874, "it is a history, not of English Kings or English Conquests, but of the English People." Background and reception Green bega ...

'', 1892, Illustrated edition (i.393) *{{JewishEncyclopedia, url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=A&artid=28, article=Aaron, Son of the Devil 1277 works 1277 in England Antisemitism in England Antisemitic works Caricature 13th-century English Jews History of Colchester