The English appear in the earliest Cologne municipal sources, as in the case of Joseph and his father, Vives “Iudeus de Anglia.” Indeed, since the Schreinskarten were first systematically kept, beginning in the 1130s, English citizens not only appear among their earliest entries but also were certainly present even before such documentation. Vives' family was unfortunately living in Cologne during the anti-Jewish violence of 1146 surrounding the Second Crusade. Other families appear throughout the twelfth century, such as a certain Walterus Anglicus and his wife Guda, who mortgaged half of a house and its land to Guda's mother Gertrudis for 15 marks with a promise of repayment in 1189-90. That the property was iuxta Renum in St. Martin's parish strongly suggests a mercantile background – something not unexpected for a foreigner, since the parish was the heart of the city's market quarter. Moreover, their ownership of a house or portion thereof tells us something of the level of involvement in the civic life of Cologne already achieved by some English at this early date. Walterus probably had married a Cologne woman, since her mother lived in the city, and the mortgaging of their property in order to obtain capital is indicative of merchant activity in the city. Although no certain connection can be made, this Walterus Anglicus may have been the ancestor of a later namesake who became one of the wealthiest Englishman in Cologne (the latter Walterus Anglicus will be a main focus of the remaining portion of this chapter).