Language:
English
Year of publication:
1994
Titel der Quelle:
Jewish Historical Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
34 (1994-1996) 69-109
Keywords:
Thomas,
;
William,
;
Harold of Gloucester
;
Antisemitism History Middle Ages, 500-1500
;
Blood accusation
Abstract:
Discusses the second medieval ritual child murder charge in 1168, involving Harold of Gloucester. Compares it with the 1144 accusation, the case of William of Norwich. Concludes that the Gloucester affair was connected with a desire to establish a local cult of St. Harold, to foster pilgrimage to his shrine. In order to confirm that this saint was a martyr who died for his faith, the Jews were accused of crucifying him. The evidence for this accusation was forged. Surprisingly, the Jews of Norwich and Gloucester did not suffer pogroms. States that the myth of ritual child murder was spread in England by Benedictine monks; there were ten other charges before 1280, including in Bury, Winchester, London, Lincoln, and Northampton. It was in Lincoln that, for the first time, the crown (Henry III) became involved. Even after the 1290 expulsion of the Jews, Edward I exploited the charge to deflect hostility onto the Jews. The myth was also disseminated in France, where kings used it to justify their attacks on Jews, which were motivated by economic considerations. From France the myth spread to the German-speaking lands, and to Spain and Italy. Ultimately it reached Eastern Europe, as illustrated by the early 20th-century Beilis case.
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