This book seeks to offer a critical survey of the development of the child murder libel in medieval Europe before 1500 as well as an analysis of its history.
The claim that Jews abducted and murdered Christian children for alleged ritual purposes or in order to consume their blood during Passover is the most extreme of all the libels that have been used to attack Jews and present them as an existential threat to Christians. From the twelfth century to the modern era, it has been a staple of extreme antisemitic discourse seeking to dehumanize Jews and rationalize anti-Jewish violence.
In the popular mind, “Ritual Murder” and “Blood Libel” have become synonymous but in medieval times they were different accusations with different origins. Why did the accusations appear in some areas and not others? What local factors contributed to accusations receiving support from some religious or lay authorities despite papal condemnation? How have modern historians and sociologists explained the phenomenon? This book offers a critical survey of the child murder libel in medieval Europe as well as an analysis of its history.
Introduction
Chapter
1. The Genesis of the Child Murder Libel in Twelfth-Century Europe
Chapter
2. The Birth of the Blood Libel and the Thirteenth-Century Papal
Reaction
Chapter
3. Simon of Trent (1475): Apex of the Blood Libel
Chapter
4. El Santo Niño de la Guardia: The Child Murder Libel in the Iberian
Peninsula
Chapter
5. Medieval Echoes in Modern Times: The Legacy of the Child Murder
Libel
Chapter
6. Why? The Attempts of Historians and Sociologists to Explain the
Phenomenon
Conclusion
Further Reading
François Soyer (PhD, University of Cambridge, 2007) is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is currently Associate Professor in early modern history at the University of New England (Australia).
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