Editing Blood libel (section)

===Continental Europe===
[[File:Ritualmord-Legende.jpg|thumb|left|[[Simon of Trent]] blood libel. Illustration in Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik, 1493]]

Much like the blood libel of England, the history of blood libel in continental Europe consists of unsubstantiated claims made about the corpses of Christian children. There were frequently associated supernatural events speculated about these discoveries and corpses, events which were often attributed by contemporaries to miracles.{{cn|date=April 2025}} Also, just as in England, these accusations in continental Europe typically resulted in the execution of numerous Jews – sometimes even all, or close to all, the Jews in one town. These accusations and their effects also, in some cases, led to royal interference on behalf of the Jews.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Thomas of Monmouth's story of the annual Jewish meeting to decide which local community would kill a Christian child also quickly spread to the continent. An early version appears in ''Bonum Universale de Apibus'' ii. 29, § 23, by [[Thomas of Cantimpré]] (a monastery near Cambray). Thomas wrote, in around 1260, "It is quite certain that the Jews of every province annually decide by lot which congregation or city is to send Christian blood to the other congregations." Thomas of Cantimpré also believed that since the time when the Jews called out to [[Pontius Pilate]], "His blood be on us, and on our children" ({{bibleverse||Matthew|27:25|NIV}}), they have been afflicted with hemorrhages, a condition equated with male menstruation:<ref>Albert Ehrman, "The Origins of the Ritual Murder Accusation and Blood Libel," Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Spring 1976): 86</ref>

<blockquote>A very learned Jew, who in our day has been converted to the (Christian) faith, informs us that one enjoying the reputation of a prophet among them, toward the close of his life, made the following prediction: 'Be assured that relief from this secret ailment, to which you are exposed, can only be obtained through Christian blood ("''solo sanguine Christiano''").' This suggestion was followed by the ever-blind and impious Jews, who instituted the custom of annually shedding Christian blood in every province, in order that they might recover from their malady.</blockquote>

Thomas added that the Jews had misunderstood the words of their prophet, who by his expression "''solo sanguine Christiano''" had meant not the blood of any Christian, but that of Jesus{{snd}} the only true remedy for all physical and spiritual suffering. Thomas did not mention the name of the "very learned" proselyte, but it may have been [[Nicholas Donin]] of [[La Rochelle]], who, in 1240, had a disputation on the [[Talmud]] with [[Yechiel of Paris]], and who in 1242 caused the burning of numerous Talmudic manuscripts in Paris. It is known that Thomas was personally acquainted with Nicholas. Nicholas Donin and another Jewish convert, Theobald of Cambridge, are greatly credited with the adoption and the belief of the blood libel myth in Europe.<ref>Albert Ehrman, "The Origins of the Ritual Murder Accusation and Blood Libel," Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Spring 1976): 88.</ref>

The first known case outside England was in [[Blois]], France, in 1171. This was the site of a blood libel accusation against the town's entire Jewish community that led to around 31–33 Jews (with 17 women making up this total<ref name="auto1"/>)<ref name=":0">Susan L. Einbinder "Pucellina of Blois: Romantic Myths and Narrative Conventions," ''Jewish History'', Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1998): 29</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Heritage: Civilization and the Jews: Source Reader |editor1-last=Hallo |editor1-first=William W. |editor1-link=William W. Hallo |editor2-last=Ruderman |editor2-first=David B. |editor2-link=David B. Ruderman |editor3-last=Stanislawski |editor3-first=Michael |editor3-link=Michael Stanislawski |publisher=Praeger Special Studies |year=1984 |isbn=978-0275916084 |location=Santa Barbara, California |page=134 }}</ref> being burned to death<ref name=trachtenberg>{{Cite book |last1=Trachtenberg |first1=Joshua |year=1943 |title=The Devil and the Jews, The Medieval Conception of the Jew and its Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |lccn=43002349 |oclc=367554292 |ol=15167874M}}</ref> on 29 May of that year, or the 20th of Sivan of 4931.<ref name=":0"/> The blood libel revolved around R. Isaac, a Jew whom a Christian servant reported had deposited a murdered Christian in the [[Loire]].<ref name="auto">Susan L. Einbinder "Pucellina of Blois: Romantic Myths and Narrative Conventions," ''Jewish History'', Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1998): 30–31.</ref> The child's body was never found. The count had about 40 adult Blois Jews arrested and they were eventually to be burned. The surviving members of the Blois Jewish community, as well as surviving holy texts, were ransomed. As a result of this case, the Jews garnered new promises from the king. The burned bodies of the sentenced Jews were supposedly maintained unblemished through the burning, a claim which is a well-known miracle, martyr myth for both Jews and Christians.<ref name="auto"/> There is significant primary source material from this case including a letter revealing moves for Jewish protection with [[King Louis VII]].<ref>Susan L. Einbinder "Pucellina of Blois: Romantic Myths and Narrative Conventions," ''Jewish History'', Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1998): 31.</ref> Responding to the mass execution, the [[Twentieth of Sivan]] was declared a fast day by [[Rabbenu Tam]].<ref name="auto1">Albert Ehrman, "The Origins of the Ritual Murder Accusation and Blood Libel," ''Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought'', Vol. 15, No. 4 (Spring 1976): 85.</ref> In this case in Blois, there was not yet the myth proclaimed that Jews needed the blood of Christians.<ref name="auto1"/>

[[File:Werner-vom-Oberwesel.jpg|thumb|upright|Painting of Werner of Oberwesel as a martyr]]
In 1235, after the dead bodies of five boys were found on Christmas Day in [[Fulda]], the inhabitants of the town claimed the Jews had killed them to consume their blood, and burned 34 Jews to death with the help of Crusaders assembled at the time. Even though emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] cleared the Jews of any wrongdoing after an investigation, blood libel accusations persisted in Germany.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-1235-34-jews-burned-to-death-1.5352841 |title=1235: 34 Jews Burned to Death in First 'Blood Cannibalism' Case |publisher=Haaretz |date=2014-12-28 |access-date=2020-06-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |chapter=Middle Ages |title=Blood Libel |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/blood-libel |access-date=25 February 2023 }}</ref> At [[Pforzheim]], [[Baden]], in 1267, a woman supposedly sold a girl to Jews who, according to the myth, then cut her open and dumped her in the [[Enz]] River, where boatmen found her; the girl cried for vengeance, and then died. The body was said to have bled as the Jews were brought to it. The woman and the Jews allegedly confessed and were subsequently killed.<ref>Steven K. Baum, "When Fairy Tales Kill," ''Journal for the Study of Antisemitism'', Vol. 1, No. 2 (2009): 190–191.</ref> That a judicial execution was summarily committed in consequence of the accusation is evident from the manner in which the [[Nuremberg]] "Memorbuch" and the synagogal poems refer to the incident.<ref>[[Siegmund Salfeld]], ''Das Martyrologium des Nürnberger Memorbuches'' (1898), pp.&nbsp;15, 128–130</ref>

In 1270, at [[Wissembourg|Weissenburg]], of [[Alsace]],<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |title=Blood Libel |url=https://zionism-israel.com/dic/blood_libel.htm |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=zionism-israel.com}}</ref> a supposed miracle alone decided the charge against the Jews. A child's body had shown up in the [[Lauter (Rhine)|Lauter]] River; it was claimed that Jews had cut into the child to acquire his blood, and that the child continued bleeding for five days.<ref name="auto2"/>

At Oberwesel, near Easter of 1287,<ref>Jörg R. Müller, "Ereẓ gezerah{{snd}}'Land of Persecution': Pogroms against the Jews in the regnum Teutonicum from c. 1280 to 1350," The Jews of Europe in the Middle Ages (Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries): Proceedings of the International Symposium, ed. Christoph Cluse (20–25 October 2002): 249.</ref> alleged miracles again constituted the only evidence against the Jews. In this case, it was claimed that the corpse of the 16-year-old [[Werner of Oberwesel]] (also referred to as "Good Werner") landed at [[Bacharach]] and the body performed miracles, particularly medicinal miracles.<ref name="auto3">Ariel Toaff, Blood Passover, trans. Gian Marco Lucchese and Pietro Gianetti (AAARG, 2007): 64.</ref> Light was also said to have been emitted by the body.<ref>Jörg R. Müller, "Ereẓ gezerah{{snd}}'Land of Persecution': Pogroms against the Jews in the regnum Teutonicum from c. 1280 to 1350," The Jews of Europe in the Middle Ages (Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries): Proceedings of the International Symposium, ed. Christoph Cluse (20–25 October 2002): 249–250.</ref> Reportedly, the child was hung upside down, forced to throw up the host and was cut open.<ref name="auto3"/> In consequence, the Jews of Oberwesel and many other adjacent localities were severely persecuted during the years 1286–89. The Jews of Oberwesel were particularly targeted because there were no Jews remaining in Bacharach following a 1283 pogrom. Additionally, there were pogroms following this case as well at and around Oberwesel.<ref name="Miller 2002 p.250">Jörg R. Müller, "Ereẓ gezerah{{snd}}'Land of Persecution': Pogroms against the Jews in the regnum Teutonicum from c. 1280 to 1350," The Jews of Europe in the Middle Ages (Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries): Proceedings of the International Symposium, ed. Christoph Cluse (20–25 October 2002): 250.</ref> [[Rudolph I of Germany|Rudolph of Habsburg]], to whom the Jews had appealed for protection, in order to manage the miracle story, had the archbishop of Mainz declare great wrong had been done to the Jew. This apparent declaration was very limited in effectiveness.<ref name="Miller 2002 p.250"/>

A statement was made, in the ''Chronicle'' of [[Konrad Justinger]] of 1423, that at [[Bern]] in 1293<ref name="auto4">Albert Winkler, "The Approach of the Black Death in Switzerland and the Persecution of Jews, 1348–1349," Swiss American Historical Society Review, Vol. 43, No. 3 (2007): 14.</ref> or 1294 the Jews tortured and murdered a boy called Rudolph (sometimes also referred to as Ruff, or Ruof). The body was reportedly found by the house of Jöly, a Jew. The Jewish community was then implicated. The penalties imposed upon the Jews included torture, execution, expulsion, and steep financial fines. Justinger argued Jews were out to harm Christianity.<ref name="auto4"/> The historical impossibility{{clarify|date=October 2019}} of this widely credited story was demonstrated by Jakob Stammler, pastor of Bern, in 1888.<ref>"Katholische Schweizer-Blätter", Lucerne, 1888.</ref>

There have been several explanations put forth as to why these blood libel accusations were made and perpetuated. For example, it has been argued Thomas of Monmouth's account and other similar false accusations, as well as their perpetuation, largely had to do with the economic and political interests of leaders perpetuating these myths.<ref>Jeffrey Cohen, Review of The Murder of William of Norwich: The Origins of the Blood Libel in Medieval Europe, by E.M. Rose Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Winter 2017): 410.</ref> The use of blood and other human products for medicinal or magical purposes was an established concept in medieval Europe.<ref name="JT141-3">Joshua Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and its Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism. (Vardo Books, 2001): 141–143.</ref> As such illegal ways of accessing these item were ascribed (in 1507) by Franciscans to Dominicans, by others to sorcerers and devil worshippers as well as Jews.<ref name="JT141-3"/>