14. Throughout the Middle Ages, Jews in Europe were accused of drinking the blood of Christian children
As the hated enemies of God and Christ-killers, Christians believed the Jews to be capable of a ludicrous litany of crimes and atrocities. One of the silliest was the blood-libel, the ritual execution of Christian children sometimes involving blood-drinking in demonic imitation of the Eucharist. The earliest example of this claim came from Norwich, UK, where a young boy named William was found murdered in the woods. Naturally, the city’s Jewish community was blamed, and it was decided that Jews crucified him as a human sacrifice. Surprisingly, however, there were no mob-rule repercussions in the aftermath.
A century later, another alleged blood-libel took place in England, but this time the accused Jews paid the price for their faith. At Lincoln, when a 9-year-old boy named Hugh was found dead at the bottom of a well, Jews were blamed. Under savage torture, one of them ‘confessed’ to crucifying Hugh in blasphemous imitation of Christ’s death. Mob-rule prevailed on this occasion, and 90 Jews were taken to the Tower of London, with 19 eventually executed to the delight of the country’s Christian population. You’ll struggle to find anyone today who believes any of these ludicrous accusations.
