The Blood Libel in Medieval Antisemitism

The Blood Libel in Medieval Antisemitism

  • Autor: Soyer, François
  • Editor: Arc Humanities Press
  • ISBN: 9781802703627
  • Lugar de publicación:  York , United Kingdom
  • Año de publicación digital: 2025
  • Mes: Julio
  • Páginas: 119
  • Idioma: Ingles

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.

  • COVER
  • Contents
  • List of Illustrations
  • Introduction
  • 1. The Genesis of the Child Murder Libel in 12th-Century Europe
  • 2. The Birth of the “Blood Libel” and the 13th-Century Papal Reaction
  • 3. Simon of Trent (1475)
  • 4. El Santo Niño de la Guardia
  • 5. Medieval Echoes in Modern Times
  • 6. The Attempts of Historians and Sociologists to Explain the Phenomenon
  • Conclusion
  • Further Reading

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