The Blood Libel in Medieval Antisemitism

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-1-80270-180-7
Verlag: ARC Humanities Press

Buch, Englisch, 128 Seiten, Format (B × H): 114 mm x 178 mm

Reihe: Past Imperfect

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Soyer, François

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Vor- und Frühgeschichte, prähistorische Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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

Über Autor(innen)

Soyer, François
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).