The Murder of William of Norwich: The Origins of the Blood Libel in Medieval Europe

417 Pages·2015·7.471 MB·English

by  E.M. Rose

The Murder Of William Of Norwich

The Murder of
William of Norwich
The Origins of the Blood Libel in
Medieval Europe
E. M. ROSE
1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of
Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research,
scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
© E. M. Rose 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law,
by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rose, E. M., author
The murder of William of Norwich: the origins of the blood libel in medieval Europe /
E. M. Rose.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–021962–8 — ISBN 978–0–19–021963–5 — ISBN 978–0–19–021964–2—
ISBN 978–0–19–021965–9 1. Antisemitism—Europe—History. 2. Blood
accusation. 3. Jews—Persecutions—Europe—History. 4. Christianity and
antisemitism. 5. Europe—Ethnic relations—History. I. Title.
DS145.R67 2015
305.892′4040902—dc23
2014043379
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To My Family

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Timeline xi
I The Monk, the Knight, the Bishop, and the Banker
Chapter 1 The Discovery of a Dead Body 13
Chapter 2 The Second Crusade 45
Chapter 3 The Trial 67
Chapter 4 The Making of a Saint 93
II The Earl, the Count, the Abbot, and the King
Chapter 5 Gloucester 133
Chapter 6 Blois 151
Chapter 7 Bury St. Edmunds 187
Chapter 8 Paris 209
Conclusion 235
Acknowledgments 239
Appendices 241
A Note on Terminology 241
A Note on Chronology 243
Notes 245
Bibliography 343
Photo Credits 381
Index 383

List of Illustrations
Map of Europe in 1180 with Norwich x
Map of Norwich in the 1140s xiv
Figure. I.1: The Life and Passion of St William of Norwich by Thomas of
Monmouth, Cambridge University Library Add MS. 3037, f. 1r xvi
Figure 1.1: Mousehold Heath (then known as Thorpe Wood)
outside Norwich 12
Figure 2.a and b: Twelfth-Century Sword; coin made by Eustace, a
Norwich moneyer 44
Figure 3.1a and b: Twelfth-Century Carving of a Bishop from
Norwich Cathedral; and Norwich Castle 91
Figure 4.1: Norwich Cathedral 92
Figure. II.1: Graffiti from Norwich Cathedral 126
Figure 5.1: The Wedding of Henry the Lion and Matilda of
England, detail of a miniature from the Gospels of Henry the
Lion, Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Codex Guelf.
105 Noviss. 2°, f. 171v 132
Figure 6.1: The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Lomer de Blois 150
Figure 7.1: Scenes from the Life of Saint Robert of Bury, Los
Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, MS 101, f. 44r 186
Figure 8.1a, b, and c: Surviving Twelfth-Century Wall of Paris;
Tower, detail of an engraving depicting the Cemetery of the
Holy Innocents, Paris c. 1750; Map of Paris at the Time of
Philip Augustus 208
Figure C.1: St. William from the Rood Screen of Holy Trinity
Church, Loddon, Norfolk 234