There is no reference to the use of blood in unleavened matzo bread at this time yet, which develops later as a major motivation for the crime. The earliest versions of the accusations involving Jews supposedly crucifying Christian children on Easter/ Passover is said to be because of a prophecy. However, this wider usage of the term remains controversial, because Jewish groups object to it. The term 'blood libel' has also been used in reference to any unpleasant or damaging false accusation, and as a result, it has acquired a broader metaphoric meaning. In almost every case, Jews were murdered, sometimes by a mob, sometimes following torture and a trial. According to Walter Laqueur:Īltogether, there have been about 150 recorded cases of blood libel (not to mention thousands of rumors) that resulted in the arrest and killing of Jews throughout history, most of them in the Middle Ages. In Jewish lore, blood libels served as the impetus for the creation of the Golem of Prague by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel in the 16th century. One child who was allegedly murdered by Jews, Gabriel of Białystok, was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Three of these – William of Norwich, Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, and Simon of Trent – became objects of local cults and veneration and although he was never canonized, the veneration of Simon was added to the General Roman Calendar. In some cases, the alleged victims of human sacrifice have become venerated as Christian martyrs. The accusations often assert that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted, and historically, blood libel claims have been made in order to account for the otherwise unexplained deaths of children. Earlier versions of the blood libel accused Jews of ritually re-enacting the crucifixion. īlood libels often claim that Jews require human blood for the baking of matzos, an unleavened flatbread which is eaten during Passover. This libel-alongside those of well poisoning and host desecration-became a major theme of the persecution of Jews in Europe from that period down to modern times. Once this accusation had been dismissed, it was revived a millennium later as a Christian slander against Jews in the medieval period. According to Tertullian, it originally emerged in late antiquity as an accusation made against members of the early Christian community of the Roman Empire. Echoing very old myths of secret cultic practices in many prehistoric societies, the claim, as it is leveled against Jews, was rarely attested to in antiquity. Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canard which falsely accuses Jews of murdering Christian boys in order to use their blood in the performance of religious rituals.
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