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Early Middle Ages and Crusades

The refugees of Cologne take their own lives in the refectory hall at the moment of the Sabbath meal

Juin 1096·Xanten

Toll
inconnu

The toll is reproduced exactly as the source states it — never rounded, never added to another. Tolls overlap from one event to the next.

In Xanten, the refugees from Cologne were seated at the Sabbath meal when they learned of the crusaders' approach. The chronicle reports that their leader pronounced the blessing over the bread and then the blessing recited after the meal, before all took their own lives in the castle's refectory.

The episode is celebrated in the literature of the Rhineland because the liturgical order is observed until the very end: the blessing of thanksgiving is recited over a meal known to be the last. Xanten had no community again before the thirteenth century.

Period :
Early Middle Ages and Crusades
Type :
Massacre
Region :
Western Europe
Country :
Allemagne
Sources

Chronique de Salomon bar Siméon ; Chronique d'Éliézer bar Nathan ; Germania Judaica.

At the same place1

  1. 1891-1892Accusation of ritual murdertoll not established

In the same country304

  1. 1012Expulsion of the community by Henri II; Gershom ben Juda, "light of the exile", loses his son there, forcibly convertedtoute la communauté
  2. 1096Massacres of the First Crusade in the Rhineland~800 à Worms, ~1 000 à Mayence ; total 5 000-12 000
  3. 18 et 25 mai 1096Two massacres~800
  4. Mai-juin 1096The archbishop disperses the community in seven neighboring towns; the crusaders massacre them one by one in Juneplusieurs centaines
  5. 3 mai 1096Sabbath attack by the crusaders of Emicho of Flonheim; Bishop Jean shelters the survivors in his castles and has murderers executed11
  6. 27 mai 1096Assault on the palace of Archbishop Ruthard~1 100
  7. Juin 1096Jews driven into the Danube and forcibly baptized en masse; Henry IV would later permit them to return to Judaismtoute la communauté baptisée
  8. Juin 1096Massacre of Cologne refugees in the Middle Rhine towninconnu

And 296 more in the catalogue.

Event 122 of 2483, in chronological order · Early Middle Ages and Crusades: 89 events in the catalogue

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