Early Middle Ages and Crusades
First massacres of the Third Crusade in England
Févr.-mars 1190·Lynn, Norwich, Stamford
The toll is reproduced exactly as the source states it — never rounded, never added to another. Tolls overlap from one event to the next.
the community of Lynn burned in its home, Norwich attacked on February 6, Stamford plundered during the Lenten fair
Richard's coronation in London had been followed by a riot against the Jews who had come to present gifts. With the king departed for the crusade, violence spread to the towns of eastern England during the winter.
At Lynn, a port frequented by foreign sailors, the community took refuge in a house that was set on fire. At Norwich, where the accusation of ritual murder had arisen a generation earlier with the case of William, the Jews were attacked in their homes; those who had taken shelter in the castle escaped. At Stamford, the Lenten fair had gathered crusaders awaiting embarkation, who pillaged the Jewish quarter.
The common thread running through these attacks is indebtedness: the records show that the ringleaders frequently owed money to their victims, and several fires were aimed first at the strongboxes where bonds of debt were kept.
- Period :
- Early Middle Ages and Crusades
- Type :
- Massacre
- Region :
- Western Europe
- Country :
- Royaume-Uni
Guillaume de Newburgh, Historia rerum Anglicarum ; Roger de Hoveden ; rôles anglais.