Massacres of the Third Crusade in England

The unrest that began with the coronation of Richard Cœur de Lion spread, over the following winter and spring, through the towns of eastern England: Lynn, Norwich, Stamford, Bury St Edmunds, Lincoln. In Lincoln, the community found refuge in the castle; elsewhere, houses were forced open.

York was the end. The community had taken refuge in the wooden tower of the royal castle, which the besiegers surrounded for several days. When it became clear that no acceptable surrender would be forthcoming, the besieged followed the counsel of Yom Tov de Joigny, a rabbi who had come from France: the men set fire to the tower after taking the lives of their own. Those who emerged in the morning asking for baptism were killed. The ringleaders went immediately to the cathedral and burned there the bonds of debt held in the sacristy — which tells us plainly enough what they were after.

The chancellor of the realm launched an inquiry, dismissed the sheriff, and fined the city; no murderer was hanged. The Crown shortly afterward created the *archae*, coffers in which debts owed to Jews would henceforth be recorded in duplicate, beyond the reach of any fire.