Host affair, Jews burned then expulsion

An accusation of host desecration was brought against Jews of Brussels: it was claimed that they had purchased consecrated hosts and pierced them on Good Friday, and that the hosts had begun to bleed.

The accused were burned in the public square, and Duke Wenceslas of Brabant subsequently expelled the Jews from his territories. The so-called miraculous hosts were deposited in the collegiate church of Sainte-Gudule, which made them the center of a cult: a chapel was dedicated to them, stained-glass windows and tapestries told the story, and an annual procession re-enacted it for centuries.

The archdiocese of Malines-Bruxelles acknowledged in the twentieth century that the accusation was without foundation, and a panel placed in the cathedral informs visitors of this. The stained-glass windows, however, have been preserved.