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15th–17th centuries

First documented ritual murder trial of the Holy Roman Empire

1470·Endingen

Toll
3

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

three brothers, Elias, Eberlin and Mercklin, burned

Bones were discovered beneath a barn in Endingen, in the Breisgau, and attributed to a family of travelers who had disappeared years earlier. Three Jewish brothers from the town — Elias, Eberlin, and Mercklin — were arrested, tortured, and burned.

The trial is the first in the Holy Roman Empire of which the minutes have been preserved: one can follow the interrogation, the questions posed, the moment at which the confession is obtained. The Margrave of Baden protested against a proceeding conducted without him; the town proceeded regardless.

Endingen then made the trial into a play, the *Judenspiel*, performed for centuries on a fixed date, and a cult formed around the bones. The dossier served as a model for subsequent accusations throughout the entire Upper Rhine region.

Period :
15th–17th centuries
Type :
Trials and executions
Region :
Western Europe
Country :
Allemagne
Sources

Procès-verbaux d'Endingen ; *Endinger Judenspiel* ; chroniques du Brisgau.

At the same place

The catalogue holds no other event at Endingen.

In the same country305

  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 1096The refugees of Cologne take their own lives in the refectory hall at the moment of the Sabbath mealinconnu
  8. Juin 1096Jews driven into the Danube and forcibly baptized en masse; Henry IV would later permit them to return to Judaismtoute la communauté baptisée

And 297 more in the catalogue.

Event 623 of 2483, in chronological order · 15th–17th centuries: 278 events in the catalogue

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