Ultimately the most devastating accusation was the claim that Jews
poisoned wells. A proliferation of Jewish physicians during the high
Middle Ages lent false credibility to the notion that Jews controlled life
and death, and had the scientific know-how to kill undetected. This accu-
sation ran wild in 1348 during the outbreak and spread of the Black
Death. In May 1348, rumors of Jews poisoning wells circulated in
Provence, leading rioters to burn entire Jewish communities. Waves of
riots against Jews ensued through much of continental Europe. Often,
rumors of Jews causing the plague spread faster than the plague itself. In
May 1349, the city fathers of Brandenburg passed a law a priori condemn-
ing Jews of well poisoning:
Should it become evident and proved by reliable men that the Jews have
caused or will cause in the future the death of Christians, they shall suffer
the penalties prescribed by law, as it is said that the Jews have elsewhere
dispatched many person through poisoning.On July 6, 1349, Pope Clement tried to curb anti-Jewish violence by issuing
a papal bull. Its effectiveness was limited by the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV, who made arrangements for the disposal of Jewish property in the
event of a riot, implicitly giving immunity to rioters in advance.
The combination of papal initiatives, aggressive missionizing, and popular
violence furthered the political and material decline of Jews in England, France,
and the Holy Roman Empire, culminating in a series of expulsions at the
beginning of the fourteenth century. In general, five factors led to expulsion:
the growing influence of the popes on kings, and the ensuing stricter enforce-
ment of the Fourth Lateran Council’s canons on Jews; the growing influence of
mendicant friars on the pope, on kings, and in the dissemination of negative
popular images of Jews; the Jews’ economic decline through impoverishment
and the rise of a Christian merchant and moneylending class; the rise of nation-
states, with an accompanying notion of an ideal homogeneous Christian
population; and a general rise of intolerance toward those perceived as inher-
ently alien to Christian society, such as Jews and homosexuals.
The specific path to expulsion, while reflecting some combination of these
broader factors, followed a distinct path in each state. For Jews in England,
the key moment was their impoverishment after 1190. Until 1189, royal pro-
tection had preserved stable conditions for Jews as a way of guranteeing the
revenue that they provided to the royal treasury. In 1189, King Henry II
died, and was replaced by Richard the Lion-hearted. The latter was more
pious, excluding Jews and women from his coronation. Those Jews who
sneaked in were trampled to death. When Richard then left for the Third
Crusade in 1190, the ensuing breakdown of royal authority, coupled with the
level of piety, climaxed in the York Massacre.
92 The Jews of medieval Christendom