1255

This is the year in which Jews were once again accused of a case of "blood libel"

This case involves the death of Hugh of Lincoln. The facts of the case are that Hugh, a young Christian boy, ran after a ball and fell into a Jewish cesspool. He drowned there and his body was found 26 days later, during the Jewish wedding of a prominent Rabbi.

The fact that a large congregation of Jews had come to Lincoln to celebrate the Rabbi's marriage fueled Christian speculation that the Jews had killed the boy as part of some bizarre ritual ceremony.

As a result of the accusations of "blood libel" that arose in the wake of the death of Hugh of Lincoln, 100 Jews were executed.

The story of Hugh of Lincoln is celebrated in The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer. "The Prioress's Tale" tells of a young Christian innocent who is singing some Christian hymn while walking through the Jewish section of town. The Jews, presumable outraged at the boy's Christian piety, slit his throat and dispose of the body. But the boy keeps singing even after death, which allows his body to be discovered. The supernatural nature of the boy's singing ensures his eventual canonization as a saint.

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