- Hugh of Lincoln
- (1247–55)Al-leged blood-libel victim. In 1255 the dead body of Hugh, an eight-year-old child, was found in a cesspool in the Jewish quarter of Lincoln, near the house of a Jew named Copin. The latter was promptly arrested, and under torture ‘confessed’ that the child had been the victim of murder by Jews for Passover ritual purposes. Such stories were widespread at the time, and there had been several such cases of blood-libel in England in the 12 and 13 centuries.King Henry in decreed Copin’s death. He was tied to a horse’s tail and dragged to the gallows, where he was hanged. Around ninety Jews were arrested and confined to the Tower of London. Although the Franciscan monks attempted to intercede on behalf of the Jews, eighteen were later hanged. The boy’s body was given to the canons of Lincoln Cathedral, who buried him as a martyr. The king’s motive was undoubtedly financial. By 1255 he had sold the right to tax the Jews to his brother Richard of Cornwall, and the only way he could then lay hands on their money was to seize the property of condemned criminals. He claimed the estates of the eighteen hanged men, and Richard probably paid him compensation for freeing the rest.The ‘martyrdom’ of Little Saint Hugh was a very popular tale; it was recounted in many ballads, one in French and several in English and Scottish. It was enshrined in the Prioress’s Tale, one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament. Joan Comay . 2012.