The tragic incident occurred in **March 1190**, during the Third Crusade, and involved a massacre of Jews in **Bury St Edmunds**, England. This event is one of several anti-Semitic attacks that took place in England during the period of the Crusades.
The context for this event lies in the general atmosphere of religious fervor and escalating hostility towards Jews during the Crusades. As Crusaders were preparing for the journey to the Holy Land, there was an increase in anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe. Jews were often blamed for the death of Christ and were seen as enemies of Christianity. This sentiment was exploited by both religious leaders and political figures, leading to violence against Jewish communities.
In **1190**, a mob of Crusaders, along with local citizens in Bury St Edmunds, attacked the Jewish community. The Jews were viewed as infidels, and the attack was partly fueled by the Crusaders’ religious zeal. The massacre resulted in the deaths of **57 Jewish people**, including men, women, and children.
The Bury St Edmunds massacre was part of a series of anti-Jewish pogroms that occurred in various English towns during this period, including **York** and **London**, where Jewish communities were similarly targeted, and many were either killed or forced to convert to Christianity.
In response to such violence, King Richard I (also known as Richard the Lionheart), who was away on the Crusades at the time, took action to protect the remaining Jews in England. However, the damage to Jewish communities had already been done, and the legacy of these attacks contributed to the widespread persecution and marginalization of Jews in medieval England.
The events of 1190 reflect the brutal and discriminatory atmosphere that Jews faced during the Crusades, and they are a tragic chapter in the history of Jewish persecution in medieval Europe.
