Norwich Blood Libel

In 1144, the body of a young Christian boy named William was discovered near Norwich, England. Members of the local Jewish community were falsely accused of murdering him in a religious ritual, despite the absence of evidence.

The accusation was later promoted by the monk Thomas of Monmouth, who portrayed William as a Christian martyr. This became the first widely documented medieval European blood libel, a false allegation that Jews murdered Christian children for religious purposes.

The Norwich case helped spread a dangerous antisemitic myth throughout medieval Europe, contributing to centuries of persecution, violence, and discrimination against Jewish communities.