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York, 17 March 1190 Six months of increasing anti- semitic agitation reached a climax today when more than 500 Jews - men, women and children - were massacred after they had taken refuge in York Castle. The massacre came at the end of a three-day siege of the castle by groups of young men about to depart on a crusade, backed by a number of people deeply indebted to Jewish money-lenders. Some Jews preferred to kill their families, and then themselves, rather than surrender to the mob. Those who did give in, promising to accept baptism if their lives were spared, were killed as soon as they left their sanctuary.
The Jews have never been fully accepted in England, but the uneasy tolerance they usually enjoy was shattered last September. King Richard forbade Jews to attend his coronation feast, but some of their leaders still attempted to enter his palace and offer him gifts. The London mob attacked these and other Jews, burning their houses and killing many of the inhabitants.
Since then the riots have spread through the kingdom, and Jews have been attacked from Durham in the north to Winchester in the south. The riots in Stamford and Newark were especially violent. Many forces are exploiting the anti-semitic mood. Religious fanatics have convinced the simple minded that the Jews are responsible for all their problems, and the image of the Jew as a wealthy usurer inevitably makes many people, especially those who use their services, very envious.
Those about to set off on crusades like to whip up their enthusiasm by attacking the Jews, whom they see as enemies of faith, while those who Could not afford the journey find the vulnerable Jews a far more accessible target than the far-off Saracens.