February 11, 2023: Blood Libel: The Jewish Blood Drinking Conspiracy Dating Back to 1144 That Still Haunts Us by Madison Littlepage
What is Blood Libel and Where Does it Come From:
Blood libel is the accusation that Jews murder Christians – especially children – to use their blood for Jewish rituals, such as an ingredient for matzah (unleavened bread for Passover).[1] Jews were used as scapegoats for the murder and abuse of children, whose real killers were never brought to justice. These accusations are utterly unfounded and to most unbelievable, yet they contribute to the dense environment of anti-Semitism.
Drinking blood is expressly forbidden in the Torah, which is reflected in the Kashrut (Jewish dietary laws). Leviticus 7: 26-27 states, “Moreover you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwellings. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.”[2] So with clear evidence that Jews would not consume any blood, where does the rumor come from?
The first documented case of blood libel occurred in 1144 in Norwich, England. On Good Friday, the body of 12-year-old William was found, but no arrests were ever made. However, in 1150, a monk named Thomas of Monmouth came to Norwich to “investigate” William’s death. Thomas published a book, The Life and Passion of William of Norwich, where he claimed that Jews killed William as a stand-in for all Christians.[3] The timing surrounding blood libel cases is critical as many take place near important Jewish or Christian holidays, which is used to legitimize the use of why Jews are involved. William’s body being discovered on Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified, underpinned Thomas’ argument that Jews were recreating the killing of Christ.
After Thomas publicized William’s death in his book, cases of blood libel began to spread across the European continent. In 1235, the town of Fulda of the Holy Roman Empire was rocked when five boys were killed in a fire. Although it was likely an accident, rumors quickly began to spread that Jews had drained the boys’ blood and then to cover up their transgressions, they set the fire. Due to these rumors, Crusaders killed 34 Jewish men and women. However, when word of the rumors and subsequent murder of Jews reached Emperor Frederick II’s ears, he investigated the accusations. Frederick enlisted the expertise of recent Jewish-to-Catholic converts to determine whether Jews drank blood for their rituals. Upon their recommendation, Emperor Fredrick absolved Jews from the killing of Christian children in 1236.[4] While it was too late for the executed Jews, this case set the first legal precedent that blood libel was non-credible.
Just over a decade later, Pope Innocent IV reiterated that Jews do not use blood for rituals after the death of 2-year-old Meilla of Valréas sparked rumors. Meilla was found dead during the Holy Week and there were claims that she was last seen alive on the Jewish street. Investigators arrested three Jews and tortured them until confessed to killing the girl for her blood.[5] The Pope’s intervention likely saved their lives and reaffirmed that Jews do not drink blood; however, blood libel was still a prevalent belief for the common, uneducated Christians.
The textbook case of blood libel is the 1475 gruesome murder of Simon of Trent. Simon was a toddler when his body was found in a canal under a Jewish house. The autopsy of Simon discovered that he had been repeatedly stabbed, including wounds on his penis. An imprisoned Jewish-to-Catholic convert claimed that Jews used blood in place of red wine and in their Passover bread. Authorities used this as evidence that Jews crucified Simon and extracted his blood. This led to the arrest, torture, and execution of almost all Jewish males in Trent and the forced conversion of all women and children.[6] The death of an innocent boy led to the death of an entire community.
As Europe expanded its influence, blood libel spread throughout the world. In 1840, Father Thomas, a Capuchin monk, disappeared in French-occupied Syria, which led to the arrest of eight Jews.[7] The first – and only – known case of blood libel in the US occurred in 1928 when 4-year-old Barbara Griffiths disappeared from her home in upstate New York. Accusations that Jews had kidnapped and murdered her quickly spread, but Griffiths was found just a day later after getting lost in the woods. However, the rumor that Jews were responsible persisted despite her reappearance.[8]
How Blood Libel Impacts Us Today:
The legacy of blood libel lingers still. In 2015, the British Movement (a white supremacist group) went to the Lincoln Cathedral to honor “Little Hugh of Lincoln,” a boy whose death in 1255 was blamed on Jews.[9] On the last day of Passover in April 2019, a gunman killed one and injured others at the Poway synagogue in California. Prior to the attack, the perpetrator published a manifesto stating, “You are not forgotten Simon of Trent, the horror that you and countless children have endured at the hands of the Jews will never be forgiven.”[10] The perpetrator invoking Simon of Trent’s name proves that blood libel continues to have deadly consequences.
On December 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch entered the Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in Washington, D.C. and fired an AR-15.[11] This event, more commonly known as Pizzagate, was rooted in blood libel and the release of the Clinton campaign’s emails a month prior. James Alefantis, the owner of the pizza joint, raised money for both the Obama and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns. Therefore, Alefantis’ name appeared in the Wikileaks. A conspiracy theory began in 4chan that a cabal of Democratic party leaders used the basement of Alefantis’ pizza place – which does not have a basement –to conduct Satanic rituals and sexually abuse children. Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security advisor nominee, strengthen this narrative with his tweets that Clinton’s campaign manager drank children’s blood.[12] Pizzagate is the most high-profile case of blood libel influences in the 21st century and contributed to the founding of QAnon. QAnon is essentially repackaged anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that have existed for centuries for a modern audience.
How to Combat Blood Libel:
Countering the blood libel narrative is difficult because most people have either never heard of it or immediately dismiss the idea of Jews drinking blood. It is also imperative to remember that blood libel is just one aspect of anti-Semitism. It must be a team effort to combat blood libel and anti-Semitism at large. It takes the justice system to investigate and prosecute those responsible to deter future instances. Social media companies have made – and must continue to make – efforts to combat general blood libel. In the summer of 2020, TikTok, Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter began banning tags like #Pizzagate and barring known QAnon ideologues from their platforms.[13] However, the best way to combat blood libel is through religious education. Much as Emperor Frederick II and Pope Innocent, religious leaders must instill that anti-Semitic actions are wrong to their congregations.
[1] “Blood Libel: A False, Incendiary Claim Against Jews,” Anti-Defamation League, November 30, 2012, https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-term/blood-libel-false-incendiary-claim-against-jews?gclid=CjwKCAiA85efBhBbEiwAD7oLQAOwVqMxr36hhGPr-5wxydiaPOfcKbJqq3ZwTNvfDSMNwrocp6QKXBoCKRUQAvD_BwE.
[2] “Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws,” accessed on February 9, 2023, https://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Projects/Reln91/Blood/Judaism/kashrut/kashrut.htm#:~:text=The%20Torah%20explicitly%20prohibits%20the,is%20contained%20in%20the%20blood.&text=%22Moreover%20you%20shall%20eat%20no,cut%20off%20from%20his%20people.%22.
[3] Magda Teter, Blood Libel: On the Trial of an Antisemitic Myth (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2020).
[4] Teter, Blood Libel: On the Trial of an Antisemitic Myth.
[5] Teter, Blood Libel: On the Trial of an Antisemitic Myth.
[6] Teter, Blood Libel: On the Trial of an Antisemitic Myth.
[7] Kalman, Julie. “Sensuality, Depravity, and Ritual Murder: The Damascus Blood Libel and Jews in France.” Jewish Social Studies 13, no. 13, Spring/Summer 2007.
[8] Renee Ghert-Zand, “How a missing girl and an atmosphere of hate brought a blood libel to US Shores,” Times of Israel, September 10, 2019,
[9] Teter, Blood Libel: On the Trial of an Antisemitic Myth.
[10] Talia Lavin, “The San Diego shooter’s manifesto is a modern form of an old lie about Jews,” Washington Post, April 29, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/04/29/san-diego-shooters-manifesto-is-modern-form-an-old-lie-about-jews/.
[11] Amanda Robb, “Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal,” Rolling Stone, November 16, 2017, https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/anatomy-of-a-fake-news-scandal-125877/.
[12] Paul Bleakley, “Panic, pizza and mainstreaming the alt-right: A social media analysis of Pizzagate and the rise of the QAnon conspiracy,” Sage Journals, July 29, 2021.
[13] Bleakley, “Panic, pizza and mainstreaming the alt-right.”
