Medieval antisemitism flared up most famously and tragically during the Black Death when Jews were accused of deliberately poisoning wells, and thousands were executed for this wholly imagined crime. This week, Danièle speaks with Tzafrir Barzliay about what made well poisoning conspiracy theories so powerful, and how they started.
Medieval antisemitism flared up most famously and tragically during the Black Death when Jews were accused of deliberately poisoning wells, and thousands were executed for this wholly imagined crime. This week, Danièle speaks with Tzafrir Barzliay about what made well poisoning conspiracy theories so powerful, and how they started.
Tzafrir Barzliay is a senior lecturer at the History Department of Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, where he focuses on social, cultural and religious history in Europe during the 12th to 15th centuries. Click here to view his Academia.edu page. Tzafrir’s new book is Poisoned Wells: Accusations, Persecution, and Minorities in Medieval Europe, 1321-1422, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
The creator and host of The Medieval Podcast is Danièle Cybulskie. Click here to visit her website or follow her on Twitter @5MinMedievalist
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