Gilbert de Nogent AD 1055-1125

The Abbey of Our Lady of Nogent-sous-Ccoucy in Picardy, northern France, built AD 1059, destroyed 1789 during the Judeo-French Revolution

I see my feelings about the jews are in the DNA!

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…Pogroms during the Crusades

The history of the Jews and the Crusades is part of the history of antisemitism toward Jews in the Middle Ages. The call for the First Crusade intensified the persecutions of the Jews, and they continued to be targets of Crusaders’ violence and hatred throughout the Crusades.

Background[edit]

The dispersion of the Jewish community occurred following the Destruction of the Second Temple, with many Jews settling in different regions across Europe and the Middle East. During this time, several Jewish communities coalesced across the Levant in approximately fifty known locations, including Jerusalem, Tiberias, Ramleh, Ashkelon and Caesarea.^[1][2] Many of these communities fell into the path of the Crusader forces on their mission to capture the Holy Land.

Christians sources justify attacking Jewish communities as a means of seizing wealth and supplies. One Christian priest, commenting on the behavior of the Crusaders in the Balkans, wrote:^[3]

“This is believed to be the hand of the Lord working against the pilgrims, who sinned in his sight with their great impurity and intercourse with prostitutes and slaughtered the wandering Jews, who admittedly were contrary to Christ, more from avarice for money than for the justice of God.”

First Crusade[edit]

Pogroms of European Jews by Crusaders[edit]

In the First Crusade, Jewish communities on the Rhine and the Danube were attacked by Crusaders, while others were spared due to the efforts of the Papacy (see the Rhineland massacres). In the Second Crusade (1147), the Jews in France suffered especially. The severity of the massacres was such that word reached Jewish communities in the Middle East, inspiring Messianic fervor.^[3] Philip II of France treated them with exceptional severity during the Third Crusade (1188). The Jews were also subjected to attacks by the Shepherds’ Crusades of 1251 and 1320.

The attacks were opposed by the local bishops and widely condemned at the time as a violation of the crusades’ aims, which were not directed against the Jews.^[4][5] However, the perpetrators mostly escaped legal punishment. The social position of the Jews in western Europe worsened, and legal restrictions increased during and after the crusades. This led to the anti-Jewish legislation of Pope Innocent III. The crusades resulted in centuries of resentment on both sides and constitute a turning point in the relationship between Jews and Christians.

Defending the Holy Land[edit]

Siege of Haifa[edit]The Muslims and Jews allied to defend Haifa against the crusaders, holding out in the besieged town for a month (June–July 1099). When the Crusaders breached the citadel, they killed everyone they found, both Jews and Muslims.^[6]Siege of Jerusalem[edit]Jews again fought together with Muslim soldiers to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders. Saint Louis University Professor Thomas F. Madden, author of A Concise History of the Crusades, claims the “Jewish Defenders” of the city knew the rules of warfare and retreated to their synagogue to “prepare for death” since the Crusaders had breached the outer walls.^[7] According to the Muslim chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, “The Jews assembled in their synagogue, and the Franks burned it over their heads.”^[8] One modern-day source even claims the Crusaders “[circled] the screaming, flame-tortured humanity, singing ‘Christ We Adore Thee!‘ with their Crusader crosses held high.”^[9] However, a contemporary Jewish communication does not corroborate the report that Jews were actually inside of the Synagogue when it was set fire.^[10] This letter was discovered among the Cairo Geniza collection in 1975 by historian Shelomo Dov Goitein.^[11] Historians believe that it was written just two weeks after the siege, making it “the earliest account on the conquest in any language.”^[11] However, sources agree that a synagogue was burned during the siege.^{[citation needed]}Ransoming[edit]Following the siege, Jews captured from the Dome of the Rock, along with native Christians, were made to clean the city of the slain.^[12] Tancred took some Jews as prisoners of war and deported them to Apulia in southern Italy. Several of these Jews did not make it to their final destination, as “Many of them were […] thrown into the sea or beheaded on the way.”^[12] Numerous Jews and their holy books (including the Aleppo Codex) were held ransom by Raymond of Toulouse.^[13] The Karaite Jewish community of Ashkelon (Ascalon) reached out to their coreligionists in Alexandria to first pay for the holy books and thereafter rescued pockets of Jews over several months.^[12] All of those that could be ransomed were liberated by the summer of 1100, with the few who could not either converted to Christianity or killed.^[1.

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