Hiss and Byword

Among many Crusaders the feeling grew rapidly that before they attacked the heathens in far-off Palestine, there were infidels much closer to home with whom they should contend.  The official Princes' Crusade was preceded by the unofficial People's Crusade, in which a number of peasants, led by Peter the Hermit, first attacked populations of Jews in Europe and then moved against the Turks in Anatolia, where they were decisively defeated.  In May, 1096, in a period of four weeks frenzied bands of Crusaders struck the Jewish communities of Speyer, Worms, Mainz, and Cologne. 

According to the Muslim chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, "The Jews assembled in their synagogue, and the Franks burned it over their heads."^[6] 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."^[7]However, a contemporary Jewish communication does not corroborate the report that Jews were actually inside of the Synagogue when it was set fire.^[8] This letter was discovered among the Cairo Genizacollection in 1975 by historian Shelomo Dov Goitein.^[9] Historians believe that it was written just two weeks after the siege, making it "the earliest account on the conquest in any language."^[9] However, all sources agree that a synagogue was indeed burned during the siege.

The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion) was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon) ordering the expulsion of practising Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragonand its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.^[1] The primary purpose was to eliminate their influence on Spain's large converso population and ensure they did not revert to Judaism. the city of Thessaloniki had a Jewish majority.

The first Ottoman case of blood libel, that is claims of Jews abducting and sacrificing non-Jews in sinister rituals, was reported during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II in the 15th century (according to other sources – at the beginning of the 16th century^[13]). Subsequently and despite the mass migration of Jews from Spain in 1492, such blood libels occurred rarely and were usually condemned by Ottoman authorities.