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Persecutions and Blood Libels
The cultural and economic prosperity enjoyed by Jews in Ashkenaz would have been unattainable
if not for the good relations they had with their Christian neighbors.
Nevertheless, a series of persecutions and killings brought an end to the Jewish community in Ashkenaz.
The earliest of those events occurred during the First Crusade in 1096.
It was followed by attacks that accompanied the crusades of 1145-1146 and 1188-1190,
and then by riots during the bubonic plague in 1348-1349. For the next 150 years,
persecutions and expulsions became widespread in the region, until very few Jews remained in Ashkenaz.
Alongside these attacks, blood libels developed and took form.
They were called blood libels because Jews were accused of using the blood of Christian children to bake matzot on Passover.
