Persecution of Jews During the Black Death

Name: Persecution of Jews During the Black Death
Start: 1348
End: 1349

Type Event Region Europe Time 1348–1349

During the Black Death peak of 1348–1349, violence and massacres against Jewish communities erupted across Europe as populations blamed Jews for 'poi…

Timeline

1348–1349Switzerland and the Rhineland · German landsFrom 1348 plague panic fueled rumors that Jews were poisoning water sources; in early summer 1349 community massacres occurred in Zofingen, Basel, and elsewhere in Switzerland, while mobs in Rhineland cities such as Mainz and Cologne successively attacked Jewish quarters, with authorities often unable or unwilling to protect minorities.
1349Strasbourg · AlsaceIn 1349 Jewish communities were burned in Strasbourg, Egnach, and elsewhere in France, and about two hundred Jewish communities in the German lands were destroyed; although Pope Clement VI issued a bull refuting the poisoning accusations and calling for the protection of Jews, local enforcement was limited, and the wave of persecution gradually subsided by autumn 1349.

Sources

Black Death: Jewish persecutions https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death
The Black Death and the Burning of Jews — Samuel K. Cohn Jr. (2007)