Abstract
The trial of a group of Spanish Jews and Marranos charged with murdering “the holy child of La Guardia”, an understudied medieval blood libel, is examined in view of recently suggested theories of the genesis of blood/ritual libel in medieval Europe. Three hypotheses of unexpected recourse to this insinuation in late medieval Castile are suggested: La Guardia libel is regarded as the result of European import (contamination or imitation theory), as the reaction to Jewish martyrdom during 1391 riots, or as a move in inquisitorial propaganda campaign against Marranos.
Keywords
blood libel, Jewish massacres, Castile, martyrdom, Inquisition
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