Holy Child of La Guardia - Background

Background

During the middle-ages there were frequent allegations of blood libel levelled against the Jews, and the Seven Part Code of Castile echoed this popular belief:

And because we have heard it said that in some places Jews celebrated, and still celebrate Good Friday, which commemorates the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by way of contempt: stealing children and fastening them to crosses, and making images of wax and crucifying them, when they cannot obtain children; we order that, hereafter, if in any part of our dominions anything like this is done, and can be proved, all persons who were present when the act was committed shall be seized, arrested and brought before the king; and after the king ascertains that they are guilty, he shall cause them to be put to death in a disgraceful manner, no matter how many there may be. (Alfonso X the Wise, Partidas, VII, XXIV, Law 2)

Certainly several similar episodes had occurred in Spain. One of the most well known was the supposed crucifixion of the boy Saint Domingo of Val in Zaragosa in the 13th century and also the boy of Sepúlveda in 1468. This last incident resulted not only in the execution of sixteen Jews found guilty of the crime but also resulted in a popular assault on the Jewish community (Aljama) in Sepúlveda, which claimed more victims.

In a book published in 1449 by the friar convert Alonsono de la Espina, Fortalitium Fidei. Against Jews, Saracens and other enemies of the Christian faith, a long list of crimes attributed to the Jews was documented. There appear several accounts of infantile crucifixion, all given as factual.

England, among other European countries, was not without its own blood libel legends as can be seen from the legend of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln.