Letter about the Blois Incident

The Jewish community of Orléans, in northern France, circulated this letter among the other Jewish communities in France to inform them of a tragic killing of Jews in Blois, warning them to take action. The Jews of Orléans, who lived only thirty miles from Blois, seem to have known many of the details of the brutal attacks in Blois. This account depicts one of the earliest blood libels. The letter reports that a Christian saw a Jewish man drop clothing into the river and falsely accused him of disposing a Christian child’s corpse. Despite the lack of a body and no reports of missing children in the area, Count Theobald of Blois (r. 1151–1191) ordered all the town’s Jews to be burned to death. Apparently, local Christians hated one Jewish woman in particular, Pulcellina of Blois, who had an intimate relationship with the count. Whether it was a physical or economic relationship, or both, is not clear. However, the count had by this time lost interest in Pulcellina, and she was killed along with around thirty of the Jews of Blois, despite attempts from nearby Jewish communities to negotiate. In commemoration, the community of Orléans instituted a day of fasting and remembrance. This report spread widely among French Jewish communities.