Letter about the Blois Incident

In this private letter, the communal leader Nathan ben Meshullam describes some of the events surrounding the 1171 incident and the subsequent murder of more than thirty members of the Jewish community of Blois, in northern France. Writing to Yom Tov of Joigny (d. 1190), who himself would later pen laments about the events at Blois and would die as a martyr in York, England, Nathan explains how the French King Louis VII (r. 1137–1180) had challenged the local leader, Count Theobald (r. 1151–1191). King Louis, who was also Theobald’s brother-in-law, defended the Jews, promising them increased protection. Nathan also speaks of his own efforts to redeem some captive Jews, as well as some young Jews who had been forcibly converted.