Thomas Of Monmouth: Ritual Murder Summary

Commenting on “Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder”
Gavin I. Langmuir wrote “Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder,” which was published in Speculum’s October 1984 issue. In this article Langmuir discusses Thomas of Monmouth’s investigation of St. William of Norwich’s death, and accusations of ritual murder brought against Jews. Langmuir starts the article with some background information on “The Life and Passion of Saint William the Martyr of Norwich,” written by Thomas of Monmouth. He then makes his thesis statement: “Williams’s death had occasioned the first of the connected series of accusations from the twelfth to twentieth century that Jews committed ritual murder.” (Langmuir, Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder, 821)
Langmuir’s argument is that Thomas of Monmouth’s book is the modern inception of the myth that Jews commit ritual murder to reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Since the accusation of ritual murder was also present in antiquity, Langmuir attempts to prove disconnect between Norwich and those prior myths. He also goes into detail about William’s murder, then Monmouth’s investigation and writings. He convincingly argues that Monmouth had allot to gain both in this world and
“In the gospels rendition as interpreted for centuries, the Jews are perceived as ‘the Christ killers,’ a people condemned forever to suffer exile and degradation. This arch crime of ‘decide,’ of murdering God, turned the Jews into the embodiment of evil, a ‘criminal people.’” (Perry & Schweitzer, Antisemitism, 18)With this view it only makes sense that Monmouth would look to blame Jews for the boy’s murder, when murdering a boy is exactly something an evil criminal would do. It also makes sense that at the first sign of anything even resembling a crucifixion he would point to Jews, because according to the gospels they had done it