| William Of Norwich |
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| 1132 births | |
| 1144 deaths | |
| blood libel | |
| decanonized saints | |
| english saints | |
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William of Norwich ( 1132 ? - March 1144 ) was an English boy whose violent death was falsely blamed on the Jewish community of Norwich in an example of Blood Libel . He was an apprentice tanner who regularly came into contact with Jews and visited their homes as part of his trade. Immediately after his death he was popularly venerated as a Martyr and was soon regarded as a local Saint in Norwich after Miracle s were attributed to him. ANTI-SEMITISM Anti-Jewish sentiment came to a boil in 1144, with William's death in Norwich. His body was found upon Mousehold Heath, an extensive woodland to the North-East of Norwich. It has been speculated he may in fact have died either from ingestion of poisonous fungi or died of some sort of fit, however the local people, with leadership of the Clergy , accused the Jews of torturing and Murder ing him. Only the intervention of the local Sheriff , representing the King , saved the Jews from the mob. A long aftermath of accusations continued, reinforcing anti-Jewish Stereotype s. CANONIZATION The motive of the clergy, in particular William De Turbeville Bishop of Norwich 1146-1174 to establish a ''cultus'' were probably pecuniary. De Tubeville encouraged Thomas Of Monmouth , a Benedictian monk who lived in Norwich to write ''The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich''. Monmouth was contemporary to the events he describes. His Latin work written about 1173 is the source of all subsequent folk-lore and myth upon William of Norwich Before any attempt at an autopsy as to how the boy met his death, the Prior tried to get the body for Lewes Priory , for he realized that it might become an object ‘of conspicuous veneration and worship.’ Thus attracting the valuable pilgrim trade by putting a martyr on display in his church. REFERENCES
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