CRUCIFIXION OF INFANT WILLIAM

In many European countries not only adults became Christian martyrs but also children. Killings of Christian children were considered ritual murders and often attributed to Jews who did not accept the teaching of Jesus. According to a legend, in 1146, in Norwich, England, local Jews lured William, a 12-year-old Christian boy, a tanner's apprentice, in their ghetto. They plugged his mouth, tortured him, and then crucified him and transpierced his side with a spear, as did Roman soldiers with Jesus. The boy became a locally venerated saint. This legend appeared in the atmosphere of the Crusades with their stress on the Crucifixion and their anti-Judaism.