Rescued by a Miracle: Who Was Rabbi Berechiah of Lincoln?

On July 31, 1255, coinciding with the 15th of Av, many Jews in England attended a wedding in Lincoln, near modern-day Manchester. While Lincoln is now small, it was then the third-largest city in England. That day, an eight-year-old Christian boy named Hugh vanished. His body was later discovered in a well. The Christians hastily concluded that this Jewish gathering was for the supposed torment and ritualistic bloodletting of the boy to use his blood for matzah.

A contemporary Christian monk recorded: "After the Jews secreted him in a hidden chamber and fed him milk and other enticing foods, they dispatched messages to nearly every Jewish community across England, summoning members of their sect to partake in the sacrifice planned in Lincoln. They appointed a Jewish judge from Lincoln, assuming Pilate's role—Pilate being the Roman governor who sentenced the Christian messiah to death. By his decree and general agreement, the boy was subjected to diverse tortures. They flogged him until he bled, crowned him with thorns, mocked him, spat upon him, each pierced him with a knife, forced him to drink gall, heaped insults on him, crucified him, speared his heart, and once dead, they removed his body from the cross and, for reasons unknown, hid him in a well."

For Christians, this narrative made perfect sense. A Jew named Copin, whose house was nearest to the well, was tortured into confessing, a common practice of the times. Following this "confession," King Henry III of England ordered the arrest of ninety Jews to investigate their role in the incident. The Jewish community refused to engage with the trial process, understanding it to be a predetermined farce. The Christians had already detailed the "event" that never happened, and the "trial" was merely a spectacle to coerce confessions. Eighteen Jews, who steadfastly refused any cooperation, were hanged. Seventy-two more remained imprisoned, with an even grimmer fate looming over them.

Among the detainees was the groom, Berechiah, son of Rabbi Moshe of Londresh. Rabbi Moshe was one of the Tosafists, and his insights appear in the book "Tosafot Chachmei Anglia." His sons were major halachic authorities of the era, with their words featured in Moro¬ch, and his youngest, Rabbi Berechiah, who had just wed, now faced a death sentence—along with many other Jews—for a child's disappearance during his wedding.

Then, something unexpected happened: a knight of Spanish descent, known as "Gracias Martini of Toledo," intervened for Rabbi Berechiah's release. Historians remain uncertain about why, who he was, or how he succeeded, but the young groom returned home. While he rejoiced at his own salvation, 71 Jews still faced immediate mortal danger. Their trial commenced nonetheless, offering them no chance of exoneration. But Rabbi Berechiah's release introduced doubt among the judges. Upon deeper inquiry, they realized no evidence connected these Jews to the alleged murder, prompting their release.

Predictably, the Christian Church showed little interest in the trial's details. The boy Hugh was canonized as a saint, with his feast day on July 27. A special altar and memorial were erected for the "saintly" boy at Lincoln Cathedral, featuring carvings of the alleged torture. This site became a pilgrimage destination, further inflaming anti-Jewish sentiment. The case was extensively documented in English historical literature, and songs and ballads celebrated the "martyred" young hero. Even into the 19th century, antisemitic polemicists claimed the story was factual, proof of Jewish malevolence. The well still exists in the city's center, marked with a narrative about the "blessed Hugh." Only in 1955 was a small plaque placed near Hugh's memorial, stating that the story remains unverified and unproven.

Rabbi Berechiah advanced in his Torah study and became one of England's esteemed scholars. His family descended from Rabbi Shimon of Mainz. Together with his brothers, he taught Torah across England, becoming a prominent halachic authority himself. Despite this, Rabbi Berechiah's celebrated Torah commentaries from his era have not survived.