Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln

Common card · No. 264432

Hugh of Lincoln (1246 – 27 August 1255) was an English boy whose death in Lincoln was falsely attributed to Jews. He is sometimes known as Little Saint Hugh or Little Sir Hugh to distinguish him from the adult saint, Hugh of Lincoln (died 1200). The boy Hugh was not formally canonised, so "Little Saint Hugh" is a misnomer. Hugh became one of the best known of the blood libel "saints": generally Christian children whose deaths were interpreted as Jewish human sacrifices. Hugh's death in Lincoln gave rise to a prominent blood libel accusation against the local Jewish community. His story, which mirrors other medieval child martyr accusations such as those of William of Norwich and Simon of Trent, became a powerful and damaging narrative in English antisemitic folklore. It is believed by some historians that the church authorities of Lincoln steered events in order to establish a profitable flow of pilgrims to the shrine of a martyr and saint. Hugh's death is significant because it was the...

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