Trial of the Jews of Trent

PD Image: Trial of the Jews of Trent, manuscript (handwritten on paper) of 1478, from Trent, Germany. Repository: Yeshiva University Museum, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011, USA. Copy Rights Information: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights.

‘Trial of the Jews of Trent’ was consequential to the disappearance of Simon, son of Andreas Unverdosben, a cobbler or tanner in Trent, Germany. According to reports, ‘the harmonious relations between the Christians and the Jews in Trent had excited the anger of the semi demented Franciscan friar Bernardinus of Feltre, who was a son of a notorious enemy of the Jews.’ In his sermons he predicted that at the next Jewish Passover a ritual murder would occur, and Simon, a twenty-eight months old child, disappeared on March 23, 1475.”

On the eve of Easter Monday, March 26, the body of a child was found in the river near the house of Samuel, the head of the community, who along with others hastened to notify the bishop. But Samuel and others were arrested. Rumors were spread by another person that the Jews use the blood of Christians for ritual purposes at the Passover.

On the story, historian Ronnie Po-chia Hsia wrote, "On Easter Sunday 1475, the dead body of a 2-year-old Christian boy named Simon was found in the cellar of a Jewish family's house in Trent, Italy. Town magistrates arrested 18 Jewish men and five Jewish women on the charge of ritual murder - the killing of a Christian child in order to use his blood in Jewish religious rites. In a series of interrogations that involved liberal use of judicial torture, the magistrates obtained the confessions of the Jewish men. Eight were executed in late June, and another committed suicide in jail".

Seventeen Jews were forced to confess under torture, and 15 including Samuel, were burned at the stake. Meanwhile, Simon became the focus of veneration for the local Catholic Church. Bishop, Hinderbach of Trent, tried to have Simon canonized. “Over one hundred miracles were directly attributed to Saint Simon within a year of his disappearance, and his cult spread across Italy, Austria and Germany.” The 'saint' Simon was eventually considered a martyr and a patron of kidnap and torture victims.

Ruth by Francesco Hayez

Painting: ‘Ruth’ (1835) by Francesco Hayez, oil on canvas, dimensions 139 cm x 101 cm.

The Book of Ruth has a unique significance to Jews, because Ruth, who is celebrated as a convert to Judaism, understood Jewish principles and took them to heart. Also the Book of Ruth is read during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, due to the fact that the story takes place during the barley harvest season and that Shavuot marks the end of the harvest.

For Christians too the book has great significance because the connection between Ruth and David is very important. Jesus of Nazareth was born of Mary, betrothed to Joseph of the lineage of David. Thus in Christian Biblical lineage Ruth is a foremother of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). The lineage can be traced as: Boaz, father of Obed; Obed, father of Jesse; Jesse, father of David; David, ancestor of Joseph; Joseph, husband of Mary, mother of Jesus.

The genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew is a male lineage. Only four women from the Old Testament are included in it, one of whom is Ruth. Many Christians interpret Boaz and Ruth as typical of Jesus and the Church. Many women look upon Ruth as a guideline to their lives.

Cave where Dead Sea Scrolls were found

Photo: the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in this cave in Qumran in the West Bank near Dead Sea in Israel.

According to Wikipedia ‘the Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of about 900 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in Israel.’

These include the oldest known surviving copies of Biblical and other documents of great religious and historical significance, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek on parchment and papyrus. These manuscripts date between 150 BC and 70 AD. The scrolls are identified with the ancient Jewish sect Essenes, though some recent interpretations have challenged this association and some scholars argue that the scrolls were written by priests, Zadokites, or other unknown Jewish groups. Click on the photo to enlarge it. You can use it as a wallpaper (size: 1600x1200 pixels) on your computer or post it in your blog! Read more on the Dead Sea Scrolls.