>
>In addition, there is an early tale of Jewish persecution of non-Jewish
>children refuted in Josephus' Contra Apionem, an apologetic work which
>circulated less widely in medieval Europe than Josephus' historical (but
>also apologetic) works. Your question also reminded me of something I've
>meant to learn more about. (If memory serves) Isn't a young man (a
>boy? a child?) crucified by Jews in Historia Tripartita, the translation of
>three Greek historians (Sozomenus, etc.) associated with Cassiodorus?
>
Gavin Langmuir gives a helpful overview of the Josephus and Socrates passages
in
his "Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder" Speculum 59/4 (1984):
820-846. He concludes that those two accounts had little circulation in the
medieval period and did not greatly contribute to blood libel. However, at
least the Socrates would be important for study in the early Christian period.
Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkos
Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski
1216 Commonwealth Ave #11
Allston, MA 02134
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