Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln

Hugh of Lincoln (1246 - August 27, 1255) was an English boy, whose disappearance prompted a blood libel with ramifications that reach until today. Hugh is known as Little Saint Hugh to distinguish him from Saint Hugh, otherwise Hugh of Lincoln. The style is often corrupted to Little Sir Hugh. The boy disappeared on July 31, and his body was discovered in a well on August 29. Shortly after his disappearance, a local Jew named Copin (or Jopin) admi... more

Hugh of Lincoln (1246 - August 27, 1255) was an English boy, whose disappearance prompted a blood libel with ramifications that reach until today. Hugh is known as Little Saint Hugh to distinguish him from Saint Hugh, otherwise Hugh of Lincoln. The style is often corrupted to Little Sir Hugh. The boy disappeared on July 31, and his body was discovered in a well on August 29. Shortly after his disappearance, a local Jew named Copin (or Jopin) admitted to killing the child after he was threatened with torture. In his confession Copin stated that it was the custom of the Jews to crucify a Christian child every year. Copin was executed, and the story would have ended there were it not for a series of events that coincided with the disappearance. Some six months earlier, King Henry III had sold his rights to tax the Jews to his brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall. Having lost this source of income, he decided that he was eligible for the Jews' money if they were convicted of crimes. As a... less