Dr. Emily Rose "A Short History of the Blood Libel (from William of Norwich to Sarah Palin)" to speak at Jewish Center of the Hamptons

The blood libel – the accusation that Jews need to acquire Christian blood for medicinal 
and ritual purposes – dates back to the Middle Ages, and was the occasion for pogroms, 
legal trials, expulsions and executions from that time forward. The term is still so emotionally
loaded and provocative that Sarah Palin’s use of the term made national headlines. This
talk will examine the origin and dissemination of the accusation, its political, economic and
social ramifications, its theological underpinnings and its echoes in art and literature up to
the present day. 

Dr. Rose’s book, The Monk, the Knight, the Bishop and the Banker: Murder and Sanctity in Medieval Europe, a study of the origins of the ritual murder accusation will be published next year. Dr Rose earned her Ph.D. in
medieval history at Princeton and has taught at Johns Hopkins University, Villanova University, Princeton
University, and Baruch/CUNY.