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York, Clifford’s Tower – Photo by Chris Downer from

Top 10 Facts about the Massacre of the Jews at York

At the foot of Clifford’s Tower, a plaque marks the darkest chapter in the history of York’s Jewish community. The Massacre of Jews at York happened on March 16th, 1190, when a wave of anti-Jewish riots culminated in the massacre of an estimated 150 Jews, who had taken refuge in the royal castle where Clifford’s Tower stands today.

The massacre was a horrific catalog of violence and murder driven by religious intolerance and the greed of those who owed the leading Jewish money-lenders money.  Sadly,  it was only one of countless incidents of mob violence against Jewish communities across England and Western Europe in the Middle Ages.

Here are the top 10 Facts about the Massacre.

1. The Massacre was caused by Religious Intolerance

The Massacre of the Jews at York, like the other instances of anti-Jewish violence before it, was caused by the religious intolerance of the Christians against the people of the Jewish religion.  

The catalyst for the Massacre came during the coronation of King Richard I on September 3, 1189, when many prominent English Jews arrived at Westminster Abbey to pay homage to their new king. However, their presence was viewed by many Christian Englishmen as a dishonor to such a holy occasion.

To make matter worse, Kind Richard 1 announced his intention to join the Crusades. His announcement triggered the spread of a rumor that he had ordered the Jewish communities to be attacked.

In the medieval ages, the zeal of the Crusades stirred up a fanatical religiosity among the English populace, a sensation that drove people to commit atrocities in the name of Christ. 

2. Most of them died by Suicide

Inside Clifford’s Tower – Photo by Philip Jeffrey from

The massacre of the Jews at York began when a mob of anti-Jewish rioters attacked and burned the house of a prominent Jewish moneylender and killed his widow and children. Out of fear the York’s remaining Jews sought refuge and barricaded themselves inside the city’s castle keep, which in turn was besieged by local militia and noblemen.  

The siege continued until 16 March when the Jews’ position became untenable seeing no way out to safety most of the Jews chose to commit suicide in the castle. The alternatives were to renounce their faith and surrender to forced baptism or death at the hands of the mob.

Trusting their own hands to be kinder than the mob’s, the Jews led by their religious leader, Rabbi Yomtob,  decided to take their own lives within the walls of the keep. In order to save their souls from the mortal sin of suicide, the father of each family slit the throat of his wife and their children before being killed by Rabbi Yomtob himself.

This left the rabbi alone to take his own life and set the keep on fire to prevent their bodies from being mutilated by the mob after their death.

3. The Jews were mostly massacred by their Debtors

Although the massacre of the Jews at York was largely motivated by religious intolerance, some of the rioters had other ulterior motives in their quest to get rid of the Jews. They included prominent people in the city like Richard Malebisse, William Percy, Marmaduke Darell, and Philip de Fauconberg, among others.

These men saw the riots as an opportunity to wipe out the extensive debts they owed to Jewish moneylenders in the city. They had borrowed heavily and had failed to secure lucrative royal appointments to enable them to repay their debts.

In fact, immediately after the massacre, they proceeded to burn the records of their debts held in the Minster, absolving them from repayment to the king, who would acquire the property and debts owed to the murdered Jews.

4. The Massacre happened during the Reign of King Richard I 

Richard I of England -Image Source:

Just a year before the Massacre of the Jews at York, Richard the Lionheart had been crowned as the king of England after the death of his father, Henry II. Shortly after his coronation on September 3, 1189, he announced his intention to lead a crusade to the Holy Land.

This announcement created a lot of excitement among the Christian communities and inevitably led to increased agitation against the Jews. Immediately after, the rumor started to spread from Westminster to London that the king had ordered a massacre of the Jews.

Before he departed for the crusades, King Richard had instructed his subjects not to harm the Jews, but his order was ignored. By February 1190, Jews in a number of towns around the country began to suffer such attacks, which culminated in the massacre of the Jews at York the following month.

5. The Jews who surrendered were killed by the angry Mob

Even though the trapped Jews made a collective decision to take their own lives at the keep rather than surrender to the angry mobs, a few Jews decided to take their chances and surrendered, offering to denounce their religion and convert to Christianity.

However, their gamble did not pay out, as they were all slaughtered. The rioters then moved on to the York Minster, the town’s cathedral, where they found and destroyed the records of debts owed to the Jews.

6. The Castle was put on Fire during the Massacre

Just before their deaths, the Jews set the wooden castle and all the possessions they had brought in with them on fire. This was to stop their valuables from falling into the hands of their tormentors and also to prevent their bodies from being mutilated after their deaths.

The fire consumed the whole of the structure destroying the bodies and everything else that was within. Some of the Jews who had not taken their lives or surrendered were also killed in the fire.

7. No one was punished for the Crime

When Richard I learned about the Massacre, he became very enraged at what he termed an insult to his royal dignity and honor. He immediately ordered an inquest soon afterward, which resulted in the city receiving a heavy fine but no individuals were ever prosecuted or punished for the massacre.

This was because the king was unable to punish many of the instigators owing to their considerable social standing, while others had already escaped from the area.

 8. The Jews were partly massacred due to their Financial Prosperity

Following the arrival of the first Jews in England in the early 2nd millennium, they were well received and were permitted to travel freely without the burden of tolls or customs. This was due to their enterprising nature which made them an important financial asset to the English monarchy at that time.

In the following years, the Jews prospered economically, with Aaron of Lincoln, a Jewish financier, becoming one of the richest men in all of England. Jews were able to build themselves houses of stone, a material that was usually reserved for palaces.

However, their increasing financial success did not go well with the English aristocracy, who out of Jealousy started to instigate hatred among the locals toward the Jewish communities which later proved to be deadly for Jews.

9. The Castle was rebuilt after the Massacre

Photo by Steven Fruitsmaak from

Following the burning of York’s castle during the Jews massacre on March 16th, 1190, the castle was immediately rebuilt, again in wood, on the motte, which was raised in height by 13 feet. 

In the mid-13th century, King Henry III decided to build a completely new stone tower on the mound, and it has undergone various reconstructions and repairs over the years. Today the castle is classed as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled monument. The site is managed by English Heritage, and it is open to the public

10. A Memorial Tablet to the victims was unveiled in 1978

Photo by Neil Theasby from

For almost 800 years, the Massacre of the Jews at the Castle was often underplayed by official histories of the castle and early official guides to the castle made no reference to it. 

It was not until 1978 that the first memorial tablet to the victims was laid at the base of Clifford’s Tower and the 800th anniversary of the killings was commemorated at the tower in 1990.

In recent years, commercial interests have sought to introduce retail development to the area surrounding it, but local Jewish groups Citizens have opposed the development of the area, terming it a historical heritage site.