In 1348, Pope Clement VI issued two papal bulls that pointed to fundamental flaws in the well-poisoning libel: Jews were dying in similar numbers to gentiles in continental Europe and the plague was also devastating England, which had expelled its Jewish community in 1290. The Patriarch condemned those taking part in attacks on Jews as having been “seduced by that liar, the devil” and threatened them with excommunication.
It is interesting that it took the oversight of higher figures in the Christain community to put an end to the Jewish killings. It is strange that those in higher positions would bother afffirming or condeming those who had attacked Jews. Its a unqiue act of solidarity for this time period.
