March 16 1190 – 7 Nisan 4950
On a Sabbath eve preceding the Pesach festival, known as “the Great Sabbath,” a Christian mob incited by priests and nobles rioted through the Jewish homes of the city of York, destroying Jewish property and killing everyone in their path in one of the largest communities of the period. The Jews of the city, led by Rabbi Yom Tov bar Yitzhak of Joigny, a well-known Tosafist, escaped and barricaded themselves inside Clifford’s Tower. The mob besieged the castle and its keeper, who had tried to defend the Jews inside, left to consult with the Sheriff of York. The Jews were offered the choice of baptism or death. Rabbi Yom Tov reminded his followers of their ancestors in the communities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz who’d martyred themselves rather than convert in similar circumstances during the Rhineland massacres of the First Crusade. Many of the Jews responded to his call, killing first their families and then themselves, rather than surrender to forced conversion. Among them was Josces of York, son of Aaron of York, fabled to have been the wealthiest man in England. The murderous mob made sure their debts to the Jews were well and truly settled by attacking York Minster and burning their victims’ debt records.