Brewer's: Hugh of Lincoln

It is said that the Jews in 1255 stole a boy named Hugh, whom they tortured for ten days and then crucified. Eighteen of the richest Jews of Lincoln were hanged for taking part in this affair, and the boy was buried in state. This is the subject of The Prioress's Talc of Chaucer, which Wordsworth has modernised. In Rymer's Foedera are several documents relating to this event.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content