E. M. Rose (born 1959) is a historian of medieval and early modern England and a journalist, and the inaugural visiting scholar in the Program in Medieval Studies [1] at Harvard University, best known for the book The Murder of William of Norwich. Rose worked as a producer at CNN for a decade prior to beginning a career as a historian. [2] She has taught at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins, Villanova, and Baruch College. [3]
E. M. Rose's first book, The Murder of William of Norwich: The Origins of the Blood Libel in Medieval Europe, published by Oxford University Press in 2015 [4] was reviewed [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] as a landmark [13] in the study of the history of the Blood libel, as the first detailed, academic investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 1144 unsolved murder of William of Norwich, the first historical incident to which the Blood libel can be traced.
The Murder of William of Norwich was recognized as a "Top Ten Book in History" by The Sunday Times (London) [8] and received the 2016 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award of the Phi Beta Kappa Society for "a scholarly study that contributes significantly to interpretation of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity. [14] "
Blood libel or ritual murder libel is an antisemitic canard which falsely accuses Jews of murdering Christians in order to use their blood in the performance of religious rituals. Echoing very old myths of secret cultic practices in many prehistoric societies, the claim, as it is leveled against Jews, was rarely attested to in antiquity. According to Tertullian, it originally emerged in late antiquity as an accusation made against members of the early Christian community of the Roman Empire. Once this accusation had been dismissed, it was revived a millennium later as a Christian slander against Jews in the medieval period. This libel, alongside those of well poisoning and host desecration, became a major theme of the persecution of Jews in Europe from that period down to modern times.
The Phi Beta Kappa Society (ΦΒΚ) is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and among the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and to induct the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at only select American colleges and universities. It was founded at the College of William and Mary on December 5, 1776, as the first collegiate Greek-letter fraternity and was among the earliest collegiate fraternal societies. Since its inception, 17 U.S. presidents, 40 U.S. Supreme Court justices, and 136 Nobel laureates have been inducted as members.
The Damascus affair of 1840 refers to the arrest of several notable members of the Jewish community in Damascus on the accusation of murdering Father Thomas, a Christian monk, and his Muslim servant for the purpose of using their blood to bake matzo, an antisemitic accusation also known as the blood libel.
William of Norwich was an English boy whose disappearance and killing was, at the time, attributed to the orders of a Pseudo-Messiah based in Southern France and to have been allegedly carried out by that leader's followers among the French-speaking Jewish community of Norwich. It is the earliest documented Medieval accusation against Jews of ritual child murder. The crime occurred at a time of messianic fervor among Jewish communities throughout the known world and one in which Christian holy sites were desperate to compete for pilgrims and their donations, particularly following martyrdoms and paranormal apparitions. The Diocese of Norwich, which promoted stories of William's supposed death, in odium fidei, lacked a local patron saint and associated pilgrimage shrine. It has been suggested that they may have exploited the accusations for their own institutional benefit.
Thomas of Monmouth was a Benedictine monk who lived in the Priory at Norwich Cathedral, England during the mid-twelfth century. He was the author of The Life and Miracles of St William of Norwich, a hagiography of William of Norwich that is considered the earliest example of the ritual murder libel.
Eric J. Chaisson is an American astrophysicist known for his research, teaching, and writing on the interdisciplinary science of cosmic evolution. He is a member of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, teaches natural science at Harvard University and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Antisemitism in the history of the Jews in the Middle Ages became increasingly prevalent in the Late Middle Ages. Early instances of pogroms against Jews are recorded in the context of the First Crusade. Expulsions of Jews from cities and instances of blood libel became increasingly common from the 13th to the 15th century. This trend only peaked after the end of the medieval period, and it only subsided with Jewish emancipation in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Saint Robert of Bury was an English boy, allegedly murdered and found in the town of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1181. His death, which occurred at a time of rising antisemitism, was blamed on local Jews. Though a hagiography of Robert was written, no copies are known, so the story of his life is now unknown beyond the few fragmentary references to it that survive. His cult continued until the English Reformation.
The North American fraternity and sorority system began with students who wanted to meet secretly, usually for discussions and debates not thought appropriate by the faculty of their schools. Today they are used as social, professional, and honorary groups that promote varied combinations of community service, leadership, and academic achievement.
The Ralph Waldo Emerson Award is a non-fiction literary award given by the Phi Beta Kappa society, the oldest academic society of the United States, for books that have made the most significant contributions to the humanities. Albert William Levi won the first of these awards, in 1960.
Iota Alpha Pi (ΙΑΠ) is an international collegiate sorority operating in the United States and Canada from March 3, 1903 to July 1971, when it ceased operations. It was then restarted when Alpha Chapter was rechartered at Hunter College in October of 2023.
Jill Lepore is an American historian and journalist. She is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she has contributed since 2005. She writes about American history, law, literature, and politics.
Harold of Gloucester was a supposed child martyr who was falsely claimed by Benedictine monks to have been ritually murdered by Jews in Gloucester, England, in 1168. The claims arose in the aftermath of the circulation of the first blood libel myth following the unsolved murder of William of Norwich. A Christian cult and veneration of Harold was briefly promoted in Gloucester, but soon died out.
Roger Lane is an American historian and professor emeritus at Haverford College.
Jeremy Kleiner is an American film producer. He and his fellow producers won two Academy Awards for Best Picture for the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave and the 2016 film Moonlight. Since 2013 he has served as the Co-President of Plan B Entertainment serving with Dede Gardner.
The Life and Miracles of St William of Norwich or Vita et Passione Sancti Willelmi Martyris Norwicensis is a Latin hagiography of William of Norwich by the Benedictine monk Thomas of Monmouth that was written in the second half of the twelfth century. It puts forth the false claim that a young boy named William, who had been found dead in a forest, was in fact ritually murdered by Jews, and was therefore eligible for sainthood.
Fraternities and sororities at the University of Virginia include the collegiate organizations on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. First founded in the 1850s with the establishment of several fraternities, the system has since expanded to include sororities, professional organizations, service fraternities, honor fraternities, and cultural organizations. Fraternities and sororities have been significant to the history of the University of Virginia, including the founding of two national fraternities Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ) and Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ).
Christina Thompson is best known for her book Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, which won the 2020 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award for Nonfiction.