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Solomon bar Samson

We know very little about the Hebrew chronicler known as Solomon bar Samson, who wrote around 1140. Fortunately he left a Hebrew account of the violent actions of the crusaders towards Jews in Europe as they made their way East towards the Holy Land. In addition to Mainz, other Jewish settlements were attacked in the Rhione valley including Speyer, Worms, Cologne, and its suberbs, Metz and Trier. Perhaps as many as 1300 Jews were slaughtered at Mainz alone and as many as 10,000 before the crusaders made it out of Europe. More violence was carried out against the Jews during the Second and Third Crusade, but many church authorities, including the reknown and popular St. Bernard of Clairvaux, took steps that greatly reduced its effect. Solomon bar Samson's work  describes in vivid detail the disturbing slaughter and suicides of a large group of Jews who had sought refuge from the attacks in a Bishops palace in Mainz in 1096. Particularly vivid is the description of a Jewish mother who had the throats of her four children slit to avoid their abuse and potential apostasy at the hands of the crusaders. A link to an excerpt from Solomon bar Samson's work describing the event is listed below.

Solomon bar Samson- The Crusaders in Mainz, 1096 Internet History Sourcebooks

Jews and the Crusades- Crusades-Encyclopedia

First Crusade- Crusades-Encyclopedia

Second Crusade- Catholic-Encyclopedia

St. Bernard of Clairvaux- Catholic-Encyclopedia

(c) Andrew Holt, June 2005- Permission is granted for electronic copying and distribution in print for educational and personal use. No permission is granted for commercial use.