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Primary sourcePaintingc. 1350

Execution of Jews

c. 1350

A contemporary manuscript image showing Jews being burned alive, documenting the violent scapegoating that accompanied the Black Death.

This image documents the violent persecution of Jewish communities blamed for causing the Black Death.

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Medieval illuminated manuscript page with a painted scene of men with helmets and a figure holding a flag near a tower, while figures are burned at a stake among flames on the right. Latin text in columns surrounds the image.
Unknown author, Execution of Jews, c. 1350, Chronicle of Gilles li Muisit, MS 13076-77, fol. 12v. Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, Brussels.

About this source

What it is

This image, from around 1350, appears in the chronicle of Gilles li Muisit and shows men being burned at the stake while armed figures stand watch.

Why it matters

During the Black Death, Jewish communities across Europe were falsely blamed for causing the plague and were subjected to violent persecution and massacres. This contemporary image documents that this scapegoating and violence actually happened, created at the time by someone who witnessed or knew of such events.

Look closer

  • What does this image tell you about how fear during a crisis can be turned against a minority group?
  • Why is it important that this image was made at the time rather than much later?
  • What is missing from this image that you would want to know about the people being persecuted?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of The Black Death on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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