lincoln cathedral

c13 glass in east window of north choir aisle, prob. from nave originally. this shows the story of the jewish glassmaker of bourges, whose son goes to a church with christian schoolfriends and sees the virgin on the altar. his father throws him into his furnace, but the virgin protects him; the boy is saved, his mother converted and the glassmaker burned in his own furnace. this glass was probably made in the 1230s; the death of little st. hugh sparked attacks on the jewish community in 1255, egged on by the church. jews in england all belonged to the king, and had no normal rights; indeed, england was the first country to make jews wear a yellow badge in 1218, and edward I expelled them all in 1290 after a century of growing violence whipped up by church propaganda. ironically, it was jewish finance that built most of our cathedrals and supported the crown, and when expelled most went to poland where they were welcomed with open arms for the financial knowledge and economic benefits that they brought. unbelievably, researching little st.hugh on the internet still reveals belief in the blood libel and a staggering amount of anti-semitic hatred.