On the day he [Richard] was installed as king and the royal
crown placed upon his head in London, in the palace outside
the city, a large crowd from France
and from England gathered. Jews also came -- the leaders
and the wealthiest of them -- to present the king with a
gift. The wicked began to say: "It is not proper that the
Jews come to see the royal crown with which the priest shall
adorn the king on his coronation day." They therefore pushed
the Jews aside and struck them. The king, however, did not
know.
Then a rumor spread through the city, indicating: "The king
has commanded to destroy the Jews." They then began to smite
the Jews and to destroy their houses and towers. They killed
about thirty Jews; some
slaughtered themselves and their children. There the
famous rabbi, R.
Jacob of Orleans, was killed for the sanctification
of the Divine Name. The king knew nothing of all this,
for, when he heard the noise of the mob in the city, he
had asked: "What is that tumult?" His gatekeeper had responded:
"It is nothing -- only the lads playing and enjoying themselves."
Subsequently, when the truth was revealed to the king, he
ordered that the gatekeeper be tied to the tails of horses
and dragged through the streets and marketplaces until he
expired. Thus he died a painful death. Blessed is the Lord
who provides revenge.
