In March 1190, as crusading fever spread across England, the Jewish community of York was attacked by a mob inflamed by crusade preaching and debts owed to Jewish creditors. The community took refuge in the royal tower at York. Surrounded and facing certain massacre, most chose to die by their own hands rather than surrender. About 150 people died. The massacre was a domestic consequence of crusade ideology and royal government weakness during Richard I's absence on crusade.
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