"This book tells of the creation and growth of one of the principal anti-Jewish stories of the Middle Ages and the violence that it bred. Beginning in Paris in the year 1290, Jews were accused of abusing Christ by desecrating the eucharist - the manifestation of Christ's body in the communion service. Over the next two centuries this became an authoritative, awe-inspiring tale that spread throughout Europe and led to violent antisemitic activity in areas from Catalonia to Bohemia - particularly in some German-speaking regions, where at times it produced region-wide massacres and 'cleansings'."--BOOK JACKET. "In exploring the character, nature, development and eventual decay of this fantasy of host desecration, Rubin presents a vivid picture of the mental world of late medieval Europe and of the culture of anti-semitism."--BOOK JACKET.