Geoffrey Chaucer found inspiration for “The Prioress’ Tale” when he heard that Jews had allegedly captured Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, England in hopes of making him a sacrifice in their ritual murder. The boy had disappeared a month earlier and his body was eventually found in a well; shortly afterward, a Jew named Jopin “confessed” to the murder while under torture, and was forced to say that Jews ritually murder a Christian child every six months.
