In 1543, the famous German theologian and Protestant reformer Martin Luther published an infamous polemical attack on the Jews entitled On the Jews and their Lies. Luther appealed for a range of oppressive measures against Jews, including the destruction of synagogues and religious schools as well as the confiscation of “their prayer books and Talmudic writings.” Luther represented Jews not just as obdurate in their refusal to convert to Christianity but also as a danger to the lives of all Christians. They were, Luther raged, taught by the Talmud (the rabbinical writings on Jewish law and traditions) to hate Christians and, whenever the opportunity arose, sought to kill Christian children:

Later in his work, the accusation of child-killing appeared a second time:

Luther does not provide much detail about the accusation of child murder. Moreover, he was careful to avoid personally proclaiming the truth of such accusations, even though he suggested that they were credible. The accusation was not an invention of Luther’s but rather a well-established medieval libel against Jews.