Anderl of Rinn, the Accusation of Jewish Ritual Murder, and the Historical Memory of Childhood

The legend of Anderl of Rinn is almost unique among the ritual murder accusations lodged against Jews during the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. The story of Anderl provides a glimpse not only of the long and tragic history of anti-Semitism but also of the history of childhood. Due to a lack of sources, and the fact that his story was not recorded until decades later, it is impossible to gauge the accuracy of any elements of his life or death. The documents that exist, however, do shed an interesting light on the treatment of some children in European history since, without much in the way of facts to work with, the authors who crafted the legend of Anderl of Rinn had little choice but to portray him as a typical child, borrowing elements from the treatment of children both in their own day and in what they knew of the medieval past.