Raphael Kessler

Cliffords Tower was part of the fortifications for the city of York, it has an unusual quatrefoil design and affords great views across the city. In 1190 it was infamously the site of a pogrom against the cities jews. Richard de Malbis who owed money to some of the jews incited a mob to attack the jews. They sought refuge in the tower and with royal protection. The tower was surrounded by the mob and then when the sheriff laid siege to the tower with the jews inside, the majority decided to take their own lives, rather than be slaughtered. They set fire to the tower to try and prevent their bodies being defiled. The few survivors who surrendered were killed by the mob anyway. This is regarded as probably the worst religious massacre in Britain during the medieval period.