Berkoff - Steven Berkoff Plays 3

It was their detractors who sought blood, and plenty of it! Jews were frequently bled dry for their money and taxed intolerably, but not too much to prevent them from earning more and becoming a convenient cash cow to be milked whenever a crime could be pinned on them. Under the laws of the country the Jews were the Kings property and thus crimes committed by them would draw huge fines in favour of the King. Consequently it became very convenient if you were in the Jews debt as many of the Barons were to invent one. This would of course facilitate the arrest of the Jew and the dissolving of the debt. Whilst performing as an actor in Lincoln, I happened to be walking through the impressive Lincoln Cathedral when I saw a plaque to Saint Hugh of Lincoln. Little Hugh was canonised many centuries ago and was the subject of a ritual murder charge.

The inscription records the supposed crucifixion of the eight-year-old boy but adds that this legend brings no honour to Christianity. However, I was struck by the extraordinary tale and it stayed in my mind for many years until I decided to research as much as I could on the subject itself in the Reading Room of the British Museum. Though there were no rolls relating to this trial in particular, I found much fascinating information regarding other trials and debates where Jews were forced very often to defend themselves in the public forum. The blood libel, like a noxious virus, has erupted from time to time throughout the world. The last case in a civilised society was the accusation and arrest of Mendel Beilis in Kiev, Russia, in 1911. This time however we had something called the international press, and world opinion was united against the trumped-up charges and the authorities were obliged to release him.

Sadly, in the Middle Ages the depredations and villainies of anti-Semitism were not so easily monitored. In researching this play what struck me most forcibly was the incredible extent to which the poison of anti-Semitism was part of the fabric of the early church and how much the more reactionary elements irrigated the earth for these poisonous shoots to thrive. Curiously, Shakespeares Shylock is an offshoot of the blood charge, since Shylock himself wields the knife, is bloodthirsty enough to use it and is impervious to the cry for mercy from Portia. What makes the play both fascinating and yet morally untenable is Shylocks defence of his act as if speaking for his race. The truth of the matter is that since the Jews were forcibly expelled from England in 1290, their property confiscated and their blood shed, there were few, if any, Jews left.