Chronology of
גזירות תתנ״ו
GIZEROT TATNO
(Events of 4856)

Symbolic collage with burnt wood, flames, broken pottery, stained cloth, and an iron chain.
Symbolic collage for the chronology of the 1096 massacres. AI-generated illustration for TJD, 2026-09-07.

גזירות תתנ״ו GIZEROT TATNO names the persecutions of 4856 (1096), when Christian crusading forces and local mobs attacked communities of יהודים YEHUDIM across the Rhineland and beyond. Murder, plunder and forced baptism made Jew-hatred part of the crusading movement before its forces reached ארץ ישראל EREẒ YISRAʾEL. The letters תתנ״ו give the shortened year, 856.1

כ״ז בכסלו ד׳תתנ״ו 27th 𝑜𝑓 Kislev, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at Clermont, calling on Christians to take ארץ ישראל EREẒ YISRAʾEL from Muslim rulers.

כ״ז בכסלו ד׳תתנ״ו 27th 𝑜𝑓 Kislev, AM 4856: Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at Clermont, calling on Christians to take ארץ ישראל EREẒ YISRAʾEL from Muslim rulers. The proclamation preceded the following spring's attacks on יהודים YEHUDIM; it was not itself an order to massacre them.2

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ח׳ באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 8th 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Crusaders and local attackers killed יהודים YEHUDIM in Speyer.

ח׳ באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 8th 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856: Crusaders and local attackers killed יהודים YEHUDIM in Speyer. Bishop John intervened, sheltered the community and prevented a wider massacre.3

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כ״ג באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 23rd 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Attackers massacred יהודים YEHUDIM in Worms; some survivors sought refuge with the bishop.

כ״ג באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 23rd 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856: Attackers massacred יהודים YEHUDIM in Worms; some survivors sought refuge with the bishop.4

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כ״ד באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 24th 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Later yahrtzeit lists commemorate the death of ר׳ שמחה הכהן R. SIMḤA HAʾKOHEN of Worms.

כ״ד באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 24th 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856: Later yahrtzeit lists commemorate the death of ר׳ שמחה הכהן R. SIMḤA HAʾKOHEN of Worms. Those lists do not establish that he was killed in the preceding day's massacre.5

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כ״ח באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 28th 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Later anniversary lists place a massacre at Bacharach on this date; its attribution to 1096 remains uncertain.

כ״ח באייר ד׳תתנ״ו 28th 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 4856: Later anniversary lists place a massacre at Bacharach on this date; its attribution to 1096 remains uncertain.6

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א׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 1st 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Attackers reached the survivors sheltered in the bishop's residence at Worms and massacred them.

א׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 1st 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856: Attackers reached the survivors sheltered in the bishop's residence at Worms and massacred them. Refuge had delayed the violence without securing their survival.7

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ג׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 3rd 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Count Emicho's forces and townspeople attacked יהודים YEHUDIM in Mainz.

ג׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 3rd 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856: Count Emicho's forces and townspeople attacked יהודים YEHUDIM in Mainz. Defenders resisted, but the bishop's protection collapsed and attackers entered the refuge.8

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ו׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 6th 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Attackers killed יהודים YEHUDIM in Cologne during שבועות ŜAVUʾOT, destroyed the בית כנסת BEIT KʾNESET and desecrated תורה TORA scrolls.

ו׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 6th 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856: Attackers killed יהודים YEHUDIM in Cologne during שבועות ŜAVUʾOT, destroyed the בית כנסת BEIT KʾNESET and desecrated תורה TORA scrolls. Survivors dispersed under the archbishop's protection, but persecution followed them.9

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ל׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 30th 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Crusaders massacred יהודים YEHUDIM at Mehr.

ל׳ בסיון ד׳תתנ״ו 30th 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 4856: Crusaders massacred יהודים YEHUDIM at Mehr. The retained anniversary tradition places the attack at the end of סיון SIVAN.10

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א׳ בתמוז ד׳תתנ״ו 1st 𝑜𝑓 Tamuz, AM 4856Precision: day · Basis: not-assessed

Crusaders and a crowd assembled for the feast of John the Baptist massacred refugees from Cologne at Neuss.

א׳ בתמוז ד׳תתנ״ו 1st 𝑜𝑓 Tamuz, AM 4856: Crusaders and a crowd assembled for the feast of John the Baptist massacred refugees from Cologne at Neuss. Relocation under episcopal protection had not put them beyond the attackers' reach.11

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How did the communities
memorialize the catastrophe?

The attacks on the שו״ם ŜUM communities—Speyer, Worms and Mainz—became central to the memory of עם ישראל AM YISRAʾEL. Chronicles, poems and memorial traditions commemorated the dead and interpreted the catastrophe through קידוש השם KIDUS HAʾŜEM (sanctification of the Name). They describe flight, armed resistance, forced baptism, murder and deaths inflicted on oneself or one's family to avoid conversion. Their religious interpretation is part of the evidence, not a reason to forget the attackers who created those conditions.12

Footnotes

  1. Chazan, European Jewry and the First Crusade,; Stow, Conversion, Apostasy, and Apprehensiveness, 911–913; Seligman, To Explain the First Crusade, opening discussion and chronicle excerpt. ↩
  2. New Cambridge Medieval History on Clermont,; Accounts of Urban II at Clermont,. ↩
  3. City of Speyer, Schpira – Jüdisches Speyer, section on the First Crusade. The date follows the received 8 Iyar account retained in the companion. ↩
  4. Chazan, European Jewry and the First Crusade,; https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4785-crusades-the. ↩
  5. https://nertzaddik.com/tzadik-info?id=4949; https://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-history-23-24-iyar-2/. ↩
  6. https://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-history-28-iyar/. The historical account in https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2296-bacharach describes a crusade-era killing there in 1146. That does not disprove an earlier attack, but the later list alone does not settle the event's identity. ↩
  7. Chazan, European Jewry and the First Crusade,; https://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-history-1-2-sivan/. ↩
  8. Solomon bar Samson, translated selection, account of 3 Sivan. The chronicle dates the entry to noon; its account is retrospective, not a verbatim record of the attackers' speeches. ↩
  9. Kober, The Jews of Cologne,. ↩
  10. https://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-history-29-30-sivan-4/. Another anniversary list gives 6 Tamuz; the exact placement still needs stronger primary or scholarly verification. https://matzav.com/todays-yahrtzeits-and-history-6-tammuz-2/. ↩
  11. Müller, Rheinischer Städteatlas Neuss, section 4.8, gives 24 June 1096 Julian, corresponding to 1 Tamuz; Jacobs and Seligsohn, Neuss, gives 26 June. The linked companion preserves that disagreement; neither account supports placing these refugees' deaths before the Cologne attack. ↩
  12. Cohen, Sanctifying the Name of God, 13–30; Marcus, The Representation of Reality, 37–48; Seligman, To Explain the First Crusade, sections on martyrdom and lamentation. ↩