Jews in William of Norwich
The only two descriptors attached to occurrences of 'jew' in Thomas' text are 'rich' and 'converted.' Which, while not as blatantly offensive as 'cursed,' are possibly even more insidious in entrenching the stereotype of Jews as wealthy usurers, or that Jews cannot be trusted unless they convert.
Benedicta Ward presents a theory that Thomas of Monmouth had a vested interest in the life and death of young William, as Thomas is the only source we possess that portrays William as anything more than a boy who was brutally murdered in a wood nearby Norwich.
She writes that Thomas was the only man who pushed for William to be sainted, and took a very active (and illicit) hand in the process (Ward, 68-71). Central to the canon of the cult that arose around William - a cult that Thomas himself set in motion - is the belief that William was sacrificed by Jews to spite Christ.
Throughout the text, Thomas portrays the Jews as a united group conspiring against Christians for the purposes of their dark rituals. He writes that the "chief men and Rabbis of the Jews" gather together and vote on which town shall be the location of their yearly sacrifice of a Christian in order that they "might avenge their sufferings on Him [Christ]."