Host desecration by the Jews of Passau in 1477 (woodcut)

Miniatures depicting the sequence of events: The hosts (sacred bread of the Christian Eucharist) are stolen and pierced in a Jewish ritual. They are recovered and shown to be holy. The guilty Jews are arrested, beheaded, and tortured with hot pincers. The entire community is driven out with their feet bound and held to the fire. At the end the Christians kneel and pray. Accusations against Jews were a common pretext for massacres and expulsions throughout the Middle Ages in Europe; the accusation of sacrilege by desecration of the host used during the mass was especially frequent;