predisposed to think evil of Jews then and for centuries to come. He incited the weakly credulous Henry III to give the ritual murder fantasy the blessing of royal authority, and he inspired Matthew Paris to write a vivid garbled yarn that would ring in men's minds for centuries and blind modern historians. A century and a half later, Geoffrey Chaucer, after letting the legend of the singing boy slip from the prioress' lips, would inevitably be reminded of England's most famous proof of Jewish evil and conclude with an invocation to young Hugh — whose alleged fate neither he nor his audience were likely to question. John de Lexington died in January, 1257, and his elegant learning will not be described in any history of mediaeval thought, yet his tale of young Hugh of Lincoln became a strand in English literature and a support for irrational beliefs about Jews from 1255 to Auschwitz. It is time he received his due credit. Matthew Paris called him a man of weight and learning and a brave and accomplished knight. His arms were a cross azure on a shield argent. He married a woman named Margaret (or Margery) de Merlay, daughter of Richard d'Umfraville of Prudhoe and widow of Roger de Merlay, Baron Morpeth. They had no children. His estate went to his brother Henry, the bishop of Lincoln, and on his death in 1258 to the descendants of their two sisters, Alice and Cecilia, wives of Roland de Sutton and William Markham, since none of his brothers left heirs. See also List of Lord Chancellors and Lord Keepers Notes References "The Knight's Tale of Young Hugh of Lincoln", Gavin I. Langmuir, Speculum, Vol. 47, No. 3 (July 1972), pp. 459–482. Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961 Attribution Lord chancellors of England 13th-century English people Year of birth unknown 1257 deaths