Persecution of Jews in Czechia

Crusaders
Jews were killed in Bohemia by Crusaders in the late 11th century and the mid-12th century during the First and Second Crusades. Many survivors were forcibly converted to Christianity.

Host desecration accusations
Jews were murdered after accusations of host desecration in Kouřim in 1338 and Prague in 1389. After Prague's clergy spread accusations of host desecration and blasphemy against Jews in 1389, Christian mobs murdered Jews and forcibly baptized Jewish women and children. Jews were expelled after an accusation in Plzeň in 1504.

Albert V
Albert V, Margrave of Moravia, expelled Jews from Jihlava in 1426.

John of Capistrano
In the mid-15th century, Franciscan John of Capistrano's sermons incited Christians to expel Jews from Brno, Jihlava, Olomouc, and Znojmo.

Blood libel
Jews were accused in blood libels, which are false accusations of having killed Christian children for rituals, in Prague in 1305, České Budějovice in 1505, and Holešov in 1893. In České Budějovice, Jews were murdered.

Bohemian monarchs
King of Bohemia, Ferdinand I expelled Jews in 1541. After the Jews were allowed back, the king decreed for Jews to wear a Jewish badge in 1551 and in 1557 issued another decree ordering their expulsion.

In 1630, King Ferdinand II ordered Jews to attend the conversionist sermons of the Jesuits.

King Charles II in 1727 restricted the amount of Jews allowed in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, allowed only one son in a Jewish family to marry and begin a family, and in 1738 expelled Jews from Silesia. His successor Queen Maria Theresa ordered Jews to leave Prague in 1744. Later she wrote of Jews in 1777: "I know of no greater plague than this race, which on account of its deceit, usury and avarice is driving my subjects into beggary. Therefore as far as possible, the Jews are to be kept away and avoided."