Several months later in that same year, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of April, which was March 18, 1192, King Philip was at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. There he heard that Jews had inflicted a shameful death upon a Christian.

Out of concern for the Christian faith and religion, the king suddenly set out without telling the members of his household where he was going. Traveling with great speed, he arrived at the fortified town called Bray. He placed guards at its gates, seized the Jews and ordered more than eighty of them to be burned.

The countess who controlled the town had been corrupted, according to Rigord, by large gifts from the Jews. She had surrendered to them a Christian whom they had falsely accused of theft and murder.

Moved by their ancient hatred, the Jews tied the man’s hands behind his back and placed a crown of thorns upon his head. They led him throughout the town while beating him and then hanged him upon a gallows. Rigord adds that during the Passion of the Lord, the Jews had said, “It isn’t lawful for us to put anyone to death.”