was a French monk who, without permission from his superiors, left his monastery in France[1] and travelled to the Rhine Valley during the Second Crusade (1145–1149) where he preached "that the Jews should be slain as the enemies of the Christian religion.
"[2] At Cologne Simon "the Pious" was murdered and mutilated; at Speyer a woman was tortured on the rack to persuade her to Christianity.
[1] Thereafter in 1147 the mutilated body of a Christian was found at Würzburg; Christians charged Jews with the crime, and, despite the protests of Bishop Emicho von Leiningen, attacked them, killing 20 and wounding many more; the Bishop buried the dead in his garden.
[1] From Germany, Rodolphe's idea of "beginning the Crusades at home" passed back to France, and Jews were massacred at Carentan, Rameru,[3] and Sully.
After the terror had passed, the local Christian clergy did what it could to help the surviving Jews; and those who had accepted baptism under duress were allowed to return to Judaism without incurring the dire penalties of apostasy.