Hauntings Part 6 – CLIFFORD’S TOWER
Clifford’s Tower in York, England has seen many deaths over the centuries. Henry VII used to hang the corpses of his enemies there as a warning to his rivals, and it has been used as a prison, but perhaps one of the most poignant points in it’s long storied history is in 1190.
Anti-Semitic attitudes were on the rise in the northern part of England, and despite having the protection of the crown The Crusades were used as an excuse to attack local Jews, but this was more of a thinly veiled debt-avoidance tactic. Many nobles owed the Jewish moneylenders more than they could pay back. Anti-Semite riots broke out in Norwich, Lincoln, and York. A large quantity of Jews took refuge in Clifford’s Tower and an estimated 150 Jews committed suicide rather than die at the hands of their aggressors.
Not a happy page in history, but things get worse. In my articles I’ve written about residual hauntings, I’ve written about revenent hauntings, but this is the place where the two combine into a terrifying mixture. That many deaths all happening within the same time-frame would leave an indelible mark on the location. All the fear, anguish, rage, and hate that would drive so many people to suicide would fulminate into something… dreadful. There are a number of possibilities, but I’m going to discuss the one most likely.
That many spirits co-mingling in similar states of heightened emotions would most likely become an almost sentient spirit of rage. Glimpses of it have been seen and felt for centuries, but what it really awaits is a trigger. My guess that trigger would be a fit of localized Anti-Semite pique, or a similar sense of rage and fear from a Jewish person. This would almost certainly have to occur on site, but it could also occur nearby. These two, somewhat specific, set of circumstances would cause the restless sleeping spirit to awaken and exact a horrifying vengeance on those who wronged it. I have no idea how that could manifest – it could be as specific as murdering those of the bloodline of the men and women who were responsible for the initial catalyst, or as vague as “everyone of English descent” or “everyone who harbors anti-Semitic tendencies”. It would likely be an unthinking and unreasoning ball of spiritual rage, hate, and violence.
Disclaimer: I am not nor have I ever intentionally been anti-Semitic. I am a reasonable guy with reasonable expectations and the plight of the Jews throughout history is something I find appalling. Despite the paranormal bent to these articles, I try to take an objective, historical view of history, but more often than not my own personal feelings bleed through. What happened to these Jews was a tragedy that can never be remunerated. Ghosts of this nature are not reasonable or reasoning. Spirits of rage do not see how sorry someone might be for the wrongs done to them, they thirst only to lash out against those who wronged them.
AG
