Count Emicho's precise role in the Rhineland Massacres, the series of violent attacks and forced conversions of the Rhineland's Jews just prior to the First Crusade, has been the subject of significant debate.Stow, Kenneth. “Conversion, Apostasy, and Apprehensiveness: Emicho of Flonheim and the Fear of Jews in the Twelfth Century,” Speculum Vol. 76, No. 4 (Oct. 2001), pp. 911–933. Sourcebook. There were many crusading forces moving through the Rhineland, but most were interested primarily in reaching the Holy Land. For instance, when Peter the Hermit and his mob of Crusaders passed through these towns and threatened the Jewish population, they had been amenable to bribes and largely left the Jews free from harassment.Chazan, Robert. “The Mainz Anonymous: Structure, Authorship, Dating and Objectives,” in God, Humanity and History: The Hebrew First Crusade Narratives. 28–51. University of California Press, 2000. Although Emicho has frequently been referenced in secondary and tertiary sources as having been present during the massacres of Jews in Cologne and Worms, there is sparse evidence in the primary accounts to support his involvement. Indeed, the only massacre in which Emicho definitively participated was that in Mainz.Gabriele, Matthew. “Against the Enemies of Christ: The Role of Count Emicho in the Anti-Jewish Violence of the First Crusade” in Christian Attitudes Toward the Jews in the Middle Ages: a casebook, edited by Michael Frassetto, 61–83, New York: Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group, 2007. The Jewish writer of the account known as the Mainz Anonymous mentions Emicho as having been in the rough vicinity of Speyer during the massacre there, but clearly notes he did not participate in the violence.Chazan, Robert. “The Mainz Anonymous: Structure, Authorship, Dating and Objectives,” in God, Humanity and History: The Hebrew First Crusade Narratives. 28–51. University of California Press, 2000.
