Exegesis Reconsidered: The Fleury Slaughter of Innocents and the Myth of Ritual Murder

Theresa Tinkle, University of Michigan

The Interfectio puerorum (Slaughter of Innocents), a liturgical drama from the Benedictine monastery at Fleury in northern France (Saint-Benoîtsur- Loire), treats an emotionally charged scene: Herod orders the death of Christ, who escapes into Egypt while the Innocents die in his place; Rachel laments the infants' deaths; finally, Herod dies, Christ returns to Galilee, and the Innocents enact the resurrection of the saints. This text has received considerable scholarly attention over the last century, including repeated analysis of its relations with exegesis.