William of Norwich was a twelve year old English boy whose unsolved murder was, at the time, attributed to the Jewish community of Norwich. It is the first known medieval accusation against Jews of ritual murder. E. M. Rose points out that road robberies and kidnappings gone wrong were a frequent cause of death in the region during the period of The Anarchy when the Crown struggled to safeguard the roads. This was followed by a similar allegation regarding the unexplained death of Harold of Gloucester. An attempt to establish a cult of Harold seems to have been unsuccessful. It was never officially supported and died out long before the Reformation. However, it established a pattern. Any unexplained child death occurring near the Easter festival was arbitrarily linked to Jews in the vicinity. In some instances promotion of a cult may have been influenced by the interest of local clergy to enhance the prestige of their church with a shrine. Anthony Bale suggests this, and local politics, may have been contributing factors to the cult of Robert of Bury. Simon of Trent and Werner of Oberwesel are other examples of individuals who died under unknown circumstances, but whose deaths were nonetheless attributed to the Jews.