who were out to destroy people.

他们是出来毁灭人类的
This was a diabolical plot,

这是一种残忍的密谋
and so a hunt was often on to find the culprits.

因此经常进行搜索以寻找罪犯
Let me give two famous and notorious examples,

再举两个有名而又声名狼藉的例子
a first and early one at Strasbourg in the fourteenth century,

第一个较早的是在十四世纪的斯特拉斯堡
where rumor had it--you'll remember in the fourteenth century,

流传着的留言大家应该记得十四世纪
the Jews were cast out of the Iberian Peninsula,

犹太人被驱逐出伊比利亚半岛
and the panicked fear

人们有一种恐慌
was that they were carrying out a plot

认为他们有阴谋
as vengeance to destroy Christian Europe

以在基督教界的水井里投毒
by poisoning the wells of christendom.

来报复和摧毁信奉基督教的欧洲
So, crowds at Strasbourg rounded up 8,000 Jews,

因此在斯特拉斯堡围捕八千犹太人