The bible was quite proud of the "Hill of Foreskins" but nowadays people usually just keep their foreskins in a private drawer at home.
The Church was also pretty proud of its collection of foreskins. Apparently there existed as many as 18 originals of the Holy Prepuce of Jesus. (Actually 17 were probably clones).
Foreskin relics began appearing in Europe during the Middle Ages. The earliest recorded sighting came on December 25, 800, when Charlemagne gave it to Pope Leo III when the latter crowned the former Emperor. Charlemagne claimed that it had been brought to him by an angel while he prayed at the Holy Sepulchre, although a more prosaic report says it was a wedding gift from the Byzantine Empress Irene. The Pope placed it into the Sanctum sanctorum in the Lateran basilica in Rome with other relics.[3] Its authenticity was later confirmed by a vision of Saint Bridget of Sweden.[4]
According to the author David Farley, "Depending on what you read, there were eight, twelve, fourteen, or even 18 different holy foreskins in various European towns during the Middle Ages."[5] In addition to the Holy Foreskin in Rome, other claimants included the Cathedral of Le Puy-en-Velay, Santiago de Compostela, the city of Antwerp, Coulombs in the diocese of Chartres, France as well as Chartres itself, and churches in Besançon, Newport[citation needed], Metz, Hildesheim, Charroux, Conques, Langres, Antwerp, Fécamp, Puy-en-Velay, Stoke on Trent[citation needed], Calcata, and two in Auvergne.[5]
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