with popularizing the creche, although he probably did not initiate it. The creche reached its height of popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries in southern Europe. Associated relics The total destruction that ensued with the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 made the survival of items from 1st-century Judea very rare and almost no direct records survive about the history of Judaism from the last part of the 1st century through the 2nd century. Margaret M. Mitchell writes that although Eusebius reports (Ecclesiastical History III 5.3) that the early Christians left Jerusalem for Pella just before Jerusalem was subjected to the final lockdown, we must accept that no first-hand Christian items from the early Jerusalem Church have reached us. Joe Nickell writes, "as investigation after investigation has shown, not a single, reliably authenticated relic of Jesus exists." However, throughout the history of Christianity, a number of relics attributed to Jesus have been claimed, although doubt has been cast on them. The 16th-century Catholic theologian Erasmus wrote sarcastically about the proliferation of relics and the number of buildings that could have been constructed from the wood claimed to be from the cross used in the Crucifixion. Similarly, while experts debate whether Jesus was crucified with three nails or with four, at least thirty holy nails continue to be venerated as relics across Europe. Some relics, such as purported remnants of the crown of thorns placed on the head of Jesus, receive only a modest number of pilgrims, while the Shroud of Turin (which is associated with an approved Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus), has received millions, including popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. See also Notes References Citations Sources External links Complete Sayings of Jesus Christ in parallel Latin and English 0s BC births 30s deaths 1st-century apocalypticists 1st-century BCE Jews 1st-century executions 1st-century Jews 1st-century rabbis Angelic visionaries Carpenters Creator gods Deified people Exorcists Faith healers Founders of religions God in Christianity Jewish messiah claimants Judean people Life-death-rebirth gods Names of God People considered avatars by their followers People executed by crucifixion People executed by the Roman Empire People from Bethlehem People from Nazareth Prophets of the New Testament Prophets in the Druze faith Publicly executed people Rabbis of the Land of Israel Savior gods Simple living advocates Torture victims Miracle workers Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain