For People Who Think There Was No Historical Jesus

[Confused Ape]

Unknown...and probably unknowable.

So, yeah, what you are saying is possible but there is not a long time frame for it.

I was wondering if the Romans kept records of criminals but it seems that they didn't where the lower classes were concerned - we'll never know the names and crimes of people who were executed in the arenas. Maybe the real truth is on the lines of one loony Christian plus 19 ordinary criminals and the Christian writers recorded it as 20 Christians.

My guess is that most of this shit grew out of the relative handful of executions that were carried out during the reign of Diocletian in the early 4th century and was still fresh in people's minds.

The Candida Moss promo points out a very important reason for having as many martyrs as possible - to fund churches. And there were abbeys wanting pilgrims too including in Britain. If you didn't have enough martyrs to go round you could just make up a silly story like the one about Saint Winifred.

According to legend, Winifred was the daughter of a Welsh nobleman, Tyfid ap Eiludd. Her suitor, Caradog, was enraged when she decided to become a nun, and decapitated her.In one version of the tale, her head rolled downhill, and, where it stopped, a healing spring appeared. Winifred's head was subsequently rejoined to her body due to the efforts of her maternal uncle, Saint Beuno, and she was restored to life. She later became a nun and abbess at Gwytherin in Denbighshire, and Caradog, cursed by Beuno, melted into the ground.[1] More elaborate versions of this tale relate many details of her life, including Winifred's pilgrimage to Rome.

In spite of the slim records for this period, there appears to be a historical basis for this personage. Winifred's brother Owain is known to have killed Caradog as revenge for a crime. She succeeded the Abbess, Saint Tenoi, who is believed to be her maternal grand-aunt.[2]

Saint Beuno did better than Jesus there - he never stuck anyone's head back on or made someone melt into the ground. hock:

After her death (c. 660) Winifred was interred at her abbey. In 1138, relics were carried to Shrewsbury to form the basis of an elaborate shrine.[1] The shrine and well became major pilgrimage goals in the Late Middle Ages

The well became very popular too.

The well is known as "the Lourdes of Wales" and is mentioned in an old rhyme as one of the Seven Wonders of Wales. It has been a pilgrimage site since the 7th century.[5]
After a shrine was established in Shrewsbury around 1138, it and St. Winefride's Well (from her name's Latin spelling) became important pilgrimage destinations.

Back to the Winifred article -

In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Winifrid is listed under 2 November with the Latin name Winefrídae. She is listed as follows: 'At the spring located at Holywell in Wales, St Winefride the Virgin, who is outstanding in her witness as a nun'.[4] Thus Winifred is officially recognised by the Vatican as a person with a historical basis, who lived an exemplary religious life, but with no discussion of miracles which she may have performed or been healed by. As a first-millennium saint, she is recognised as a saint by popular acclaim, rather than ever being formally canonized.