Saraclese Manboobs sig:

"According to myth gypsies crafted five nails for Christ's
execution not four. The fifth nail was meant to pierce his
heart, but the gypsies hid the fifth nail from the roman soldiers.
In some stories the gypsies were punished by God for
prolonging Christ's suffering, and in others they were
rewarded for attempting to protect him. The fifth nail is
said to have been a real religious artifact with miraculous
powers. Its existence today is somewhat
questionable, unless you consider the metaphor."

- old story related to me while doing postgraduate
work at UC Davis
---------------------------------------------------------l
While there may be many problems with your idea that Gypsys
and a 5th nail had any thing to do witht he death of Christ, the
biggest is the "Gypsys" didn't exist until after 400AD!
For a short, non scholastic history, see:
http://www.geocities.com/~patrin/timeline.htm
I can supply more detailed, cross referenced links but
this one should suffice.

If in truth this was passed on as an "old story related to me
while doing postgraduate work at UC Davis", it shows how
silly universities have become.


I suspect a better explanation of the persecution of Gypsys
has more to do with their recent arrival in many places and
failure to conform to the local customs. No need to drag God
into there long time suffereing.

Terry