The Skull Of Saint Agnes

Saint Agnes was a 12 when she was martyred, presumedly by suitors who were slighted by her insistence on keeping her virginity. It was ordered that she be stripped naked and dragged to a brothel. Here is where the legends start. Some say that once she was naked her body miraculously sprouted a suit of hair. Others say that when men attempted to assault her they were struck blind or dropped dead. When they eventually tried to burn her alive, the fire either wouldn’t light or parted and would not burn her. She was eventually decapitated by sword. While the remains of her body are kept in the high altar of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls, her skull is kept on display in an ornate reliquary in Sant’Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona.