Foutin was a syncretic amalgam of Priapus with

Pothinus Pothinus or Potheinos ( grc-gre, Ποθεινὸς; early 1st century BC – 48 or 47 BC), a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co ...

, a figure of uncertain

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...

alleged by

Irenaeus Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...

to have been the first bishop of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

. The similarity of the name ''Pothinus'' and the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

verb ''foutre'' led to linguistic assimilation; the name ''Foutin'' may have originated from "foutre", which meant "to fuck", but it may also have been an intentionally altered version of Pothinus' name. He was believed to have an influence in restoring fertility to barren women and vigor and virility to impotent men. At Varailles in Provence, waxen images of the members of both sexes were offered to St. Foutin, and suspended to the ceiling of his chapel. Pierre de L'Estoile commented that, as the ceiling was covered with them, when the wind blew them about, it produced an effect which was calculated to much disturb the devotions of the worshippers. At a church in Embrun there was a large phallus said to be a relic of St. Foutin. The worshippers were in the habit of offering wine to this deity, as a

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today. Various substanc ...

(the wine was poured over the head of the organ); a sacred vessel underneath caught the wine, which was then called ''holy vinegar'', and believed to be an efficacious remedy in cases of sterility, impotence, or want of virility. When Protestants conquered Embrun in 1585, they reported that the relic's head was reddened from the wine.

References

* 2nd-century Christian saints Folk saints Gallo-Roman saints {{saint-stub

See also

References