Blood libels are false accusations that Jews use human blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays.Although the first known instance of blood libel is found in the writings of Apion, an early 1st century pagan Greco-Egyptian who claimed that the Jews sacrificed Greek victims in the Temple, no further incidents are recorded until the 12th century, when blood libels began to proliferate in Christian Europe. Blood libel accusations have often asserted that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted, and historically blood libel claims have often been made to account for otherwise unexplained deaths of children. In some cases, the alleged victim of human sacrifice, child or adult, has become venerated as a martyr, a holy figure around whom a martyr cult might arise. A few of these have been even canonized as saints.Although broadly discredited, these libels have persisted among some segments of Christians to the present time, and recently Muslims as well. In Jewish lore, blood libels were the impetus for the creation of the golem of Prague (a commonly known jewish legend) by Rabbi Judah Lowe ben Bezalel, the Maharal.Many popes have either directly or indirectly condemned the blood accusation, and no pope has ever sanctioned it, though the assertions are usually spread and promoted by local clergy.