medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Marjorie,
According to Yves Delaporte, a very knowledgeable canon of Chartres in
the early 20th century, the venerable old Sainte-Chasse was opened with
the intention of translating the relics in it to a new reliquary, since
the old one, reputedly made in the late 10th century, was falling
apart. At some time in the 17th century, a special rod of gold had been
made in order to poke about through the holes in it, and there was a
repair effected in 1679. Shortly later, though, it was claimed that
fabric could be seen through the holes in the shrine. Nevertheless, a
new reliquary was not made in 1712, and that may have been because of
the shock and disappointment of not finding the Holy Tunic within. All
that was found was a length of silk that was immediately interpreted as
the Virgin's Veil. A brave face was put on, but the Veil was stuffed
back into its rickety old reliquary until the French Revolution, when
the reliquary was melted down, but the relic saved. That is the
"official" story, in any case. There were occasional references,
however, to a Veil from the late 13th century, and I can't help
suspecting that the good canons had sneaked a peak much earlier than
1712. We will probably never know the whole story.
Cheers,
Jim
Marjorie Greene wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Jim Bugslag wrote: reliquary (which when opened in 1712 was found [not
> to contain a tunic]
>
> Now I'm curious why this reliquary was opened in 1712. Louis XIV
> surely wasn't hoping for any more children...
> MG
>
>
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