Dear Christopher: The custom is described at considerable length in the
Delaporte fascicle which I bought from you in 1989. "Late Medieval" to me
meant roughly 13th century -- I'm too swamped in syllabi and reading lists at
the moment to go dig it out and check the exact date of the shrine (not the
19th-cent. "ostensorium" with kneeling angels that is now often pictured) --
but Delaporte remarks on the fact that the chasse became rather abimee
through serious use and, presumably, less than careful handling on occasion.
There was, if I remember correctly, a good deal of damage and restoration
over the period of several centuries.
Elizabeth
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