According to legend, the relic was brought to Bruges by Thierry of Alsace following the Second Crusade in the 12th century, this reliquary is said to contain a piece of cloth soaked with the blood of Jesus. Thierry may have been presented the relic…
Fol. 216r, from Matthew Paris' Chronica maiora II.
This miniature shows Henry III of England carrying the Relic of the Holy Blood at Westminster Abbey in 1247. This relic of the blood of Christ was sent from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Robert…
The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris is perhaps best known for its stained glass windows, which illustrate scenes from both the Old and New Testaments. The Gothic chapel was commissioned by Saint Louis IX, King of France in order to house the collection of…
Louis IX taken prisoner at the Battle of Fariskur (April 6, 1250) during the Seventh Crusade. He was ransomed for 400,000 dinars and pledged to never return to Egypt and to surrender Damietta to the Egyptians. On May 8, 1250, he left to Acre with his…
This reliquary at the Basilica of Saint Dominic in Bologna, Italy contains the relics of Saint Louis. A man of extreme piety, he was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297, less than thirty years after his death (in August 1270, of dysentery while…
Both reliquary and regalia for the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperors as kings of Italy, the crown is now kept at the Cathedral of Monza near Milan. Dating to the 4th or 5th century, the crown is made of gold and gemstones around a band that,…
The Arma Christi are the instruments of the Passion: the objects associated with Christ’s passion. The exact number of objects is flexible, and appears frequently as a theme in Christian Art. Some of these arms include the best known relics of the…
Fol. 67v from Passages d'outremer de Sébastien Mamerot.
June 10, 1098, Peter Bartholomew, a priest from Southern France, claimed that Saint Andrew had come to him in visions and told him where to find the Holy Lance within the city. Despite a relic…
The cathedral in Amiens, France was built between 1220 and 1270 in the High Gothic style. It was originally built in order to house the relic of the head of John the Baptist, which arrived on December 17, 1206 after having been looted during the sack…
Another head of John the Baptist is held at San Silvestro in Rome. Additional head relics can be found at a shrine at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (Great Mosque of Damascus) and the Residenz Museum in Munich. This head of John the Baptist first…