Michelangelo - The Dark Ages - Father Ted TV - The Black Adder TV - Scam City TV - Search for the Head of John the Baptist TV - The Borgias TV - Decoding the Past TV - Larissa Tracy - Revealed: The Da Vinci Shroud & Nazi Temple of Doom TV - Turin Shroud: The New Evidence TV - Remaking the Shroud TV - Richard Kaeuper - In Search of the Holy Grail TV - Richard Barber - Andrew Graham-Dixon TV - Wendy Beckett - Ancient X Files TV - Mystery of the Murdered Saints TV - Biblical Conspiracies TV - Bill Cooper - Decoding the Past TV - Unsolved History TV - Brad Meltzer TV - Jesus Code TV - Ancient Mysteries TV - Relics from the Rubble 2002 - Julian Richards TV - The UnXplained with William Shatner TV - John 19:34 - Simon Schama TV -
Here they make helmets and swords from chalices, and by the handful sell the blood of Christ; his cross and thorns are made into lances and shields. Michelangelo, letter to friend October 1512, cited Seamus Cashman
To reinforce the power of the relics the Church issued two proclamations detailing God’s position on war: they were called the Peace of God and the Truth of God. The Dark Ages, History 2007
The holy stone was up there but it wasn’t doing great business. Father Ted s1e6: Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest, Ted, Channel 4 1995
Fingers are really big at the moment. Mind you, for a really quick sale you can’t beat a nose. For instance, this is the sacred appendage compendium party pack. The Black Adder: The Archbishop, Baldrick, BBC 1983
With all these spiritual distractions, are the scammers having a field day? Scam City s2e6: Jerusalem, National Geographic 2014
Not everything in this town is as it seems. I’ve heard there is a market for fake relics. ibid.
Could the bones of John the Baptist, potentially the most valuable relic in all of Christianity, have survived to this day? Search for the Head of John the Baptist, National Geographic 2012
Bulgaria: A year earlier ... they uncover a marble reliquary ... He reads the name St John ... The fact that the reliquary was buried in the ground only a few hundred years after John’s death is promising. ibid.
At least seven different countries claim to have a piece of him. ibid.
We choose to believe that this is the Spear of Longinus. The Borgias: Relics s3e6, Showtime 2013
Behold the Spear of Longinus. The Borgias: Tears of Blood s3e8, Rodrigo to paying audience
Another relic? The head of John the Baptist perhaps. The Borgias s3e9: The Gunpowder Plot, Rodrigo
It is the most fabled of all the Christian relics. It’s history is mysterious. And its legend exerts continued fascination. It is the Holy Grail. The sacred chalice said to have been used by Christ and the Apostles at the last supper. Decoding the Past s1e29: Relics of the Passion, History 2005
A chalice used at the last supper. The cloth given in kindness. Iron nails hammered through flesh. Fragments of a wooden cross. A crown of thorns. A roughly worked sign. The tip of a spear. Burial garments. For believers objects of miraculous power. For the Catholic Church touchstones of faith. ibid.
Other churches also claim to have pieces of the Cross. Indeed, more than ten thousand fragments populate various collections worldwide. ibid.
Like all Santa Croce’s wooden relics the Titulus has suffered significant decay over the centuries. ibid.
The Crown itself even without the thorns was still one of the most important relics in Christendom. Its value was so great that in 1238 it was even used to finance an empire. ibid.
Veronica’s veil: a six and a half by nine and a half inch cloth bearing the likeness of Jesus. ibid.
There is another smaller cloth: the cloth that would have covered Jesus’ head in accordance with ancient Jewish burial practices. It’s known as the Sudarium. ibid.
In 1389 the Bishop d’Arcis writes a letter to Pope Clement complaining about this false relic of the Shroud that’s being displayed at a neighbouring church. Professor Larissa Tracy
At some point over the decades the Shroud underwent a seemingly miraculous transformation. When it reappeared it was no longer seen as an obvious fake, a bad painting, the Turin Shroud was praised as a true holy relic. Even the Pope declared it genuine. Revealed: The Da Vinci Shroud, Channel 5 2009
The Spear of Destiny ... seized on his [Hitler’s] express orders. Revealed: Nazi Temple of Doom
Finally, in 1978, despite strong resistance from some in the Vatican the Church agreed. For the first time Science had a chance to test the authenticity of one of Christianity’s holiest relics. The scientists were not allowed to mark, cut or damage the Shroud in any way. The team’s main goal was to discover how the image got on the Shroud. Turin Shroud: The New Evidence, History 2009
Perhaps the Shroud was never meant to be a relic but a focus of worship. Remaking the Shroud, National Geographic 2010
The Shroud is an icon rather than a relic – an icon of the sort used in the Eastern Church to increase devotion. Professor Richard Kaeuper
By 1500 Europe was awash with holy relics. In Search of the Holy Grail, 2003
We do get a number of cases where relics were carried into battle as a kind of talisman to help you win a battle. As a kind of magic weapon if you like. Richard Barber, Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief
The impulse to keep a memento of a departed person is both ancient and profound. Even the smallest thing can generate a powerful emotional connection. Andrew Graham-Dixon, Treasure of Heaven: The Story of Relics and Reliquaries, BBC 2011
They were known as relics, and for centuries they lay at the centre of Christian devotion. ibid.
The relics themselves were kept in reliquaries. ibid.
Canterbury ... In 1220 St Thomas’s body was placed in a shrine behind the main altar. ibid.
The idea that relics provided a direct link to the saints in Heaven was a core belief. ibid.
Another reason for making reliquaries so alluring, and for making relics so visible, was to attract pilgrims whose donations sustained the Church. ibid.
Relics were central to the daily business of the Church. ibid.
The Reformation ... relics in their thousand were destroyed. ibid.
The Catholic revival caught the wave of the Gothic revival. ibid.
Crown of Thorns, the holiest relic in all of Christendom: Sainte Chapelle was built in flamboyant Gothic style to house the precious relic. Andrew Graham-Dixon, The Art of France I: Plus Ca Change, BBC 2017
The glory of the container is meant to show the glory of the saint. Sister Wendy Beckett
Is this the mark of a crucified man? Venerated in Spain. Seemingly soaked in blood. Could this be the cloth that covered Christ’s face after his death? ... The cloth used in ancient times to wipe sweat from the face. Ancient X Files s1e2: Blood of Christ & Mystery Disc, National Geographic 2010
This could be the blood of Christ. ibid.
The Crown of Thorns guarded by an ancient order of religious knight. One thorn that is believed to bleed. Ancient X-Files s2e2: Crown of Thorns & The Living Dead
Relics were used to attract pilgrims to religious sites there [Jerusalem]. ibid.
The Nazis believed some relics could even guarantee victory on the battlefield. ibid.
An ancient talisman that could connect pagan orgies and human sacrifice to the birth of Christianity. It vanished with the rise of the Nazis. After Hitler’s downfall suspicions that it disappears behind the iron curtain ... the Orpheus Amulet. Ancient X Files s2e13: Sword in the Stone & Orpheus Amulet
Orpheus was revered as a musician. Many images portray Orpheus playing his lyre to animals. ibid.
Orpheus is a mythic Greek hero. ibid.