Friday, December 19, 2014

Chronology of the Shroud (1): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia

Turin Shroud Encyclopedia
© Stephen E. Jones
[1]

Chronology of the Shroud (1)


This "Chronology of the Shroud" has been superseded by my "Chronology of the Turin Shroud: AD 30 to the present" series.


This is entry #11(1), of my "Turin Shroud Encyclopedia." It is my chronology of the Shroud of Turin, divided into each century and starting with the 1st century. It is similar in format to Shroud.com's "Shroud History" but not based on it. I will populate this chronology

[Above: Pilgrim's lead badge or medallion preserved in the Cluny Museum in Paris. Its dimensions are 4.5cm high and 6.2cm wide (~1.8 x ~2.4 in.). The badge is the oldest known artistic rendition of the Shroud of Turin in Europe. It was found in the Seine river, under the `Pont-au-Change' bridge, in 1855. From historical records it is known that the Shroud was in Lirey, France from 1353 to 1453, so this medallion was probably from a pilgrim who went to Lirey, to see the Shroud but lost it in the river. The reproduction of the Shroud is unmistakable as we can clearly see the frontal and dorsal of a body very similar to the Turin Shroud, along with the coats of arms of Geoffroy I de Charny [left] and his wife Jeanne de Vergy [right]. In the centre surrounded by a circle representing the Empty Tomb, are the Crown of Thorns, and Cross coming out of the tomb. Also evident is a representation of the Shroud's herringbone weave. Geoffroy I de Charny died on 19 September 1356[2], which means that this exposition was probably before that, in c. 1355, as per Bishop Pierre d'Arcis' 1989 Memorandum's "thirty four years"[3].]

with entries as they occur in my other encyclopedia entry pages and link to them (e.g. "[#3]" is entry #3. This will have the effect of making this chronology an index by year and/or century of my encyclopedia entries. When this page grows too large I will split off an entry #11(2) and so on. For more information about this series, see the Main Index "A-Z", and sub-indexes "S", "C," and "D."

[Main index] [Entry index] [Previous #10] [Next #12]


[1st] [2nd] [3rd] [4th] [5th] [6th] [7th] [8th] [9th] [10th] [11th] [12th] [13th] [14th] [15th] [16th] [17th] [18th] [19th] [20th] [21st]

1st century[return]
Image of Roman lepton coin over the right eye of the Man on the Shroud. This coin was minted only during the rule of the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, between AD 29-32, covering the period of Jesus' death, which was most likely AD 30. This is proof beyond reasonable doubt that the Man on the Shroud was crucified in Judea soon after AD 29, as Jesus was![#12].

2nd century[return]
c. 150. Gospel of the Hebrews. The earliest account of Jesus' sindon having been preserved is in a quotation by St. Jerome, from the now lost early second-century "Gospel of the Hebrews." According to this early Jewish-Christian writing, after his resurrection Jesus gave his burial shroud (sindon) to the "servant of the priest." This is the earliest and most respected of a number of second century apocryphal books which mention that Jesus' burial shroud was saved from the tomb[#9(1)]. The evidence points to this "servant of the priest" having been a pseudonym of John the Apostle[#9(3)].

8th century[return]
c. 710. St. John of Damascus, or John Damascene, (c.675–749), wrote of the relics associated with Jesus as including "the shrouds [tas sindonas] and the cloths of the tomb." In a sermon he used the singular, sindoni to refer to the shroud. That John knew that Jesus' sindon was the size of the Shroud of Turin is evident in that he wrote in c.730 that Jesus had impressed His image on a himation, an oblong cloth about two yards wide by three yards long (~1.8 x ~2.7 m)[#8].

10th century[return]
944. The Shroud arrived at Constantinople on August 8, 944, as the Image of Edessa/Mandylion, folded in eight (tetradiplon "four-doubled") with only the face one-eighth panel visible[#4].

c. 945. Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (905–959) had himself depicted in an icon (now at St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai), as Edessa's King Abgar V (BC 4–AD 50) receiving the Image of Edessa, with Jesus' face in landscape aspect (as it is when the Shroud is folded eight times with the man's face uppermost) from Jesus' disciple Thaddeus[#4].

958. Emperor Constantine VII sent a letter of encouragement to his troops, telling them that he was sending them holy water consecrated by relics of the Passion, including: "... the sindon which God wore [theophoron sindonos][#8].

11th century[return]
c. 1100. Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator ("ruler of all") in the dome of the church of Daphni, Greece completed. It has 13 of the 15 Vignon markings, which are found on the Shroud, and is therefore proof beyond reasonable doubt that the Shroud existed in the 11th century[#6]

12th century[return]
1171. Historian Archbishop William of Tyre accompanied King Amaury of Jerusalem (1136-1174) in a visit to Constantinople where Byzantium emperor Manuel I Comnenus (1118-1180): "...ordered to be exposed the relics ... of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ" including the "sindon"[#8].

13th century[return]
1204. French crusader-knight Robert de Clari (c. 1170-1216) saw in a church in Constantinople a "sydoines" (sindon) "in which Our Lord had been wrapped" and "one could clearly see the figure of Our Lord on it"[#8].

1201. Nicholas Mesarites (c. 1163/4–aft. 1216), the keeper of the Imperial relic collection in Constantinople's Pharos Chapel, in 1207 wrote what in 1201 he had warned supporters of a palace revolution: "In this chapel Christ rises again, and the sindon with the burial linens is the clear proof." Mesarites' list of the relics that were in the Pharos Chapel in 1201, included: "The burial sindon of Christ: this is of linen... it wrapped the un-outlined [aperilepton], naked dead body after the Passion." This can only be the Shroud, given that the lack of an outline is a major characteristic of its image[#8].

14th century[return]
1341-43. King Philip VI (1293–1350) gave Geoffroy I de Charny (c. 1300-1356) the Shroud, which the king had obtained from Besançon Cathedral, as a reward for protecting his son, the future King John II (1319–1364), in the 1341 Battle of Angers (proposed)[#13(1)].
1343. Geoffroy applied to Philip VI for funds to build and operate a chapel in Lirey, with five chaplains. That year Philip donated land the rent of which was to build and operate the chapel. The disproportionate size of the clerical staff for a village of only 50 houses indicates that Geoffroy already had the Shroud and was preparing to exhibit it. Philip VI's funding of the chapel indicates he knew Geoffroy had the Shroud (see above)[#13(1)].
1349. Geoffroy petitioned the French Pope at Avignon, Clement VI (1291–1352), requesting that his already built chapel be raised to collegiate status. Further evidence that he had the Shroud and was preparing to exhibit it at Lirey church[#13(1)].
c. 1352. Marriage of Geoffroy I de Charny and Jeanne de Vergy (c. 1332-1428)[#13(1)].
1353. The Lirey church had six canons, one of whom was Dean, as well as three other clerics. In that same year, King John II agreed to a further annual revenue increase[#13(1)].
c. 1354-57. The Shroud's first appearance in undisputed history at Lirey, France, when it was exhibited by Geoffroy de Charny and his wife Jeanne de Vergy [#3, #13(1)]. In a letter of 28 May 1356, the day of the Lirey church's inauguration, Bishop Henri de Poitiers (†1354–1370), wrote: "we praise, ratify and approve" of Geoffroy de Charny's "divine cult" and "we give our assent" to it[#13(1)].
1356. Death of Geoffroy I de Charny on 19 September 1356, in the Battle of Poitiers, shielding with his own body King John II from English lances[#13(1)].

15th century[return]
1453. The Shroud was transferred by Marguerite de Charny (1390-1460), the last of the de Charny line, to Duke Louis of Savoy (1413–1465)[#3].

16th century[return]
1532. The Sainte Chapelle royal chapel in Chambéry, France, where the Shroud had been moved to in 1502, caught fire. A drop of molten silver from the Shroud's casket burnt through one corner of all 48 folds of the cloth before the fire is doused with water, but miraculously the image was preserved[#3].

1578. Duke Emmanuel Philibert (1528–80) of Savoy moved the Shroud to Turin, Italy, where, apart from brief periods in times of war, it has remained ever since[#3].

17th century[return]
1694. The Shroud was installed in the Guarini Chapel attached to Turin's Cathedral of St John the Baptist[#3].

20th century[return]
1983. Ex-King of Italy, Umberto II (1904–83), the last of the House of Savoy, died and bequeathed the Shroud to the Pope and his successors, on the condition that the Shroud remain in Turin under the custodianship of the Archbishop of Turin[#3].

1997. The Guarini Chapel was all but destroyed by a fire but the Shroud was again saved[#3].

1998. Exhibition of the Shroud from April 18 to June 14, in Turin Cathedral. Immediately prior to that exhibition, ancient textiles specialist Dr. Mechthild Flury-Lemberg determined that the true dimensions of the Shroud are 437 cms long by 111 cms wide (~ 14 ft 4 in. by 3 ft 8 in.)[#7].

21st century[return]
2005. Following temporary accommodation in the Archbishop of Turin's residence (1997-98) and Turin Cathedral (1998-2005), the Shroud was installed in 2005 into its permanent reliquary in a side chapel of the north transept of Turin Cathedral[#3].

Notes
1. This post is copyright. No one may copy from it or any of my posts on this my The Shroud of Turin blog without them first asking and receiving my written permission. Except that I grant permission, without having to ask me, for anyone to copy the title and one paragraph only (including one graphic) of any of my posts, provided that they include a reference to the title of, and a hyperlink to, that post from which it came. [return]
2. The photograph and all the foregoing points are from Latendresse, M., 2012, "A Souvenir from Lirey," Sindonology.org. [return]
3. Wilson, I., 2010, "The Shroud: The 2000-Year-Old Mystery Solved," Bantam Press: London, pp.221-222. [return]

Created: 19 December, 2014. Updated: 19 September 2016.

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