And why must they always call it the “True Cross”? Wrote Calvin in Traité Des Reliques.
There is no abbey so poor as not to have a specimen. In some places there are large fragments, as at the Holy Chapel in Paris, at Poitiers, and at Rome, where a good-sized crucifix is said to have been made of it. In brief, if all the pieces that could be found were collected together, they would make a big ship-load. Yet the Gospel testifies that a single man was able to carry it.
And some of us thought that was enough. But now Martin Fletcher of NBC News reports archaeologists finding a piece of the True Cross:
And here is how some affiliate reported it:
Headline: Archaeologists Discover What Could Be Fragment of Christ’s Cross
Archaeologists have made what could be one of the most important discoveries for Christian history.
After digging for four years, and finding a thousand human skeletons, Turkish archaeologists believe they may have struck biblical gold – a fragment of the cross of Jesus.
They found it in a stone chest engraved with two crosses.
Professor Gulgun Koroglu said, "This piece may contain a bone of a Christian saint, or a piece of the cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on."
If so it would become an instant icon of Christianity – found in a church built in the year 660.
In the fourth century, wood fragments said to be from the cross were sent from these shores across the Mediterranean to Rome and Constantinople in today’s Turkey.
A biblical link raises the profile of any find. A shroud in Turin is said to hold the image of Jesus.
Noah’s Ark is said to have been found several times.
And in Lake Galilee, an ancient fishing boat found in the mud was said to have possibly belonged to Jesus.
Either way the Turkish archaeologists say the stone and its contents have a very important history. They’re being examined in a laboratory.
(Emphasis above is mine)
In 1870 Rohault de Fleury estimated the total volume of the True Cross to be 36 000 cm^3, while the TOTAL volume of all alleged fragments of the True Cross was LESS THAN 4 000 cm^3. Besides several fragment were lost, for example one large part once stored in Jerusalem was lost when crusader forces were defeated by Saaldin during the Battle of Hattin.
Thanks for this reference. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that expression “if you put all the pieces of the Cross together you could…” build a bridge across the English Channel, etc. It’s become an accepted myth in the media now.
Here you have the volume major fragments of True Cross, from Michael Hesemann’s “Silent Witnesses of Golgotha”:
http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/9506/gy06.jpg
In mm^ 3, ‘*’ means updated value since de Fleury, Brussels part of 514 590 mm^3 is probably false.
Dave: Saint Helen left only 1/3 of the True Cross, another 1/3 was sent to Rome, and remaining 1/3 to her son Constantine the Great.
A selection of extracts from my files on the “True Cross”:
Check “The Quest For The True Cross”: Carsten Peter Thiede and Matthew D’Ancona; Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000.
Among the relics discovered by Queen Helena were three crosses and some crucifixion nails hidden in a deep well, revealed by a local inhabitant. Many legends are associated with the discovery, and the True Cross (Vera Crux) was said to be identified by a miraculous cure.
Although several relics were sent to her palace in Rome and elsewhere, the Vera Crux was kept in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem until it was captured by Chosroes II of Persia in 614. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius recaptured it in 627 taking it first to Constantinople, and then returning it to Jerusalem.
Although hidden for many years, the relic made its reappearance in 1099 during the first Crusade. In 1187 a Frankish army under Guy de Lusignan was camped at Sepphoris and carried it into battle against Saladin. The crusaders were utterly routed on the Field of Hattin, and Saladin paraded the relic through the streets of Damascus in triumph. The cross-beam was eventually lost; fragments found their way back to Europe as Relics of the True Cross, some no doubt bogus.
Sepphoris is an ancient city in Galilee, rebuilt by the tetrarch Herod Antipas, and is about 8 km north of the Nazareth of Jesus’ boyhood.
After The Horns of Hattin, Saladin was master of the Moslem world, and rode through the streets of Damascus with the captured True Cross tied to his horse’s tail and dragging in the dust. Did his soldiers use it for firewood?
Despite the valiant efforts of Richard I during the Third Crusade, the True Cross remained in Moslem hands. The beam itself disappeared, but fragments of the cross that came off were collected and brought back to Europe after the Crusades, some no doubt bogus.
Although the so-named True Cross was an inspiration and death sentence to many brave men of the time, no trace of the relic is believed to exist today. Was this focal point of the Crusaders, the True Cross as it was called. Perhaps we will never know. The important thing remains that for those soldiers who took up the cause of the Crusades, it was real enough to die for.
The “Titulus Crucis” the headboard relic taken by Helena to Rome is a related relic. It is either authentic, or else is a medieval replica of the authentic original. The original was known to exist for several hundred years.
Thanks, Dave. I have “The Quest for The True Cross” on my bookshelf. Thiede’s books are really worth to read, as they put the early history of Christianity in a complete different light than what is presented in mainstream books, or documentaries on Discovery, BBC, NG etc. Although Thiede had still mantained some prejudice for some relics, Crown of Thorns for example. They still wait for honest examination, without a priori judgement.
Correction: 1/3 of True cross in Jerusalem, 1/3 to Rome, and 1/3 to Constantine. Those thirds were later partitioned into smaller and smaller fragments, which were sent to the churches all around the world, so finding a lost fragment of the True Cross is in fact nothing significant.
I’m not sure about the thirds being distributed as stated by O.K. There is a very comprehensive article on Wikipedia, but Helena’s dispersal of the Cross seems ambiguous and is not clearly stated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Cross
Quote: ‘According to Theodoret, “She had part of the cross of our Saviour conveyed to the palace (Constantinople or Rome?). The rest was enclosed in a covering of silver, and committed to the care of the bishop of the city, whom she exhorted to preserve it carefully, in order that it might be transmitted uninjured to posterity.” ‘
Note that Rome isn’t mentioned. However, it is known that Helena took the Titulus to Rome and it was in the Church of San Gerusalemme there, see Thiede’s and D’Ancona’s ref above. They make a good case for the present titulus relic being authentic. Arizona C14 tests raised doubts. However the carved text inscriptions seem persuasively authentic, in which case if the present relic isn’t the original, then it would seem to be a replica of the original. The Wiki article indicates that part of the Vera Crux was broken up to be dispersed throughout Christendom as relics. It would seem that the portion Helena left in Jerusalem was substantial, and it was this portion that was often carried by the Crusaders into battle and later captured by Saladin. Is it possible that the relic now discovered in Turkey is the remains of Saladin’s trophy?
Hesemann claims so, but truly, one must check within primary sources. Anyway it is probable, and some fragments are indeed in Rome. One half of the Titulus was left in Jerusalem, one traveled to Rome. So the cross probably shared similar fate.
According to Hesemann what was left from it up to crusades was not so substantial. The patriarch of Jerusalem partitioned it in 638, after muslim conquest, into 19 pieces, from which: 3 were sent to Constantinople, 2 to Cyprus, 3 to Antioch, 2 to Georgia, 1 to Crete, Edessa, Alexandria, Ascalon, and Damascus, respectively, and 4 remained in Jerusalem, of which the largest part was later carried into battle by crusaders.
About recent discovery, it was not the Saldin’s prize. In the news report was said that the excavated church in Turkey is 1350 years old.
BTW: Because I have Polsih edition of Thiede’s book, if you want to refere to it, please give me a number of the chapter, and closest footnote to the text you want to quote, right?
I’m going sleep for now.
one of the many things calvin got wrong
O.K: Thanks for the additional info. I first came across Thiede’s book in our local lending library around 2003, took notes, and wrote up a piece for my church magazine. Much of what I’ve included above is from the notes and the article of that time. A few years ago I had a special moment one Christmas at Midnight Mass, that one sometimes has. I took the book out again and wrote up a little fanciful piece called “Just a Simple Block of Wood” which also included a few personal allusions in it, to be understood by those “in the know”. By then the Titulus had been carbon-dated, and there’s also a mention of that.
If you want to follow it up, you can find the 2010 article at:
http://tawacatholic.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/TCN-Mar-10.pdf
It’s on pages 20-21 of that issue of Tawa Catholic News. You may want to use zoom view.
Thanks Dave!