When the Homily is about Immunology

France Part 5

Relics

Notre Dame has numerous amazing relics. Probably the most well know is the Crown of Thorns which has a rich history being first noted in the early 5th century in Jerusalem and then being transferred to Constantinople in 1063. After the Latin West sacked and conquered Constantinople, the ruling latin emperor in Byzantium sold the relic to Louis IX of France who kept it in his Sainte-Chapelle church which he built for that purpose in 1248.

It remained there until the French Revolution. My history is fuzzy with regard to the French Revolution and I did not realize how much it had parellels with the Russian Revolution 100 some years later - with regard to it having a strong anti-religious bias.

Notre Dame was pillaged and turned into a cathedral devoted to the "cult of reason." The Crown of Thorns found relative safety in a museum of some sort when we may assume St. Chapelle suffered a similar fate. It would be Napolean who returned the relic to the Church and it was at this time that it ends up at Notre Dame.

As we all know, MANY relics ended up in the west that were looted from the east during the Crusades. As I continue to read Runciman, the reasoning as to why this all happened (re: the 4th crusade) at least has some semblance of sense - albeit it none-the-less sad and bitter. I did not hesitate to venerate numerous of these relics which were displayed (i.e. one of the nails), but alas the crown is not displayed in the Treasury, but kept more securely (in the altar perhaps?)and brought out on special occassions such as fridays during Lent.

No mention is made in any of the literature that I read there to indicate the emperor from whom Louis IX purchased the relic was a Latin usurper.