Delacroix Painting of Crusaders Entering Constantinople in 1204
In 1204, knights of the
Fourth Crusade looted the treasures of Constantinople and carried
away many riches and relics. The image-bearing Edessa Cloth
disappeared along with other priceless treasures. There is some
evidence that the Edessa Cloth, then known as the Holy Mandylion,
was taken to Athens. About a year after Constantinople was
plundered, Theodore Ducas Anglelos wrote in a letter to Pope
Innocent III:
The
Venetians partitioned the treasure of gold, silver and ivory,
while the French did the same with the relics of saints and the
most sacred of all, the linen in which our Lord Jesus Christ was
wrapped after His death and before the resurrection. We know that
the sacred objects are preserved by their predators in Venice and
France and in other places.
In 1207, Nicholas d’Orrante,
Abbott of Casole and the Papal Legate in Athens, wrote about
relics taken from Constantinople by French knights. Referring
specifically to burial cloths, he mentions seeing them “with our
own eyes” in Athens.
See:
Ancient History of the Shroud of Turin
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