I'll take a moment to mention the various places we've been and I'll link to web albums. Hopefully I'll post more interesting things on these places, unlike my trip to Rome where I didn't. I apologize that not all of the albums are annotated yet. It takes a while to remember precisely what is in every church, crypt, etc. My working knowledge of German is so poor it can't even be graded, so unlike Rome the grave markers and signs are difficult to translate. But here it is! We've been to:
- London
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Speyer, Germany
- Worms, Germany
- Mainz, Germany
- Cologne, Germany
- Aachen, Germany
- Trier, Germany
- Munich, Germany
- ... and some misc. places
As requested I broke the picture sets up as they're so large. As you'll see, we've been to a lot of churches and museums. Poor Sam. :-)
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Now on to the point of the post. When I was in Rome (and as I've said just now, I still haven't posted much on the trip itself) I took the opportunity to visit San Pietro in Vincoli (St Peter in Chains), a small and rather ordinary looking place about 5 minutes from the Coliseum. I believe it was Dr Bernhardt that mentioned it and brought it to my attention during a lecture last Fall. The church lays claim to the unfinished tomb monument for Pope Julius II by Michaelangelo. However, the church's biggest claim is the chains that bound the Apostle Peter during his captivity in Rome. Since the Church believes Peter was the first Bishop of Rome (i.e., Pope), was crucified [upside down] there (the obelisk in Vatican square marks the location), and became a martyr, the chains that bound him are considered holy.
I took extensive pictures of the church and I have a few shots of the reliquary holding the chains. I recommend this one. I didn't really think much of it at the time, afterall, Rome is cluttered with relics and objects of the holy and divine.
During our roaming around Germany, however, we've come across even more relics. The medieval Christian mind sought a oneness with God and one way you might achieve this is by associating with holy earthly objects such as the bone of a saint (someone who is considered "holy" enough to be have achieved heaven), or the objects of martrydom such as the arrows that pierced St Sebastian. Those who could afford to acquire such objects often placed them in private chapels or in pendants, rings and other bodily adornments. More often, however, the more "flashy" relics were placed in lavishly adorned vessels and displayed prominently in churches where pilgrims would travel far and wide to admire and draw inspiration from them. Popular were things associated directly with Jesus such as slivers of the True Cross and bones of the apostles. You've probably heard of the Shroud of Turin. Well, that is a relic.
The more devout one could be, the better, and a popular way of displaying such piety was in the acquisition of holy objects. It turns out that Kings and the nobility made a sport out of collecting such items and donating them. As such, the cathedrals in Germany host beautiful treasuries with bones, hair and bits of items from all places encased in wonderful gold vessels adorned with jewels and enamels. There is a book currently on my wishlist (and quickly moving to the top) called Furta Sacra, Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages (author: Patrick Geary) that discusses the concept of relic theft pretty extensively. Stealing them, when they could not otherwise be acquired, was fairly widespread.
It was while walking through the impressive treasury at Köln (Cologne) Cathedral that we came across the relics of Peter's chains. I had read in the guide that they were there but it wasn't until we came upon them that it really hit me. Were these from the same chains in Rome? I checked my iPhone quickly as I had put a picture from San Pietro in Vincoli on there and surely enough they looked similar. I snapped an illegal picture with the iPhone while Sam shielded me from security cameras, for later comparison.
I admit I was mildly interest at this point. I have a visual memory and at times I have to see things to really understand them. When I saw the two relics, separate by hundreds of miles, the concept of relic theft and legitimate relic acquisition really hit home. Someone gave this to a bishop or king, who in turned gifted it to a church, and people from far and away would come to see it. It was sort of a shock to see it all in person and imagine how it worked, although the concept has been known to me for quite some time. But that sort of realization isn't possible in the US.
Then we went to Aachen, known for it's Throne of Charlemagne where 30 German kings have been crowned, the beautiful octagonal chapel and the old palace of Charlemagne . It's also where Otto III is buried (yes I giggled like a schoolgirl). We took a tour of the treasury there and it is magnificent. There are reliquaries with bits of Charlemagne and all sorts. To our surprise, upstairs in the treasury museum, sitting near a bright window, was a reliquary of Peter's Chains. I was suddenly becoming more interested in this and I know not why. I snapped the picture and we moved on.
We then went to Trier, and if you've been paying attention, you might see where this is going. In the small Trier treasury we found... wait for it... a reliquary with Peter's chains.
This has prompted me to start a small research quest. With a lot of relics you have to really wonder where they came from, who they belonged to and how they were 'acquired'. Afterall, bones in a glass case could belong to just about anyone, slivers of the "True Cross" could have been chipped away off of a chair. But it's pretty easy to make a visual guess at whether or not the chains in Rome are the same as the ones we came across. Are they the same shape and color? If the answer is even remotely 'yes' then you could compare metal content and makeup to answer your questions.
Furthermore, and this is really what interests me, how were these chain relics acquired? The story of a few of these chains is pretty simple: they were gifted by the Pope to a Bishop/Cardinal/Priest/King for the purpose of spiritual enhancement in the realm. The reliquary in Rome would have been opened and someone would have the unnerving task of prying open a link and carefully placing it in the new reliquary. Or is this how it happened? I tend to think it would be more difficult to steal just one link. Many relics were taken by force under the cover of "the saint really wanted to be in Germany instead!" Chains, however, don't have feelings, and chains are rather difficult to pry apart. I have to conclude then, that we're looking at 100% gifted relics, assuming they come from the same place.
This begs the question: who gets a piece? I've found 3 just in Germany on a whim and an article written in 1915 hints that there may have been one with the Bamberg Treasure of Henry II which is now in Munich (where I am!). A little Google research shows there is one also in Vienna and another in Burlington, Vermont which was gifted very recently and thus probably more likely to be verified as coming from Rome. Why Vermont? Are there any in Africa? Asia? Others in Europe?
I feel inspired to research this and research how they came to be where they are. Has anyone tied them all back together conclusively with metal comparisons? Is such research even possible?
I ponder...
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