About the Holy Shroud and the collegiate church of Lirey (Aube)

By Alain Hourseau

The Holy Shroud appeared in history, as early as 1356, in a collegiate church, located 20 kilometers south of Troyes. It was Jeanne de Vergy who testified to it, following the wish of her late husband, the knight, Geoffroy de Charny, also a standard-bearer and advisor to the King.

But the history of the Holy Shroud, in Lirey, does not stop after its departure in 1418. Even distant several hundred kilometers, its memory continues to feed the coffers of the collegiate church, thanks to the coins left by the waves of pilgrims. The canons do not despair of seeing the relic one day in their new church, built in the 16th century. The Revolution will mark a fatal blow, after several centuries of decline. The Holy Shroud is now in Turin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Mar 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9782322195312

Alain Hourseau

Alain Hourseau, historien, conférencier, a publié une dizaine de livres, des inventaires archéologiques et de nombreux articles dans diverses revues historiques sur le département de l'Aube. Il est également spécialiste du Saint Suaire lors de son passage à Lirey et du chevalier Geoffroy de Charny.

Book preview

For Alain

With best wishes and great admiration for your interesting research

Ian Wilson

« Aller te fault

« Lesses chiens, faucons, et gerfaut.

« Quel deduit a qui riens ne vault?

« Ou veus aler

« En Grenade, en oultre la mer

« Pour les ennemis Dieu grever?

« C’est bonne vie

« En Prusce ou en Lombardie

« Ou au pais de Rommenie

« Garde quel part

« Passer veulx la mer d’autre part

Geoffroy de Charny, extrait du « Livre Charny »

Lignes 326 à 336

From the same author :

Histoire de Bouilly, Souligny, Montaigu et des environs. 1990.

De la préhistoire aux Celtes. Cantons de Bouilly, Ervy-le-Châtel et Troyes. 1994.

Troyes à l’époque gallo-romaine. Cantons de Bouilly, Ervy-le-Châtel et Troyes. 2006.

Le canton de Bouilly. Mémoire en Images. Alan Sutton. 2007.

Le canton d’Ervy-le-Châtel. Mémoire en Images. Alan Sutton. 2009.

La libération des environs de Bouilly, de juin à août 1944 et le destin du général Arndt. 2010.

Autour du Saint Suaire et de la collegiale de Lirey (Aube). BOD. 2012

Carnet de route en Amérique du sud. 1981 – 1983. BOD 2013.

La première guerre mondiale vécue par les habitants de Bouilly (Aube). BOD 2014.

Site internet : alain.hourseau.free.fr

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface

Introduction

The origin of the Holy Shroud

The first pilgrimages

In Constantinople

Lirey

The Charny family

The royal context

Champagne fairs

The Templars knights

Bishop Guichard

Geoffroy de Charny

The first military campaigns

Humbert's Crusade

Second marriage

A diplomatic career

Prisoner in Calais

Plague

A little-know author

Construction of the college

The ultimate battle

Deposit of the holy relic

The first indulgences

Arrival in number of the first pilgrims

Interruption of ostensions?

Invasion of Anglo-Navarran troops

Large companies

Jeanne’s remarriage

Geoffroy II military campaigns

The Turkey Crusade

New sweep of brigands

Second inhumation of Geoffroy I

Glory to Geoffroy I

New Geoffroy II campaigns

New ostensions

History revisited

The last crusade

Definitive departure of the Holy Shroud

The movement of the Holy Shroud

The false shroud of Besançon

The construction of the new church

Two altarpieces

The decline of the college

Revolutionary disorders

Requisitions

The dispersal of heritage

The construction of the current chapel

Architectural developments of the collegial

Archaeological testimonials. Commercialization of souvenirs

The representations of the Holy Shroud

The Lirey sign mold

Conclusion

Chronology

The deans of the college

Water cistern of the college of Lirey

Preface by Pierre de Riedmatten,

President of the association Montre Nous Ton Visage.

At the beginning of 1980, Dom Luigi Fossati, a Salesian, already listed more than 1,300 books or articles published since 1939 on the Shroud of Turin. That was not counting those written before, by the pioneers of research on this linen which carries a strange image (revealed by the negative taken by Secondo Pia in 1898): as early as 1902, the botanist Paul Vignon indeed published the results of his first works. Nor did he count the works already written on the Sign on which this cloth invites us to reflect. (like the famous article by Paul Claudel in 1935). And, since 1980, it has become almost impossible to count the very many books, articles, or audiovisual programs devoted to this mysterious object, especially since the Carbon 14 test of 1988 (which dated it from the years 1260 to 1390).

Clearly, the Shroud fascinates, it disturb, it poses the question: could this linen really have surrounded the body of Jesus Christ at the tomb? Does it show signs of the Resurrection? What does it tell us?

In an attempt to answer these major questions, the funeral linen kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin is the subject of studies in all possible fields of Science and History.

It is therefore not surprising to find here a new study, on one of the still little explored facets of the history of this fabric, which apparently happened suddenly in Lirey, a small village in Burgundy, in the middle from the 14th century, but on a date still impossible to specify.

Until recently, the question arose about the ancient history of this fabric, the image of which remains impossible to reproduce, despite numerous attempts. But recent studies have shown:

- that there has never been a forger identified (Professor Emmanuel Poulle explained in 2007 how, at the beginning of the 20th century, Canon Ulysse Chevalier had voluntarily changed the interpretation to be given to the bubbles of Pope Clement VII) ;

- that the fabric preserved in Turin is indeed that which was deeply venerated in Constantinople in the 10th century (it is most probably the Mandylion, which came from Edessa in 944);

- and that the history of this Shroud / Mandylion goes back to the very beginning of the 1st millennium, because he surrounded a man of Semitic race, crucified in Palestine around the year 30 (he had coins on his eyes issued by Pontius Pilate).

All this leads us to research how the C 14 test of 1988 was able to give a medieval dating of the tissue, despite the competence of the laboratories (many studies are underway to try to answer this very difficult question).

Until recently also, we knew little about Geoffroy I de Charny, considered as one of these innumerable little provincial lords (in 1328, according to Alain Hourseau, Lirey had only "50 fires", that is to say about 180 inhabitants). And the mystery deepens when we see that this first possessor of the Shroud in Europe died without ever having made any allusion to the Shroud, which was not exhibited, it seems, until after his death (in 1356, at the Battle of Poitiers).

But recent research (notably that of the historian Philippe Contamine, on which Alain Hourseau sometimes draws here) has shown, on the contrary, that he was an unusual character. Starting from almost nothing (at 30 years old he was only a bachelor, with 6 squires), he became, thanks to his military courage, a standard-bearer for the king having a seat in his Secret Council; and he was, among other honors, named knight of the Order of the Star and governor of Picardy. He was related to the largest families in France, especially by his wife (Jeanne de Vergy), descendant of the counts of Auxois and Othon de la Roche, who took the Shroud to Athens during the 4th crusade, after the sack of Constantinople, in 1204.

Alain Hourseau had the courage to delve into the archives of the Aube, but also into the national archives, to give us many details: on the village of Lirey and its surroundings (from Antiquity to the present day); on the history of the collegiate church (from the foundation of a wooden chapel in 1353, then the construction of the church in 1528, until its destruction in 1828 and its reconstruction in 1896); on the genealogies and actions of people involved locally (from the most humble to the lords, including the clergy), and on the genealogies and actions of people possibly involved far away (in the Frankish Empire of Constantinople, Sicily , or in the kingdom of Morea in Greece); on the events that punctuated this story, from near or far (foundations, wills, donations and trials, but also cavalcades, battles, betrayals, traps, wars, peace treaties, crusades, including of course the two captures of Geoffroy de Charny by the English); and on the social conditions at the end of the Middle Ages (rules of chivalry and deviations from these rules, but also religious devotion, pilgrimages, worship of relics, etc.). We can finally realize what everyday life could be like at that time, when plague epidemics frequently returned, killing a very large part of the inhabitants (sometimes more than half), or when the countryside was regularly ravaged and pillaged, by the armed troops, by big unemployed bodies of troops or by hordes of brigands. For all this, Alain Hourseau relies on an abundant documentation, in particular on the great chroniclers of the 14th century (Froissart, Joinville, Jean de Venette ...).

Like many other books, this one will probably not escape criticism: on this subject, which is so complex and which raises many hypotheses, some errors are undoubtedly inevitable. But for the specialist, in addition to important historical details and the final chronology which summarizes the main events, this book makes known in particular (in the last chapter) the role of pilgrimage signs (mereaux), and the discovery, in 2009, of one of the molds used to manufacture these signs for the collegiate church of Lirey.

We should not forget, moreover, that this fabric continues to call for reflection and meditation. Thus, more than two million people came to venerate the Shroud in Turin in April-May 2010, during the ostension requested by Pope Benedict XVI, this "favorable opportunity to contemplate this mysterious face, which speaks silently to the hearts of men by inviting them to recognize the Face of God".

INTRODUCTION

The history of the Holy Shroud has always attracted the interest of researchers, and therefore that of the faithful in search of devotion. We cannot evoke it without emotion.

It is certain that this archaeological piece has raised many questions and controversies for several centuries, even after the latest scientific analyzes, which are supposed to bring new credibility. There are countless historians who have studied this dossier and who have published a book, or a simple collection. If we could establish a complete bibliography of the Shroud, it would have several hundred references.

So why a new book on this subject? Does it bring new information?

Certainly. The story of the Shroud, in Lirey, does not end after his departure. Even several hundred kilometers away, his memory continues to feed the coffers of the collegiate church, thanks to the coins left by the waves of pilgrims. The canons do not despair of seeing the relic one day in their new church, built in the 16th century. The Revolution will mark a fatal blow, after several centuries of decline.

Remains of the collegiate church are scattered in and around the village. The wealth of the old 16th century church is scattered in neighboring churches, sometimes in an unknown manner. One of the altarpieces is the pride of a museum located outside our borders...

But above all, this book is centered on the local context, taking into account foreign invasions, epidemics, weather conditions, religious trends, the lords of Lirey, the canons and so on, all of which influence the daily life of the collegiate church. It’s part of our local history, through a small rural village.

The difficulty of such a work depends on the reliability of the sources, in more than one respect. They reach us in several stages and can be classified into four categories; literary, historical, iconographic and scientific.

The oldest literary sources are the Gospels, with accounts of eyewitnesses to the death of Christ. The apocryphal texts, that is to say from those who were able to observe the Shroud in a specific place, such as during a pilgrimage, are often compilations of texts and oral traditions.

We benefit from new written sources prior to the tenth century, in particular through the work of researcher Mark Guscin who studied manuscripts of the monasteries of Mount Athos, rediscovered in 2008.

The writings of chroniclers, crusaders from Champagne, witnesses to the capture of Constantinople in 1203, like those of Geoffroy de Villehardouin, are very important.

But history seriously resumed more than a century later, in 1353, in the small village of Lirey, about twenty kilometers south of Troyes, in southern Champagne, not far from Burgundy.

If the presence of this relic thousands of kilometers from its place of origin seems mysterious, we must now follow the chivalrous adventures of Geoffroy de Charny, the lord of the place, to continue the journey.

The fate of this character, entirely dependent on the events of the Franco-English war which had just broken out, is truly extraordinary; at the same time knight, head of an armed group, then standard bearer for the king, a man of confidence as an adviser to the king and a diplomat, author of literary works, and man of devotion with the acquisition of the shroud of Christ.

His memory was perpetuated by many chroniclers, among whom we obviously find Froissart, who glorified him in flattering terms: "A very valiant knight of France, who was called Mesire Joffrois de Cargni". We know that Jean Froissart is sometimes criticized on the veracity of the facts, but know that he did not hesitate to go to the precise place of the events he narrated, to question the witnesses, in order to know the truthful details as well as possible .

Let’s not forget the fabulous chronicle of Jean de Venette, a Carmelite brother, which covers the beginnings of the Hundred Years War. If he never cites the name of Geoffroy de Charny, he nonetheless remains a privileged witness of historical achievements, but also of everyday life in the countryside, and in particular the great suffering of the small peasant people faced many plagues such as epidemics, or the ravages of war.

In this study, we will follow the family history of Geoffroy de Charny. For this, it was therefore necessary to develop and compare all the family trees of the great lordly families of the 14th century, mainly those of Champagne and Burgundy. The different marriages, generally two or three, within these families with many children, create a real complexity in the alliances.

First, can we be sure of the genealogical research recorded in the registers? There are many possibilities for errors, due to problems writing, reading or keeping documents. Some diagrams are incomplete, or different.

The holdings of the National Library (collection of Champagne, and of Decamps) are very important, like those of the papacy of Avignon, the departmental archives of the Yonne, the Côte d'Or and the Aube. The latter come from the Contassot collection, from the I series, and from the 9 G series. It came into the Library in 1856, bringing together the funds from archives of the chapters of a dozen abbeys, priories and other religious institutions like the collegiate church of Lirey.

Not everything is so simple, because we also encounter the problem of translations from Latin to French today. A sentence can today have two different, and even contradictory, meanings from the phrases or expressions used at the time.

At the beginning of the 17th century, other important sources came to us from local researchers such as Nicolas Camuzat, or Marie-Nicolas Desguerrois, who took a serious interest in the presence of the relic on Aubois soil, and consulted the archives kept in Lirey. Jean-Jacques Chifflet did not hesitate to travel to observe the various funeral linens reported, before signing an interesting work. In 1624. Chifflet made a comparative study between the Shroud and the shroud of Besançon.

The canon Charles Lalore, demonstrates, in 1877, that the shroud of Lirey is the same as that of Turin.

The year 1898 was an important turning point in the history of the Shroud. It is exhibited for eight days on the occasion of the twenty-fourth anniversary of the kingdom of Italy. Its ostension attracted 800,000 pilgrims. On May 25, lawyer Secundo Pia tries to photograph him, but fails due to a lighting problem. Three days later, he attempted a second photo of the Shroud, suspended under a glass, above the high altar, in the cathedral of Turin. It is a success, the negative reveals the image of a face. It is the one we all know.

This photograph revives the controversy around its authenticity, between the supporters of the faith, and those of science, fueling many historical debates, all in a strongly anticlerical climate. Some observers conclude that the photographic operator made an error, or explain the reverse imprints following the Chambéry fire.

Canon Ulysse Chevalier published several brochures, from 1900, in which he mentioned about thirty documents, including sixteen pieces, dated between August 4, 1389 and January 6, 1390, concerning the disputes between Bishop Pierre II of Arcis and the canons.

He seeks arguments in the archives to counter the photographic image, wanting to oppose scientific progress to the archaic archives of papers. He signs a polemic pamphlet, in which he questions the authenticity of the shroud, following the studies of the canon Canon Lalore. He is already campaigning for subjecting the shroud to a very thorough scientific examination. A medal of 1,000 francs is awarded to him for the quality of his book, following the Antiquities of France competition, organized by the Académie des Belles-Lettres.

These controversies fuel polemics, the content of which are the subject of various publications in press articles. I pass the details. Pope Leo XIII urges "to stop the attacks on the authenticity of the Shroud". The papal injunction was not lost.

As for the iconographic sources, we will only focus on the archaeological testimonies, previously reported, concerning the representation of the Shroud on signs, mereaux and other medals.

I have deliberately not addressed here the various scientific studies which have been carried out over the past decades, and which once again open up the debate on its authenticity. This is another subject.

This study therefore does not pretend to answer the many questions that still exist today, nor to demonstrate whether or not this is the true Shroud, which enveloped Christ.

As we can see, as seriously as this research work was able to be carried out, it undoubtedly contains errors compared to the reality of the facts. We will probably never know the real life of Geoffroy de Charny and his close entourage. We are just trying to get as close as possible to it!

An unexpected archaeological element came to complete this study: a sign mold, found a few kilometers from Lirey. It testifies to the scale of the pilgrimages and the income generated. Ian Wilson thinks "very sincerely that this is the most interesting discovery on the Shroud in a long time!"

This opinion is not shared by the national publishers, and even local publishers, to whom I proposed this manuscript. Editions Faton even quipped when they wrote to me: "The scientific dating of the document has practically put an end to the curiosity it could arouse in a large audience. Two months later, the magazine L’Histoire" publishes its monthly, dedicated to the Shroud!

Finally, I would like to point out the extraordinary research work carried out by the Association MNTV (Montre Nous Ton Visage) which celebrates this year the thirtieth anniversary of its foundation. It is dedicated to the study, knowledge and contemplation of the Shroud around its president, Pierre de Riedmatten.

I would especially like to thank the collaboration of an eminent specialist for this research work: Ian Wilson.

As is customary, in each of my publications, I am tempted to use the words of my friend Gabriel Groley: "This work cannot be free from criticism. But however imperfect it is, it still fills a gap. Others more knowledgeable will just have to perfect and complete it. "

THE ORIGIN OF THE HOLY SHROUD

On May 15, 1840, the death knell rang at the tower of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint Paul cathedral in Troyes, for the funeral of Claude-Eloi Piot de Courcelles, last canon of the Notre-Dame de Lirey collegiate church. He was the last witness to an epic that had been going on for almost half a millennium. Center of the world, retaining within it, the most prestigious and most revered relic of the Catholic religion, a piece of linen twill fabric, 436 cm long by 110 cm wide, the collegiate church gradually died out with the glorious past of this fabric.

But let's quickly go back in time to its ancient origin, almost two thousand years ago, to recount the main lines.

The beginning of the story is well known and related in the four Gospels. It's Friday evening, the beginning of the Sabbath.

After the death of Christ, Saint Mark said: "Joseph of Arimathea, a notable member of the Council (...) boldly came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. (...). Informed by the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. The latter had bought the shroud and placed it in a tomb which had been cut in the rock. ". (Saint Mark; 15 - 43-46).

Saint Luke confirms that Joseph was "a righteous and just man, and came from Arimathea, a Jewish town. (...). He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down from the cross, rolled it in a shroud (…)". (Saint Luke; 23 - 50-53).

Saint John adds details concerning the burial. Joseph of Arimathea, "asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate allowed it. So they came to take it away. Nicodemus also came (…). He brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe, about a hundred pounds (about 32 kilos). They took the body of Jesus and bound it with linen, with spices, according to the funeral customs in use among the Jews. " (Saint John; 19 - 38-40).

Two days later, Jean notices that the tomb is empty. The body of the deceased disappeared and the upper part of the shroud fell on the other: "He enters the tomb and sees the linen on the ground, as well as the shroud which covered his head; the latter was not with the linens, but rolled in a separate place. " (Saint John; 20 - 6).

Saint John's distinction between "linens and shroud is only a matter of vocabulary. The Jews wrapped the corpses in a shroud which they held closed with strips, or cloths", at the level of the feet and the head.

Eusebius of Caesarea (v. 265-v. 340) tells that a disciple of Jesus, named Addai, goes to Edessa (Urfa, in Turkey) with a mysterious portrait, just after the crucifixion of Christ. King Abgar V Okouma is cured of an illness and converts to Christianity. (Ecclesiastical history book I, chap. 13). The whole kingdom of Edessa is also converted. Christian communities have settled there since the Roman repression in Jerusalem. The city of Edessa becomes the most important center of Christianity in the East. The tombs of Addaï and Abgar V are venerated.

The city became a Roman colony in 215. The image disappears from historical documents and its location remains unknown.

In the third and sixth centuries, the Fathers of the Church alluded to the shroud, like Pope Sylvester I, who asked that masses be celebrated on a linen tablecloth, like the sacred shroud.

Edessa attracts envious eyes. In 503, Persia king Kavadh I (449-351) attempted to besiege the city with his army. Warriors dare not go through the open doors, fearing a curse.

The overflows of the Daisan River often cause floods, the most significant of which are reported in 201, 303, 413 and 525. The last destroyed a large part of the city, causing numerous victims (30,000 dead), as confirmed by the archaeologists. During the reconstruction, is discovered the linen hidden in a niche above the western door, called Kappe. It is hidden in a hemispherical cylinder and covered with a tile drawn with the face of Christ.

It is seen to bear a facial image of Christ, called "acheiropoietos (not made by human hands). The linen is accordingly identified, then venerated. Emperor Justinian built a sanctuary in its honor: the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Edessa. The linen then receives the name of Mandylion" (Greek word derived from Arabic, designating a large fabric).

As Ian Wilson reminds us: "We are indeed in front of a miraculous impression of Christ, which is so special at the Shroud of Turin, (…) present at Edessa in the sixth century, a date of seven centuries at the earliest ancient date given by carbon 14, and with a direct link to the 1st century AD".

In 544, the inhabitants use the Image of Edessa to protect themselves from a new Persian invasion, led by Chosroès I, by exposing it on a board nailed above the walls, according to the writings of bishop Evagrius.

In the acts of Thaddeus, a manuscript dated from the sixth or seventh century, the Image of Edessa is described as "tetradiplon, that is to say four times double". This term is not unique in ancient documents from this period. Ian Wilson has shown that by taking a life-size photograph of the Shroud, folding it four times on itself, and then four more times, you get a representation of a face that matches the descriptions in the picture of Edessa.

Assyrian monks leave the region to found monasteries in Georgia. In the churches they founded, they painted replicas of the Image of Edessa that can still be admired, dating from the sixth century.

THE FIRST PILGRIMAGES

From the 4th century, the date on which Empress Helena collects all the relics of passion, abandoned after the destruction of Jerusalem, a flood of pilgrims begins to converge on the East.

In the middle of the 5th century, pilgrimages increased further under the impulse of the Empress Eudocia who continued the collection of relics, in Constantinople, with the portrait of the Virgin, painted by Saint Luke.

The pilgrim word comes from the Latin "peregrinus", which means foreigner. The pilgrim is a foreigner who wishes to go to the very places, where the people he wants to worship, were born, or died, in order to be able to meditate in a mystical communion. These men and women were ready to travel far from home to approach a holy relic and perhaps see the accomplishment of a miracle, in any case, the forgiveness of their sins.

The rise of pilgrimages is encouraged by the doctrine of the Cluniacs, whose mother abbey was founded in 910, by Count William 1 of Aquitaine. Routes are being set up around a network of stopover lodges.

Outside the holy places of the East, the most important pilgrimages are organized in the direction of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, of Saint Michael of Monte Gargano in Italy, of Rome and its multiple sacred sites, or to the sanctuary of Mont Saint-Michel, from the 8th century, placed under the protection of the Archangel Saint Michel.

At the same time, a certain number of relics arrive in France, sent as diplomatic gifts to some potentates. This is the case of the famous Argenteuil tunic. Constantine, son of Empress Irene, presents to Charlemagne the tunic of Jesus Christ as a gift. This money will bring it to Argenteuil to entrust it to the abbey where his daughter Theodrade had taken refuge during the Norman invasions. The tunic is hidden, then forgotten. It was finally found in 1156, when Hugues, Archbishop of Rouen organized a first ostension, in the presence of King Louis VII.

The citizens of Langres, not far from Troyes, boast having received a finger from Saint Mamas, coming from Caesarea (Kayseri, in Turkey).

As early as the 11th century, Guibert de Nogent had written a treatise entitled "About the saints and their relics", speaking out against the craze of this popular culture. The monks of Saint-Médard de Soissons claimed that they had a tooth of the baby Jesus! Some of these relics are inserted into the knobs of swords or royal crowns.

For the Shroud, history has retained the name of a few famous pilgrims, among hundreds or thousands of anonymous people.

In 646, Saint Braulion, the bishop of Zaragoza, saw the Shroud (sudario quo corpus Domini est involutum) during his pilgrimage. The latter recounts his visit in a letter addressed to an abbot, named Tayon: "I do not think that the apostles neglected to keep these pieces as relics for the