From Jerusalem to Paris
The history of the relics originates in Jerusalem, with the condemnation of Christ to death. Indeed, on the eve of his crucifixion, a Thursday, Roman soldiers mocked him, clothing him in a purple robe. They also placed a crown of thorns on his head as a mock royal diadem. By the 4th century, pilgrims’ accounts mention the veneration of the instruments of the crucifixion. Around the 10th century, these relics were gradually transferred to Constantinople for safekeeping from looting. In 1238, Baldwin II of Courtenay, the financially troubled Latin Emperor of Byzantium, sold the crown of thorns to Louis IX, the future Saint Louis.
Saint Louis
On August 19, 1239, the relics, presented to the king a few days earlier at Villeneuve-l’Archevêque, arrived in Paris in a grand procession. Saint Louis abandoned his royal attire, donned a simple tunic, and barefoot, carried the crown of thorns to Notre-Dame de Paris. To house these relics, he commissioned the construction of a monumental reliquary: the Sainte-Chapelle.
After the French Revolution
During the French Revolution, the relics were housed at the Abbey of Saint-Denis and then at the National Library. Following the Concordat of 1801, the Archbishop of Paris received the crown of thorns and other relics. They were placed in the cathedral’s treasury on August 10, 1806, where they are still kept and have been under the statutory guardianship of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem since 1923.
The Relics
The crown of thorns is undoubtedly the most precious and venerated relic kept at Notre-Dame. Bearing over 1600 years of fervent devotion, the crown of thorns is one of the most significant relics of Christianity, a testament to the life of Jesus Christ on earth, his Passion, and his promise of Redemption: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). It consists of a circle of rushes bundled together and held by gold threads. It no longer contains any thorns as they have been dispersed around the world throughout history. Since 1896, a crystal and gold tube has protected the crown. The openwork mounting depicts a branch of zizyphus or Spina Christi, a thorny shrub common in Palestine. This reliquary, offered by the faithful of the Diocese of Paris, is the work of the goldsmith Poussielgue-Rusand (1861-1933) based on designs by the architect Astruc (1862-1950).
The fragment of the wood of the cross also comes from the treasury of the Sainte-Chapelle. Taken during the destruction of the reliquary during the Revolution, a member of the temporary Arts Commission saved the wood and handed it to the Archbishop of Paris in 1805. Preserved in a crystal case, this fragment measures 24 cm. It features a mortise at one end intended for its fitting. This element is believed to be one of the cross’s crosspieces.
The nail, measuring 9 cm, comes from the treasury of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Patriarch of Jerusalem handed it, along with other crucifixion relics, to Emperor Charlemagne in 799. At Aachen, King Charles II took it to offer it to the Abbey of Saint-Denis. During the French Revolution, a member of the temporary Arts Commission saved this nail along with the wood fragment. It is kept in a nail-shaped reliquary, a simple crystal tube adorned with a gilded silver head and point.
