13 October 1247 A.D. King Henry III, Wildcat-Claim of a Relic, & Declaration of Indulgences
13 October 1247 A.D. King Henry
III, Wildcat-Claim of a Relic, & Declaration of Indulgences
Graves,
Dan. “Mysterious Relic Brought to Westminster.” Christianity.com. Jun 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/mysterious-relic-brought-to-westminster-11629836.html. Accessed
31 May 2014.
King Henry III was very
mysterious. An order he sent out instructed his nobles to assemble at
Westminster Abbey on this day October 13, 1247. All the king would say was that
he had "most agreeable news of a holy benefit recently conferred upon the
English."
The whole nation knew that Henry
was strongly attached to the memory of Edward the Confessor. He had rebuilt
Westminster abbey in his honor and asked the pope to include Edward in the
calendar of saints. He had even named his own first son after Edward. Going
beyond that, he issued instructions for his own body to be buried at the abbey.
Curiosity drew many to the abbey
(including the historian Matthew Paris). What was this holy benefit going to
be? Religious hopes drew others. Henry had permission from the pope for the
monks of Westminster to give the pope's own blessings during certain prayers.
The big day came. Henry announced
to the cheering crowd that he had a most precious relic. Its arrival in England
had been kept top secret. It was a vial of precious drops of Christ's blood.
Bishops in the Holy Land affirmed its authenticity, and there were seals of the
Knights Templars, the Knights Hospitallers and the Patriarch of Jerusalem to
back it up.
Christians believe
that it is by the precious blood of Christ we are ransomed from sin and
cleansed from evil. To the Medieval imagination, a vial of Christ's blood was a
remarkable relic, holding immense power. In some places such vials became the
focus of pilgrimages.
Under a canopy supported on
spears and supported by two attendants (to be sure he did not drop the precious
crystal vase), Henry himself carried the relic the two miles to the abbey. Once
he arrived there, he carried the blood in procession around the abbey and the
neighboring royal buildings before consigning it to the care of the monks.
Preaching a sermon afterward, the
Bishop of Norwich praised the relic and said that indulgences of six years and
one hundred and sixteen days would be granted to anyone who venerated the
relic.
The vial of Christ's alleged
blood at Westminster never became a popular pilgrim attraction. Did people
doubt its authenticity in spite of the king's assurances? In Hailes, an abbey
founded about the same time, a similar flask of blood drew large crowds of
pilgrims. The Christian mystic Margery Kempe visited the place and the poet
Chaucer mentioned it in his "Pardoner's Tale."
Today few believe that either
vial really contained Christ's blood. King Henry VIII had the vial at Hailes
examined in the sixteenth century; his agents reported that it consisted of
clear honey mixed with saffron coloring (another account says it was goose
blood, replaced fresh each week). Since the Hailes vial was even better
authenticated than the Westminster vial, the worth of Henry's treasure can be
guessed.
The king ordered Matthew Paris to
write a full account of the events of this day and it is to his chronicle that
historians owe the detailed account that has been preserved.
Bibliography:
Vincent, Nicholas. The Holy
Blood; King Henry III and the Westminster Blood. Cambridge University Press,
2001.
Miscellaneous encyclopedia and
web articles.
Last updated June, 2007
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