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Whether or not an artifact holding the image of Jesus still exists is a matter of hot debate. The Shroud of Turin is a controversial linen, first unveiled in the 1380s when it was presented as the material used to wrap the body of Christ following his crucifixion. Its existence was first recorded in the year 1359 while in the possession of the famed knight Geoffroi de Charny, the seigneur de Lirey. It was denounced as fake by the Bishop of Troyes when first exhibited and has been a topic of dispute for centuries since. Now, new X-ray techniques used to date the shroud appear to confirm it was made around 2,000 years ago, in the time of Jesus.
Intrigued? Click on to discover more about the fascinating story of the Shroud of Turin.
Regardless, the Shroud first officially appeared in the possession of Geoffroi de Charnay, a Templar Knight who joined the Crusades and was in charge of the capture of Smyrna in 1344.
Charny died in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Before he passed, he founded a collegiate church at his fief in Lirey, where it's believed the Shroud was kept.
Whether or not there were viewings of the Shroud at this time is unknown, however, a medieval pilgrim badge depicting the Shroud at the church in Lirey was discovered in the mud of the Seine river in Paris in the mid-19th century.
The Bishop of Troyes, Pierre d'Arcis, declared in 1390 that the shroud was forgery, in a memorandum to Antipope Clement VII. D'Arcis had jurisdiction over the church in Lirey.
In response, the Pope declared it wasn't the true burial cloth of Christ. However, he allowed it to continue to be displayed, on the condition that it was a religious "icon" as opposed to a true relic.
Geoffroi de Charny's granddaughter, Margaret de Charny, offered to store the shroud at her castle in 1418 after the Hundred Years' War seemed as though it would spill over into Lirey.
1n 1453, de Charny sold the shroud to the House of Savoy, for which she was excommunicated by the Pope. The Savoys ruled over parts of modern-day France, Switzerland, and Italy, later ascending to the Italian throne.
For safekeeping, the House of Savoy placed the shroud in the Sainte-Chapelle in Chambéry in 1504, but in 1532 a fire broke out and damaged part of the container holding the shroud.
Today, the Shroud still bears the damage from where the fire was extinguished, with water stains and burn marks still visible. The house of Savoy moved the Shroud in 1578 to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin.
A purpose-built display for the Shroud was made in the 17th century. During a public exhibition of the Shroud in the Cathedral of John the Baptist in Turin in 1898, it was photographed for the first time.
The Shroud remained in the care of the House of Savoy until the late 20th century, when according to the terms of the former king Umberto II of Italy, it was bequeathed to the Holy See.
Although it was declared a forgery by Antipope Clement VII back in the 1300s, the debate about the authenticity of the Shroud has raged on for centuries.
In the 20th century, as scientific research advanced to new levels, the arguments in favor of the Shroud's authenticity gained support.
In the 1970s, a group called the Shroud of Turin Research Project claimed the stains were real blood and that the positions of the markings on the cloth were consistent with those of a body that had been crucified.
In the 1980s, one group of scientists dated the Shroud as having originated between 1260 and 1390, according to their analysis. In contrast, another group of scientists claimed their research dated it somewhere between 300 and 400 CE.
In 2018, researchers working with the Shroud employed forensic analysis techniques to make the case that it wasn't possible the blood stains had come from Christ.
Some people argue the authenticity of the Shroud shouldn't be debated, as it's made from Middle Eastern flax and features a helmet-style crown of thorns around the "head" of the man's face.
However, due to the carbon dating that took place in 1988 by three separate laboratories, all of which deemed the Shroud as having originated seven centuries previously, others still say it's not the real thing.
The 1988 studies used radiocarbon dating analysis on a portion of the Shroud. This measures the decay of a radioactive isotope of carbon (14C) to provide an estimate of the time and date objects that contain carbon-bearing material were created.
However, in an interesting turn of events, a new study by Italy's Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council dates the Shroud as much older than that.
Using a technique named wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), eight small samples from the fabric of the Shroud were studied under an X-ray that measured the age of flax cellulose.
With this method, tiny details of the linen's structure and cellulose patterns are examined to identify the age of a cloth garment.
Based on specific aging parameters (which include temperature and humidity), they determined the temperature and humidity the Shroud was kept in for 13 years before arriving in Europe.
Compared to similar linen samples dating back to the first century in Israel, the data profiles were fully compatible.
The lead author of the study, Dr Liberato De Caro, stated the carbon analysis from 1988 should be discarded as carbon 14 samples are "unreliable" if the correct cleaning procedures are not followed when the specimen is being dated.
For now, the debate about the Shroud rages on. Security is tight around the Shroud, which is periodically put on display behind bulletproof glass.
It continues to be held at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.
Sources: (History) (Britannica) (Daily Mail)
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Whether or not an artifact holding the image of Jesus still exists is a matter of hot debate. The Shroud of Turin is a controversial linen, first unveiled in the 1380s when it was presented as the material used to wrap the body of Christ following his crucifixion. Its existence was first recorded in the year 1359 while in the possession of the famed knight Geoffroi de Charny, the seigneur de Lirey. It was denounced as fake by the Bishop of Troyes when first exhibited and has been a topic of dispute for centuries since. Now, new X-ray techniques used to date the shroud appear to confirm it was made around 2,000 years ago, in the time of Jesus.
Intrigued? Click on to discover more about the fascinating story of the Shroud of Turin.