Documented History of the Shroud since 1353
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1353: Geoffrey the First, count of Charny, presented the Shroud to the abbey of Lirey. [Vignon 1902, 53]
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1355-1356: The Shroud was exhibited in Chambery, France. It was owned by Geoffrey de Charny. [Whanger 1998, 7]
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1356: Geoffrey de Charny, the first uncontested owner of the Shroud, dies in the Battle of Poitiers. He was controversial. Knowledge of how he obtained the Shroud died with him. [Vignon 1902, 53]
He was known to have a connection with Knights Templar, a potential custodian of the Shroud in the intervening 150 years. [Antonacci 2000, 149] -
1389: It was exhibited in collegiate church in Lirey, France. [Vignon 1902, 57]
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1389: Bishop Pierre d’Arcis of Troyes declared the Shroud to be a forgery by an unspecified artist. (However, there is no trace of any paint or dye on the Shroud.) Thereafter, Pope Clement VII, frustrated by the controversy, issues a papal Bull that the Shroud be venerated as a copy. [Vignon 1902, 58]
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1502: The Holy Shroud was deposited in the Chapel of Chambréry Castle. [Vignon 1902, 59]
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1532: It and its silver reliquary (container) were barely rescued from a fire in its chapel. This explains the charred corners of the folded Shroud and the water stains on it. [Vignon 1902, 59]
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1534: These areas were subsequently patched by the Poor Clare nuns with 30 patches and a backing cloth. [Fanti 2015, 51]
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1578: The Shroud was taken to present location in Turin. [Vignon 1902, 59]
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1694: The Shroud was deposited in the chapel built by the architect Guarino Guarini, next to the Turin Cathedral. [Fanti 2015, 51]
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1900-1902: first scientific/photographic study by Secundo Pia, who discovered the more striking “negative image”. [Antonacci 2000, 34]
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1931-1933: one of numerous expositions and displays, during which Paul Vignon noted 15 geometric characteristics, most of which generally appear in artistic renderings of Jesus beginning in the 6th century.
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1898-1978: modern historical debate ensues. Progressives attempt to prove fraudulence sometimes by subterfuge, but authenticists also employ chicanery. Jack Markwardt [2014] provides details about how each faction manipulated and/or confused historical facts and documents to advance their private agendas.
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1978: STURP extensively and scientifically examined the Shroud for 5 days: thread samples, multispectral photographs, micrographs. [Schwortz 2021, “The 1978 Scientific Examination”] https://shroud.com/78conclu.htm .
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1988: A team headed by the British Museum dated small samples of the Shroud using C-14/C-12 ratios. The officially announced dates were 1260-1390 AD. However, the procedures and the statistical analysis have been questioned. See §Radiation Hypothesis
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April 1997: a fire destroyed the case in which the Shroud was housed, but fortunately not the Shroud itself. [Schwortz 2024, “Shroud Conservation and Preservation”]
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2002: The portions of the Shroud burned in 1532 were removed and saved in vials. The Shroud was attached to a new backing cloth. [Fanti 2015, 345]
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Thereafter: The Shroud was preserved in a hermetically sealed laminated bulletproof glass of an airtight case, filled with chemically-neutral gasses display case, presumably never again to be subjected to scientific investigation.
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Subsequently the Shroud has been on public display in its hermetically sealed case in 2010 and 2015. [Schwortz 2021, “Shroud Exhibitions”]
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For a very detailed, complete history of the Image of Edessa / Turin Shroud read The Shroud by Ian Wilson[2021]. He makes a good argument for the Image of Edessa and the Turin Shroud being one and the same.
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