Security of the Valuable Artifacts
The Shroud
Which physical artifact of Christianity is more valuable than the Shroud (at least to Christians who trust that it is legitimate)? (Even if it were fake, it would be valuable as the most puzzling, ingenious spoof ever perpetrated.) In any case, it would be the prime target for all detractors of Christianity (atheists, Muslims, political regimes demanding utmost allegiance, …). Desecration of the unique Shroud would be far worse for many Christians than desecrating a copy of the Quran would be to Muslims.
Given the unfortunate infighting among Christians, it might also be the target of Jesus’ own followers (either iconoclasts or others who felt it was in the wrong hands). How was the Shroud safeguarded through 20 centuries from theft, intentional destruction, or ransom plots)?
Further, how was it—or not—safeguarded from fire or water?
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There are no explicit references in the various letters of Paul, Peter, or John regarding the Shroud in the early decades of Christianity. However, Larry Stalley [2021] argues that there are several veiled references to the Shroud, perhaps to maintain some degree of public secrecy of the whereabouts of the object—valuable to Christians and a problematic object for destruction by enemies of the faith.
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Little is known of the safeguarding in Antioch or Odessa, except a report that the Image was for several centuries safeguarded by sealing it above a gate into Edessa after Edessa returned to pagan beliefs.
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As the Muslims gained control of these areas, the “image not made by hands” (the Mandylion or Image of Odessa as the Shroud seems to be known then) was moved farther north, eventually to Constantinople. Stephen Jones [2016]
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In Constantinople, the Shroud was kept in some reliquary, but we know little about how it was secured. Clearly it was not secured well enough, because it disappears when soldiers of the Fourth Crusade (Knights Templar?) stole it in 1204. Stephen Jones [2016]
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We know nothing in the intervening years about the Shroud, its keepers, or its whereabouts until it appears in Lirey, France about 1356. Surely it was kept in a reliquary, not loose. [Vignon 1902, 53]
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Because of the fire in Chambray, France, which almost destroyed the Shroud, we know it was kept in a silver box. Unfortunately, the fire was so intense that it melted part of the box and singed one corner of the folded Shroud, as seen by its 16 large symmetrical burn holes. Further, the Shroud was doused with impure water, leaving water stains, [Vignon 1902, 59]
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In 1578, the Shroud was moved to and safeguarded at the cathedral in Turin, Italy. In 1694, the Shroud was deposited in a new chapel next to the cathedral and has remained there. [Fanti 2015, 51]
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It has been displayed numerous times until now.
The Sudarium
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One source places the Sudarium in Jerusalem, initially in the possession of Peter. For the first 5 centuries it was hidden in a cave. It was subsequently taken in its chest along with other relics to Alexandria before the Persian invasion of Jerusalem in 614. But two years later Persia had captured Alexandria, so the chest of relics was taken by sea to Cartagena, Spain. It was then taken to Seville under the protection of Isidore. After his death in 636 it was moved to Toledo and remained there for 75 years until the Muslim invasion in 711. Christians fled north with the chest of relics, hiding it for 50 years in the mountains of Asturias. Since 761 it has remained in Oviedo, Spain. [Bennett 2012, 28-29]