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Religion and Conflict: Investigating the Role of Relics and Holy Sites in the Religiously Diverse Society of Crusader Famagusta, Cyprus

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Religion and Conflict: Investigating the Role of Relics and Holy Sites in the Religiously Diverse Society of Crusader Famagusta, Cyprus Chapter 3 Religion and Conflict: Investigating the Role of Relics and Holy Sites in the Religiously Diverse Society of Crusader Famagusta, Cyprus Tomasz Borowski 1 Medieval Cult of Relics and Holy Places Relics are the preserved remains of a saint or holy person (corporeal rel- ics), or objects with which they came into physical contact, such as clothing (secondary or contact relics). Their power to heal is mentioned in the Bible in passages describing a miracle associated with the mantle of Elijah (Kings 2:9–14) and ascribing curative powers to cloths that had been touched by St. Paul (Acts 19:11–12). The cult of relics found a place among the earliest Chris- tian communities, though their veneration has a far older history and is shared by many religions of the world. From a medieval Christian perspective, relics represented the living physical presence of a saint in the world and, on the Day of the Last Judgment, they would be reassembled to become part of the saint’s glorified body. Mere possession was itself a visible sign of piety but, more than that, relics were the medium through which a saint could manifest his or her will.1 The cult of relics and holy sites played a crucial role in the history of the crusades. The desire to liberate holy places occupied by the Muslims and to reopen the pilgrimage routes to the Levant was the principal driving force be- hind the Latin capture of Jerusalem in 1099 and the establishment of the first crusader states. Once liberated, pilgrimage shrines continued to shape the ev- eryday reality of those who lived in their proximity. On an individual level, contact with holy places or objects was believed to have the power to cure 1 For general, recent discussion regarding the cult of relics see e.g. Julia Smith, “Relics: An Evolving Tradition in Latin Christianity,” in Saints and Sacred Matter: The Cult of Relics in Byz- antium and Beyond, eds. Cyntia Hahn and Holger Klein (Washington, D.C, 2015), 41–60, as well as other papers in this volume. Earlier studies on the subject include e.g. Patrick Geary, Furta Sacra: Theft of Relics in the Central Middle Ages (Princeton, 1990), 3–27; and Godefridus Snoek, Medieval Piety from Relics to the Eucharist: A Process of Mutual Interaction (Leiden, 1995). © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���9 | doi:�0.��63/9789004386�36_004 <UN> Relics and Holy Sites in Crusader Famagusta 69 disease and could be a sign of the divine favor.2 Veneration of relics was a man- ifestation of piety and those involved were granted remission of sins, hoping that indulgences would help their salvation. The value of relics was expressed on many levels, they were accepted as pledges for loans and could be offered as gifts establishing long lasting alliances.3 In the context of the frontier soci- eties of Latin Levant, holy sites were particularly important because they at- tracted donations and Christian settlers from the core Latin areas willing to visit regions desolated by conflict or populated by non-Latins. Their presence inspired Christian protection and movable relics could be carried by crusading armies to raise Christian morale.4 Pilgrimage shrines, however, were not a homogenous group of sites and artifacts. The importance of relics depended on their form and association. Artifacts and places associated with the Passion of Christ were seen as most holy. They include Golgotha and the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem as well as fragments of the True Cross, Crown of Thorns, Christ’s blood, nails of the Crucifixion, Holy Chalice, Holy Lance or the Veil of St. Veronica. Relics associated with the Life of Christ and other biblical events were also high in the hierarchy and include for example the caves of Nativity and Transfigura- tion in Bethlehem and Mount Tabor, the cave where St. Lazarus was resurrect- ed in Bethany, a cross made from a tub in which Christ bathed, one of six jars from Cana in which Christ changed water into wine or St. Mary’s hair. Another category of widely venerated sites was formed by relics of the apostles whose pilgrimage sites include Santiago de Compostela, Venice or Trier. Remains of other saints were lower in the hierarchy with popular figures such as St. Nicho- las or St. Barbara being more important than regional saints such as St. Olav or St. Oswald. Tombs of popular saints such as St. Catherine of Alexandria, located in the Sinai, as well as other major relics occasionally extracted oil that was gath- ered and distributed among the faithful in lead or pewter ampullae and mold- made ceramic bottles.5 Holy water from sacred wells or rivers, particularly the 2 For example, see David Allen, “The Order of St. John as a ‘School for Ambassadors’ in Coun- ter-Reformation Europe,” The Military Orders. Volume 2: Welfare and Warfare, ed. Helen Nich- olson (Aldershot, 1998), 373. 3 For example see Anthony Luttrell, “The Rhodian Background of the Order of Saint John on Malta,” The Hospitallers of Rhodes and their Mediterranean World, Variorum Collected Studies Series 360 (Aldershot, 1992), 11; or Malcom Barber, The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple (Cambridge, 1994), 200. 4 Jonathan Riley-Smith, Templars and Hospitallers as Professed Religious in the Holy Land (Notre Dame, IN, 2010), 18. 5 For discussion see Adrian Boas, Crusader archaeology: the Material Culture of the Latin East (London, 2005), 155; and Jaroslav Folda, The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land 1098–1187 (Cambridge, 1995), 294–295. <UN>.
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