A reliquary protects relics.
Reliquary is the place or container where relics (objects that are venerated) are stored or protected. The concept is frequently used in the field of religion .
Christianity calls relics the remains of those people who have been sanctified. By extension, things that belonged to the saints or that had some type of contact with them are known as relics.
Reliquaries in the history of Christianity
At the beginning of Christianity, persecutions made objects linked to people who died defending their faith acquire great value. The nails that were used to crucify the martyrs and the sheets with which they covered their bodies , among many other objects, were transformed into relics.
For the safekeeping of these relics, reliquaries were created. These cases , boxes , chests and caskets allowed the relics to be protected , leaving them safe . Over time , reliquaries began to be displayed in temples and other places and acquired an aesthetic similar to that of an artistic work. In this way, reliquaries began to be made with very valuable materials and to display different types of ornamentation.
Reliquaries can be chests, cases, boxes or other containers.
Some examples
The Cathedral of Valencia , in Spain , has some of the most important reliquaries in the world . They contain the relics of San Luis Bertrán and San Juan de Ribera , among other saints.
Other examples of important reliquaries from various parts of the world are the following: the Holy Ark of the Relics, the Ark of San Millán , the wooden casket located in the parish of Abárzuza , the enamelled bronze casket in the Museum of Burgos and the head of Saint Gregory of Ostia .
Due to their symbolic or economic value, reliquaries are often objects of interest for thieves. In January 2014 , for example, criminals stole a reliquary of John Paul II from the San Pietro della Ienca church, located in the Italian city of L'Aquila .
The reliquary of Monza
Another name that reliquaries received in history is encólpium , when the Church was still a young institution. At that time, they were small medals or boxes with inscriptions and figures that were attached to necklaces. The earliest examples of reliquaries that have been found date from the 4th century ; The Monza Treasure , also known as the Theodolinda Treasure , is located in Monza , a city located in northern Italy , and has a series of works of great importance for scholars of Ancient Rome .
In this treasury , which was constituted from donations from Saint Gregory to Queen Theodolinda , and later on her part, from King Berengar I and the Visconti , we find famous reliquaries belonging to the 6th century , among which there is a series small bottles that in the past were very common, and were used to carry pieces of cotton moistened in blessed oil or from the lamps that illuminated the surroundings of the tomb of the martyrs.
Historical evolution
So many centuries ago, publicly venerating relics was possible by going to the altars and tombs within which they were found. However, starting in the 9th century , people began to leave a series of caskets or boxes on these sites that we know today as reliquaries.
The reliquary continued to be used for several centuries until the era of Gothic (also known as ogival ) architecture, which emerged in France around the 12th century . The preferred format for this purpose seems to have been the chest, and its volume depended on the magnitude and importance of the objects to be stored. It is worth mentioning that reliquaries of a secular nature have often been used.