1.
Clergy
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Clergy are some of the main and important formal leaders within certain religions. The roles and functions of clergy vary in different religious traditions but these usually involve presiding over specific rituals, some of the terms used for individual clergy are cleric, clergyman, clergywoman, clergyperson and churchman. In Islam, a leader is often known formally or informally as an imam, mufti. In Jewish tradition, a leader is often a rabbi or hazzan. Cleric comes from the ecclesiastical Latin clericus, for belonging to the priestly class. This is from the Ecclesiastical Greek clericus, meaning appertaining to an inheritance, Clergy is from two Old French words, clergié and clergie, which refer to those with learning and derive from Medieval Latin clericatus, from Late Latin clericus. Clerk, which used to mean one ordained to the ministry, in the Middle Ages, reading and writing were almost exclusively the domain of the priestly class, and this is the reason for the close relationship of these words. Now, the state is tied to reception of the diaconate. Minor Orders are still given in the Eastern Catholic Churches, and it is in this sense that the word entered the Arabic language, most commonly in Lebanon from the French, as kleriki meaning seminarian. This is all in keeping with Eastern Orthodox concepts of clergy, which include those who have not yet received, or do not plan to receive. A priesthood is a body of priests, shamans, or oracles who have religious authority or function. Buddhist clergy are often referred to as the Sangha. This diversity of monastic orders and styles was originally one community founded by Gautama Buddha during the 5th century BC living under a set of rules. The interaction between Buddhism and Tibetan Bon led to a uniquely Tibetan Buddhism, within which various sects, similarly, the interaction between Indian Buddhist monks and Chinese Confucian and Taoist monks from c200-c900AD produced the distinctive Chan Buddhism. In these ways, manual labour was introduced to a practice where monks originally survived on alms, layers of garments were added where originally a single thin robe sufficed and this adaptation of form and roles of Buddhist monastic practice continued after the transmission to Japan. For example, monks took on administrative functions for the Emperor in particular secular communities, again, in response to various historic attempts to suppress Buddhism, the practice of celibacy was relaxed and Japanese monks allowed to marry. This form was then transmitted to Korea, during later Japanese occupation, as these varied styles of Buddhist monasticism are transmitted to Western cultures, still more new forms are being created. This broad difference in approach led to a schism among Buddhist monastics in about the 4th century BCE
2.
First Crusade
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The First Crusade was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to capture the Holy Land, called by Pope Urban II in 1095. An additional goal became the principal objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. During the crusades, nobility, knights, peasants and serfs from many regions of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea, first to Constantinople and then on towards Jerusalem. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, launched an assault on the city and they also established the crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. The First Crusade was followed by the Second to the Ninth Crusades and it was also the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The majority view is that it had elements of both in its nature, the origin of the Crusades in general, and particularly that of the First Crusade, is widely debated among historians. The confusion is due to the numerous armies in the first crusade. The similar ideologies held the armies to similar goals, but the connections were rarely strong, the Umayyad Caliphate had conquered Syria, Egypt, and North Africa from the predominantly Christian Byzantine Empire, and Hispania from the Visigothic Kingdom. In North Africa, the Umayyad empire eventually collapsed and a number of smaller Muslim kingdoms emerged, such as the Aghlabids, who attacked Italy in the 9th century. Pisa, Genoa, and the Principality of Catalonia began to battle various Muslim kingdoms for control of the Mediterranean Basin, exemplified by the Mahdia campaign and battles at Majorca and Sardinia. Essentially, between the years 1096 and 1101 the Byzantine Greeks experienced the crusade as it arrived at Constantinople in three separate waves, in the early summer of 1096, the first large unruly group arrived on the outskirts of Constantinople. This wave was reported to be undisciplined and ill-equipped as an army and this first group is often called the Peasants’ or People’s Crusade. It was led by Peter the Hermit and Walter Sans Avoir and had no knowledge of or respect for the wishes of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The second wave was not under the command of the Emperor and was made up of a number of armies with their own commanders. Together, this group and the first wave numbered an estimated 60,000, the second wave was led by Hugh I, Count of Vermandois, the brother of King Philip I of France. Also among the wave were Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse. It was this wave of crusaders which later passed through Asia Minor, captured Antioch in 1098 and finally took Jerusalem 15 July 1099. ”The third wave, composed of contingents from Lombardy, France. At the western edge of Europe and of Islamic expansion, the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula was well underway by the 11th century and it was intermittently ideological, as evidenced by the Codex Vigilanus compiled in 881
3.
County of Flanders
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The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards the Counts of Flanders were one of the twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres formed one of the most affluent regions in Europe, up to 1477, the area under French suzerainty was located west of the Scheldt River and was called Royal Flanders. Aside from this the Counts of Flanders from the 11th century on also held land east of the river as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, an area called Imperial Flanders. Part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1384, the county was removed from French to Imperial control after the Peace of Madrid in 1526. In 1795 the remaining territory within the Austrian Netherlands was incorporated by the French First Republic, the former County of Flanders, except for French Flanders, is the only part of the medieval French kingdom that is not part of modern-day France. Flanders and Flemish are likely derived from the Frisian *flāndra and *flāmisk, the Flemish people are first mentioned in the biography of Saint Eligius, the Vita sancti Eligii. This work was written before 684, but only known since 725 and this work mentions the Flanderenses, who lived in Flandris. The geography of the historic County of Flanders only partially overlaps with present-day region of Flanders in Belgium, though there it extends beyond West Flanders. Some of the county is now part of France and the Netherlands. The arms of the County of Flanders were allegedly created by Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191, as a result, the arms of the county live on as arms of the Flemish Community. It is said that Philip of Alsace brought the flag with him from the Holy Land, where in 1177 he supposedly conquered it from a Saracen knight. The simple fact that the lion appeared on his personal seal since 1163, in reality Philip was following a West-European trend. In the same period also appeared in the arms of Brabant, Luxembourg, Holland, Limburg. It is curious that the lion as a symbol was mostly used in border territories. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the emperor, in Europe the lion had been a well-known figure since Roman times, through works such as the fables of Aesop. The future county of Flanders had been inhabited since prehistory, during the Iron Age the Kemmelberg formed an important Celtic settlement. During the times of Julius Caesar, the inhabitants were part of the Belgae, for Flanders in specific these were the Menapii, the Morini, the Nervii and the Atrebates
4.
Priest
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A priest or priestess, is a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites, in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of and their office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons collectively. The necessity to read sacred texts and keep temple or church records helped foster literacy in early societies. Priests exist in many religions today, such as all or some branches of Judaism, Christianity, the question of which religions have a priest depends on how the titles of leaders are used or translated into English. In some cases, leaders are more like those that other believers will often turn to for advice on spiritual matters, for example, clergy in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are priests, but in Protestant Christianity they are typically minister and pastor. The terms priest and priestess are sufficiently generic that they may be used in a sense to describe the religious mediators of an unknown or otherwise unspecified religion. In many religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time position, many Christian priests and pastors choose or are mandated to dedicate themselves to their churches and receive their living directly from their churches. In other cases it is a part-time role, for example, in the early history of Iceland the chieftains were titled goði, a word meaning priest. In some religions, being a priest or priestess is by election or human choice. In Judaism the priesthood is inherited in familial lines, in a theocracy, a society is governed by its priesthood. The word priest, is derived from Greek, via Latin presbyter. Old High German also has the disyllabic priester, priestar, apparently derived from Latin independently via Old French presbtre, the Latin presbyter ultimately represents Greek presbyteros, the regular Latin word for priest being sacerdos, corresponding to Greek hiereus. That English should have only the term priest to translate presbyter. The feminine English noun, priestess, was coined in the 17th century, in the 20th century, the word was used in controversies surrounding the ordination of women. In the case of the ordination of women in the Anglican communion, it is common to speak of priests. In historical polytheism, a priest administers the sacrifice to a deity, in the Ancient Near East, the priesthood also acted on behalf of the deities in managing their property. Priestesses in antiquity often performed sacred prostitution, and in Ancient Greece, some such as Pythia, priestess at Delphi. Sumerian and Akkadian Entu or EN were top-ranking priestesses who were distinguished with special ceremonial attire and they owned property, transacted business, and initiated the hieros gamos ceremony with priests and kings
5.
Caen
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Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department, the city proper has 108,365 inhabitants, while its urban area has 420,000, making Caen the largest city in former Lower Normandy. It is also the second largest municipality in all of Normandy after Le Havre, the metropolitan area of Caen, in turn, is the second largest in Normandy after that of Rouen, the 21st largest in France. It is located 15 kilometres inland from the English Channel, two hours north-west of Paris, and connected to the south of England by the Caen--Portsmouth ferry route. Caen is located in the centre of its region, and it is a centre of political, economic. Located a few miles from the coast, the landing beaches, the city has now preserved the memory by erecting a memorial and a museum dedicated to peace, the Memorial de Caen. Current arms, Gules, an open castle Or, windowed and masoned sable. Under the Ancien Régime, Per fess, gules and azure,3 fleurs de lys Or, during the First French Empire, Gules, a single-towered castle Or, a chief of Good Imperial Cities. Today, Caen has no motto, but it used to have one, as a result, its spelling is archaic and has not been updated, Un Dieu, un Roy, une Foy, une Loy. This motto is reflected in a notable old Chant royal, Caens home port code is CN In 1346, King Edward III of England led his army against the city, hoping to loot it. During the attack, English officials searched its archives and found a copy of the 1339 Franco-Norman plot to invade England, devised by Philip VI of France and this was subsequently used as propaganda to justify the supplying and financing of the conflict and its continuation. Only the castle of Caen held out, despite attempts to besiege it, a few days later, the English left, marching to the east and on to their victory at the Battle of Crécy. It was later captured by Henry V in 1417 and treated harshly for being the first town to put up any resistance to his invasion. During the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War, Caen was liberated from the Nazis in early July, British and Canadian troops had intended to capture the town on D-Day. However they were held up north of the city until 9 July, the Allies seized the western quarters, a month later than Field Marshal Montgomerys original plan. During the battle, many of the inhabitants sought refuge in the Abbaye aux Hommes. Both the cathedral and the university were destroyed by the British. Post-Second World War work included the reconstruction of complete districts of the city and it took 14 years and led to the current urbanization of Caen
6.
William the Conqueror
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William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward, after a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, by Roberts mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, during his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke and for their own ends. In 1047 William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy and his marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointments of his supporters as bishops and his consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighbouring county of Maine. In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066 and he made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 Williams hold on England was mostly secure, Williams final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France and his reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, Williams lands were divided after his death, Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, and his second surviving son, William Rufus, received England. Norsemen first began raiding in what became Normandy in the late 8th century, permanent Scandinavian settlement occurred before 911, when Rollo, one of the Viking leaders, and King Charles the Simple of France reached an agreement surrendering the county of Rouen to Rollo. The lands around Rouen became the core of the duchy of Normandy. Normandy may have used as a base when Scandinavian attacks on England were renewed at the end of the 10th century. In an effort to improve matters, King Æthelred the Unready took Emma of Normandy, sister of Duke Richard II, as his second wife in 1002
7.
Chaplain
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The concepts of multifaith, secular, generic and/or humanist chaplaincy are also gaining increasing support, particularly within healthcare and educational settings. School chaplains are a fixture in religious and, more recently, in religious schools the role of the chaplain tends to be educational and liturgical. In secular schools the role of the chaplain tends to be that of a mentor, Chaplains provide care for students by supporting them during times of crisis or need. Many chaplains run programs to promote the welfare of students, staff and parents including programs to help deal with grief. Chaplains also build relationships with students by participating in extra activities such as breakfast programs, lunchtime groups. School chaplains can also liaise with external organisations providing support services for the school, with stagnant incomes and rising prices putting pressure on independent school budgets, cutting the post of school chaplain can seem an easy saving. In Australia chaplains in schools have, controversially, been funded by the federal government. Australian chaplains assist school communities to support the spiritual, social, Chaplaincy services are provided by non denominational companies. As of August 2013 there are 2339 chaplains working in Australian secular schools, similarly, in Scotland the focus of school chaplaincy is on welfare and building positive relationships joining students on excursions and sharing meals. Chaplains are also non-denominational and act as a link between the community and society. Like Australian chaplains it is expected that they will not proselytise, in Ireland chaplaincy takes a very different approach in which chaplains are expected to teach up to four hours of class instruction per week and are usually Catholic. Chaplaincy duties include visiting homes, religious services, retreats and celebrations, Chaplains often also oversee programs on campus that foster spiritual, ethical, religious, and political and cultural exchange, and the promotion of service. Each day communities respond to disasters or emergencies. Most often, these incidents are managed effectively at the local level, however, there are some incidents that may require a collaborative approach that includes personnel from,1. A combination of specialties or disciplines,3, Chaplain Fellowship Disaster Response certifies first responder chaplain for crisis and disaster response. At the scene of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, for example, New York City Fire Department Chaplain Fr. Judge was killed by flying debris from the South Tower when he re-entered the lobby of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, environmental chaplaincy is an emerging field within chaplaincy. Environmental chaplains provide spiritual care in a way that honors humanitys deep connection to the earth, environmental chaplains may also bear witness to the Earth itself and represent the merging of science and spirituality
8.
Holy Lance
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The Holy Lance, also known as the Holy Spear, the Spear of Destiny, or the Lance of Longinus, according to the Gospel of John, is the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross. The lance is mentioned in the Gospel of John, but not the Synoptic Gospels, the gospel states that the Romans planned to break Jesus legs, a practice known as crurifragium, which was a method of hastening death during a crucifixion. Just before they did so, they realized that Jesus was already dead, to make sure that he was dead, a Roman soldier stabbed him in the side. One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance, and immediately came out blood. The phenomenon of blood and water was considered a miracle by Origen, the blood symbolizes his humanity, the water his divinity. In most variants of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, the priest lances the host with a spear before it is divided in honor of the Trinity, the Theotokos. The deacon recites the relevant passage from the Gospel of John, the main piece becomes The Lamb, the host that is consecrated on the altar and distributed to the faithful for Holy Communion. A form of the name Longinus occurs on a miniature in the Rabula Gospels, in the miniature, the name LOGINOS is written in Greek characters above the head of the soldier who is thrusting his lance into Christs side. This is one of the earliest records of the name, if the inscription is not a later addition, there have been three or four major relics that are claimed to be the Holy Lance or parts of it. The Holy Lance in Rome is preserved beneath the dome of Saint Peters Basilica, a mention of the lance occurs in the so-called Breviarius at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The presence in Jerusalem of the relic is attested by Cassiodorus as well as by Gregory of Tours, in 615, Jerusalem and its relics were captured by the Persian forces of King Khosrau II. This point of the lance, which was now set in an icon, was acquired by the Latin Emperor, Baldwin II of Constantinople, the point of the lance was then enshrined with the crown of thorns in the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. During the French Revolution these relics were removed to the Bibliothèque Nationale but the point subsequently disappeared. As for the portion of the lance, Arculpus claimed he saw it at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre around 670 in Jerusalem. Some claim that the relic had been conveyed to Constantinople in the 8th century. At this time great doubts as to its authenticity were felt at Rome, as Johann Burchard records, because of the presence of other rival lances in Paris, Nuremberg and this relic has never since left Rome, and its resting place is at Saint Peters. The Holy Lance in Vienna is displayed in the Imperial Treasury or Weltliche Schatzkammer at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, in the tenth century, the Holy Roman Emperors came into possession of the lance, according to sources from the time of Otto I. In 1000, Otto III gave Boleslaw I of Poland a replica of the Holy Lance at the Congress of Gniezno, in 1084, Henry IV had a silver band with the inscription Nail of Our Lord added to it
9.
Trial by ordeal
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Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. The test was one of life or death and the proof of innocence was survival, in some cases, the accused was considered innocent if they escaped injury or if their injuries healed. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, trial by ordeal was considered a judicium Dei, the practice has much earlier roots, attested to as far back as the Code of Hammurabi and the Code of Ur-Nammu. In pre-modern society, the ordeal typically ranked along with the oath, indeed, the term ordeal, Old English ordǣl, has the meaning of judgment, verdict, from Proto-Germanic *uzdailjam that which is dealt out. Priestly cooperation in trials by fire and water was forbidden by Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, trials by ordeal became rarer over the Late Middle Ages, but the practice was discontinued only in the 16th century. Ordeal by combat took place between two people in a dispute and they or, under certain conditions, a designated champion would fight, and the loser of the fight or the party represented by the losing champion was deemed guilty or liable. A notable case was that of Gero, Count of Alsleben, whose daughter married Siegfried II, Ordeal by fire was one form of torture. Ordeal of fire typically required that the walk a certain distance. One famous story about the ordeal of ploughshares concerns Edward the Confessors mother, according to legend, she was accused of adultery with Bishop Ælfwine of Winchester, but proved her innocence by walking barefoot unharmed over burning ploughshares. Another form of the ordeal required that an accused remove a stone from a pot of boiling water, oil, the assessment of the injury and the consequences of a miracle or lack of one, followed a similar procedure to that described above. An early example of the test was described by Gregory of Tours in the late 6th century and he describes how a Catholic saint, Hyacinth, bested an Arian rival by plucking a stone from a boiling cauldron. Gregory said that it took Hyacinth about an hour to complete the task and he died as a result of his injuries. It was used to prove the innocence of the accused in cases of treason, however, the Byzantines viewed trial of ordeal with disgust and considered it a barbarian innovation at odds with Byzantine law and ecclesiastical canons. Angold notes, Its abolition by Michael Paliologos was universally acclaimed. The first of its kind for over 400 years, the trial was a fiasco for Savonarola, since a sudden rain doused the flames, canceling the event, and was taken by onlookers as a sign from God against him. The Holy Inquisition arrested him shortly thereafter, with Savonarola convicted of heresy, Ordeal by fire was also used for judiciary purposes in ancient Iran. Persons accused of cheating in contracts or lying might be asked to prove their innocence by ordeal of fire as an ultimate test, two examples of such an ordeal include the accused having to pass through fire, or having molten metal poured on his chest. There were about 30 of these kinds of tests in all
10.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
11.
True Cross
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The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Catholic Church tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. Many churches possess fragmentary remains that are by tradition alleged to be those of the True Cross and their authenticity is not accepted universally by those of the Christian faith and the accuracy of the reports surrounding the discovery of the True Cross is questioned by some Christians. The medieval legends that developed concerning its provenance differ between Catholic and Orthodox tradition and these churches honour Helena as a saint, as does also the Anglican Communion. The Golden Legend contains several versions of the origin of the True Cross, in The Life of Adam, Voragine writes that the True Cross came from three trees which grew from three seeds from the Tree of Mercy which Seth collected and planted in the mouth of Adams corpse. After many centuries, the tree was cut down and the used to build a bridge over which the Queen of Sheba passed. So struck was she by the portent contained in the timber of the bridge that she fell on her knees and revered it. On her visit to Solomon, she told him that a piece of wood from the bridge would bring about the replacement of Gods Covenant with the Jewish people, Solomon, fearing the eventual destruction of his people, had the timber buried. But after fourteen generations, the wood taken from the bridge was fashioned into the Cross used to crucify Christ, Voragine then goes on to describe its finding by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine. In the late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, there was a general acceptance of the origin of the True Cross and its history preceding the Crucifixion. The Golden Legend and many of its sources developed after the East-West Schism of 1054, the above pre-Crucifixion history, therefore, is not to be found in Eastern Christianity. According to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church the True Cross was made from three different types of wood, cedar, pine and cypress. The link between this verse and the Crucifixion lies in the words, the place of my feet, there is a tradition that the three trees from which the True Cross was constructed grew together in one spot. A traditional Orthodox icon depicts Lot, the nephew of Abraham, according to tradition, these trees were used to construct the Temple in Jerusalem. Later, during Herods reconstruction of the Temple, the wood from these trees was removed from the Temple and discarded, eventually being used to construct the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Following his conversion to Christianity, Emperor Constantine ordered in about 325–326 that the site be uncovered and instructed Saint Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, in his Life of Constantine, Eusebius does not mention the finding of the True Cross. Socrates Scholasticus, in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a description of the discovery that was repeated later by Sozomen. In Socratess version of the story, Macarius had the three placed in turn on a deathly ill woman. This woman recovered at the touch of the cross, which was taken as a sign that this was the cross of Christ
12.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, a few steps away from the Muristan. The tomb is enclosed by the 18th-century shrine, called the Aedicule, within the church proper are the last four Stations of the Via Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of Jesus Passion. The main denominations sharing property over parts of the church are the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and to a lesser degree the Egyptian Copts, Syriacs and Ethiopians. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD built a dedicated to the goddess Venus in order to bury the cave in which Jesus had been buried. The first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, ordered in about 325/326 that the temple be replaced by a church, during the building of the Church, Constantines mother, Helena, is believed to have rediscovered the tomb. Socrates Scholasticus, in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a description of the discovery. The remains are enveloped by a marble sheath placed some 500 years before to protect the ledge from Ottoman attacks. However, there are several thick window wells extending through the marble sheath and they appear to reveal an underlying limestone rock, which may be part of the original living rock of the tomb. The church was starting in 325/326, and was consecrated on 13 September 335. From pilgrim reports it seems that the housing the tomb of Jesus was freestanding at first. Each year, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection on 13 September and this building was damaged by fire in May of 614 when the Sassanid Empire, under Khosrau II, invaded Jerusalem and captured the True Cross. In 630, the Emperor Heraclius restored it and rebuilt the church after recapturing the city, after Jerusalem came under Arab rule, it remained a Christian church, with the early Muslim rulers protecting the citys Christian sites. A story reports that the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited the church and stopped to pray on the balcony and he feared that future generations would misinterpret this gesture, taking it as a pretext to turn the church into a mosque. Eutychius added that Umar wrote a decree prohibiting Muslims from praying at this location, the building suffered severe damage due to an earthquake in 746. Early in the century, another earthquake damaged the dome of the Anastasis. The damage was repaired in 810 by Patriarch Thomas, in the year 841, the church suffered a fire. In 935, the Orthodox Christians prevented the construction of a Muslim mosque adjacent the Church, in 938, a new fire damaged the inside of the basilica and came close to the rotunda. In 966, due to a defeat of Muslim armies in the region of Syria, the doors and roof were burnt, and the Patriarch John VII was murdered
