Religious Relic. Tradition holds that the Basilica is the repository for blood from Jesus preserved on a scrap of cloth. Legend relates that after the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea cleaned the blood from the body of Jesus and saved the cloth. A fragment of that cloth has allegedly been preserved in a rock-crystal vial, set inside a glass cylinder which is in turn capped with a golden crown at each end. It is believed that the relic was collected by Constantine in the 4th century, and was looted during the sack of Constantinople by the army of the Count of Flanders, Baldwin IX, in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. The first historical record to mention the Holy Blood in Bruges dates from 1256. In 1400 the Noble Brotherhood of the Holy Blood was formed to oversee and protect the relic. The relic's gold and jewel encrusted shrine was created in 1617. Over the centuries on Ascension Day, a procession led by the Brotherhood takes place, known as the Procession of the Holy Blood; it is an event recognized by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Religious Relic. Tradition holds that the Basilica is the repository for blood from Jesus preserved on a scrap of cloth. Legend relates that after the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea cleaned the blood from the body of Jesus and saved the cloth. A fragment of that cloth has allegedly been preserved in a rock-crystal vial, set inside a glass cylinder which is in turn capped with a golden crown at each end. It is believed that the relic was collected by Constantine in the 4th century, and was looted during the sack of Constantinople by the army of the Count of Flanders, Baldwin IX, in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. The first historical record to mention the Holy Blood in Bruges dates from 1256. In 1400 the Noble Brotherhood of the Holy Blood was formed to oversee and protect the relic. The relic's gold and jewel encrusted shrine was created in 1617. Over the centuries on Ascension Day, a procession led by the Brotherhood takes place, known as the Procession of the Holy Blood; it is an event recognized by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Bio by: Iola
Gravesite Details
Blood only, brought back from the Second Crusade by Thierry, Count of Flanders.
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