Silk and Christianity

7/22/2019 Silk and Christianity

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SILK AND CHRISTIANITY

Dr. V. R. Shenoy and Dr. A. R. Shenoy

INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

CONNECTED WITH SILK

The purpose of this introduction is to inform the reader about the various

civilizations in Christendom involved in the historical story of silk. Since this

article is about the history of silk in relation to Christianity and not history of these

civilizations alone, we have tried to keep this introduction as concise and as

pertinent as possible without leaving out any relevant facts.

Roman Empire:

The Roman Empire arose from the Roman Republic when Julius Caesar and

Augustus Caesar converted it from a republic into a monarchy. Rome reached its

pinnacle in the 2nd century AD.

By the late 3rd century AD, the city of Rome no longer served as an effective

capital for the extent of the empire and various cities were used as new

administrative capitals. Successive emperors, starting with Constantine I,

privileged the eastern city of Byzantium, which he had entirely rebuilt after a siege.

Later renamed Constantinople, and protected by formidable walls in the late 4th

and early 5th centuries, it became the largest and most powerful city of Christian

Europe in the Early Middle Ages. Since the Crisis of the Third Century, the

Empire was intermittently ruled by more than one emperor at once (usually two),

presiding over different regions. At first a haphazard form of power sharing, this

eventually settled on an East-West administrative division between the Western


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Roman Empire (centered on Rome, but now usually presided from other seats of

power such as Trier, Milan, and especially Ravenna), and the Eastern Roman

Empire (with its capital initially in Nicomedia, and later Constantinople). The

Latin-speaking west, under dreadful demographic crisis, and the wealthier Greek-

speaking east, also began to diverge politically and culturally. Although this was a

gradual process, still incomplete when Italy came under the rule of barbarian

chieftains in the last quarter of the 5th century, it deepened further afterward, and

had lasting consequences for the medieval history of Europe.

The descent of the Roman Empire refers to the societal collapse including both the

gradual disintegration of the political economic, military, and other social

institutions of Rome and the barbarian incursions that brought about its collapse in

Western Europe. It is broadly agreed that the Roman Empire in Western Europe

ended when Romulus Augustus was deposed as Western Roman Emperor in 476

AD while still young.

Constantine I:

In addition to building Constantinople, Constantine I is perhaps best known for

being the first Christian Roman emperor; his reign was certainly a turning point for

the Church. In February 313 AD, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan where

they developed the Edict of Milan. The edict stated that Christians should be

allowed to follow the faith of their choosing. This removed penalties for professing

Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions ofChristians) and returned confiscated Church property. The edict did not only

protect Christians from religious persecution, but all religions, allowing anyone to

worship whichever deity they choose.


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Byzanyine Papacy:

The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from

537 to 752 AD, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for

episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii

(liaisons from the pope to the emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece,

Byzantine Syria, or Byzantine Sicily. Justinian I conquered the Italian peninsula in

the Gothic War (535-554 AD) and appointed the next three popes, a practice that

would be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the Exarchate (a

diocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church) of Ravenna.

Nestorianism:

Nestorianism holds that the human and divine persons

of Christ are separate The Nestorian doctrine was

condemned as heretical at the First Council of Ephesus

in 431 AD and the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD,

leading to the Nestorian Schism in which churches

supporting Nestorius broke with the rest of the

Christian Church. Followers of theNestorian church

found refuge in Persia, Serindia(The term Serindia

combines Seres (China) and India to refer to the part of

Asia also known as Sinkiang(Xinjiang), Chinese

Turkestan or High Asia), and India. In India, theNestorians are largely based in Kerala; their Church also known as the Assyrian

Church of the East in India is located in Trichur, Kerala.

ANestorianChristianfigure,inkandcoloursonsilk(fragment)from

Dunhuang,China9thCenturyTangdynasty,

Stein

collection,


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Frankish Papacy:

From 756 to 857 AD the papacy shifted from the orbit of the Byzantine Empire to

that of the kings of the Franks. Pepin the Short (ruled 751-768 AD), Charlemagne

(reign 768-814 AD) (co-ruler with his brother Carloman I until 771 AD), and

Louis the Pious (r. 814-840 AD) had considerable influence in the selection and

administration of popes. The "Donation of Pepin" (756 AD) ratified a new period

of papal rule in central Italy, which became known as the Papal States. The

coronations of Pepin, Charlemagne, and Louis by popes planted the idea among

generations of European rulers that the pope could confer legitimacy to the title of

"emperor."

Division of the Church into Eastern Orthodox and Western (Roman Catholic)

Branches:

The East-West Schism 1054 AD, sometimes known as the Great Schism formally

divided medieval Christianity into Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches,

which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman

Catholic Church, respectively. Relations between East and West had long been

embittered by political and ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.

PURPLE SILK IN THE SEMIOTIC EXPRESSION OF POWER

According toAristotle, raw silk was brought from the interior of Asia (China) and

weaved into fabric on the Greek Island of Kos (Cos) around 400 BC (Aristotle,

History of Animals, v 19). Silk was known in ancient Rome. William Smith

describes the following in his Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1875:

The rage for the latter (silk) increased more and more. Even men aspired to be

adorned with silk, and hence the senate early in the reign of Tiberius (14 AD to 37


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AD) enacted a condemnation of silk -Ne vestis Serica viros foedaret". In the

succeeding reigns, we find the most vigorous measures adopted by those emperors

who were characterized by severity of manners, to restrict the use of silk, whilst

Caligula and others, notorious for luxury and excess, not only encouraged it in the

female sex, but delighted to display it in public on their own persons

Elagabalus (218-222 AD) was the first Roman emperor to wear silk. Up to the

early empire, Roman citizens still had the freedom to wear purple according to

their means. It was the introduction of the silk industry that signalled the change.

A set of customs that arose during the transitional period when the Roman Empire,

from being a republic became an imperial state, was further stylized with oriental

inspiration particularly Tang Chinese in the Eastern Roman Empire (Xinru Liu).

This combination of eastern and western traditions was exemplified in the use of

the colour purple on silk textiles as the highest attribute of status. The semiotic

association of purple silk with power whether spiritual or temporal was reduced to

an elaborate code by the Byzantines; this semiotic trait of the Byzantine Church

was also adopted by the Western Roman Church.

Such was the Byzantine semiotic passion for silk that their efforts were always

directed in the securing of the silk route and monopolization of the silk trade.

Thus, the Byzantine support to the Abyssinian Christian war against the Yemeni

Jewish Himyari Kingdom during Justins reign 518-27 AD can be viewed as an

effort to secure the passage of silk through the Yemeni territory as caravans of

Byzantine traders were frequently attacked and killed by the soldiers of the

Himyari King Yusuf Dhu Nuwas (Joseph Tobi and Y. Tobi).

Byzantine rulers patronized the Church with donations of Silk. Ever since Emperor

Constantine gave a robe fashioned with golden threads to Bishop Macarius of

Jerusalem for use on the occasion of Baptism (M. Shepherd 1967, 63)custom


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designed silks made in Byzantine imperial workshops continued to be used for

ceremonial purposes such as for church hangings and altar covers. Purple silks,

gold-woven silks and whole silk continued to be given to Christian priests

(Starensier 1982, 161, 178).To portray themselves as patrons of Christianity,

Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora had their images made on the altar cover

of silk and gold in Hagia Sophia along with that of Christ and the Apostles. The

Byzantine emperors, while enriching the Church with their patronage also

visualized themselves in the image of Jesus Christ and promoted their concept of

social order and aesthetics among the clergy. It was as if royal power was

projected as divine power. Thus on Easter the Byzantine emperor would play the

role of Christ. The purple garment designed for this festival was an elaboration of

the purple garment worn by the crucified living Christ depicted in the Syriac

Rabbula Gospels, a 6th century illuminated Syriac Gospel Book scribed by

Rabbula (ca. 586 AD, Starensier 1982. 196-197). See below.

Theearliestcrucifixioninanilluminatedmanuscript,fromtheRabbulaGospels(source:BibliotecaMediceaLaurenziana).


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Purple silks thus became sacred vestments for the church. In the Byzantine court,

in sacred art works court costumes (purple silks) covered the bodies of the images

of Christ, Mary and the angels (Reinhold 1970, 65).

On a beautiful silk tapestry in the Vatican, depicting the Annunciation repeated in

the intertwining circles (Enyclopedia. of World Art. xiv. pl 11), the Virgin is

seated beside a basket of purple.

TheAnnunciation,Constantinople.8thearlv9thcentury(silktwill,height33.7cm,width68.6cm)fromMuseoSacro,Vatican

According toLethabythe design of this subject is of the eastern type in which the

Virgin is seated and has by her side a basket of "purple", a scheme which is

followed on the Coptic dyed linen and the Coptic embroidered roundel at Victoria

and Albert (V & A) Museum, South Kensington.


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AnnunciationbytheAngelGabriel,CopticLinenembroideredinSilk,Egypt600 799fromV&AMuseum

There is also an apocryphal literature on this subject, which perhaps explains the

strengthening semiotic association of purple silk with Christian divinity. It is said

that the Virgin spent her youth spinning purple (thread) in a temple. Around the

year 670, a pilgrim in Jerusalem saw a tapestry showing Christ and the Apostles

which was allegedly woven by the Virgin (Starensier 1982, 454).

According toEvangelatou, the apocryphal Protoevangelion (gospel) of James

could be the reason for the powerful semiotic connection with the colour purple as

in many representations of the Annunciation in Byzantine, the Virgin is shown

spinning the purple thread destined for the new temple veil as narrated in the James

Gospel. Evangelatouelaborates The spinning of the purple thread appears in

scenes of the Annunciation from the fifth century onwards. It soon became a

standard iconographic element, present in most depictions of the event in

Byzantine art. Up to the ninth century, a basket that contains the purple skein was

frequently depicted next to the Virgin, who usually holds a spindle with yarn or one

end of the spun thread. From the Middle Byzantine period onwards; however, the


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basket was usually omitted from the composition. In most cases, Mary holds the

spindle, whether she is shown seated or standing before the heavenly messenger

who approaches her. As is well known, the theme of the spun purple skein in

Annunciation scenes is inspired by chapters 10-11 in the apocryphal

Protevangelion of James: Now there was a council of the priests, and they said:

Let us make a veil for the temple of the Lord. And the priest said: Call unto me

pure virgins of the tribe of David. And the officers departed and sought and

found seven virgins. And the priests called to mind the child Mary, that she was

of the tribe of David and was undefiled before God and the officers went and

fetched her. And they brought them into the temple of the Lord, and the priest

said: Cast me lots, which of you shall weave the gold and the undefiled (the

white) and the fine linen and the silk and the hyacinthine, and the scarlet and

the true purple. And the let of the true purple and the scarlet fell unto Mary and

she took them and went unto her house... In the Kariye Museum, formerly the

church of St Saviour in Chora (Turkey) there is a representation of this theme from

the Gospel of James.

VirgintakingthepurpleSkeinstoweaveaveilfortheTemplefromKariyeMusem,Turkey


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Byzantium's expression on various shades of purple colour and weaving-

embroidery techniques served to designate increasingly complicated bureaucratic

and clerical hierarchies.

ABOUT PURPLE

Purple dye produced from murex, a shellfish found in the eastern Mediterranean,

had been an attribute of status from as early as the second millennium BC in the

Near East (Reinhold 1970, 8). Since the cost of extracting the dye from a large

quantity of shellfish was extremely high, and purple was the only fast colour

known to the ancient Mediterranean world,it became the most durable symbol of

status in history. Phillipa Scottstates the following about murex in relation to silk

in the Byzantine Empire: But it was in the eastern Roman Empire of

Byzantium that the murex purple fashion reached its all-time apogee. When

Emperor Constantine established his new city, Constantinople, in 330, the

Byzantines embraced the symbolism of purple. Ancient Phoenicia and Syria

became Byzantine territories. Syrian merchants were accorded special privileges

in the imperial city, for they brought the most desirable dyestuffs and the most

desirable purple-dyed silk, some already woven and some as thread, to supply the

imperial weaving ateliers. The Byzantine silk industry was strictly regulated by

guilds, and silks of both purple and purple-and-gold were imperial monopolies.

Many Byzantine laws regulated the sale, production and wearing of purple and

punishment for their breach was severe.

The Byzantine State with an increase in the supply of raw silk preserved the

prestige of its silk textiles through an elaborate weaving technology and the purple

dye. Having deprived its own citizens of the right to wear purple, Byzantine rulers

never let the secret of making the purple dye pass to others. All purple dye-houses


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were concentrated in Constantinople from the reign of Justinian. After Tyre and

Beirut (the ancient centres of purple dye technology) fell to the Persians and later

to the Arabs, this knowledge did not spread outside Byzantium (Starensier 1982,

78). The government monopoly on purple was so strict that after the fall of

Constantinople in 1453 AD, the production of murex purple stopped totally. In

place of the purple for church vestments Pope Paul II declared the scarlet dye from

cochineal kerms to be the colour for clerical robes and hats (Reinhold 1970, 70).

To preserve the uniqueness of the Byzantine court, sumptuary laws against its own

citizens and the prohibition of commercial exportation were necessary. Up to the

tenth century, the gold embroiderers, state clothiers, tailors and purple dyers

worked in the proximity of the imperial palace (Starensier 1982, 235). Emperor

Leo VI allowed scraps of purple silks to be traded in the domestic market, only

once, at the end of the 9th

century.

THE KOMMERKIAROI:

Silk weaving started in the eastern Mediterranean area in the Roman period. The

Roman Empire, later the Byzantine Empire, relied on imported silk yarn for

centuries, even after Byzantium developed its own sericulture. During the reign of

Justinian or one of his successors, a law was enacted to put a ceiling price of 15

nomismata on the sale of one pound of raw silk within the empire. Only imperial

officials with the title of kommerkiarioi were authorized to obtain raw silk from

foreigners (Oikonomides 1986)

According to Oikonomides, The Byzantine state controlled commercial

transactions through the kommerkiaroi; agents whose field of activity was trade. In

the sixth century, kommerkiaroi was the name given to the imperial employees


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who, at the Syrian border, bought on behalf of the Byzantine state the silk imported

from the East. Around 630, the term kommerkiaros was translated into the

scholarly Greek language as "lord of the silk cloth". The number of kommerkiaroi

subsequently increased significantly, and they acquired a special type of lead seal

showing the emperor, an indication that the seals were placed on commodities of

particular value, such as silk. On the reverse of some of these seals is the imprint

of the burlap from the sack containing the silk merchandise(Oikonomides, 2002

p.984).

According to Muthesius, The earliest documented Byzantine silkworms (most

plausibly mulberry plantations as well) were located in fifth-century Byzantine

Syria. Concerning the distribution of mulberry plantations and the production of

raw silk, the evidence of the seals of the kommerkiarioi is important. The earliest

seal of a kommerkiariosbelonged to an officer based in Antioch under Emperor

Anastasios (Muthesius 2008).

In the wake of Islamic expansions and territorial losses, Byzantium faced the threat

of losing its sericulture and domestic silk supply. To preserve its silk industry,

Byzantium had to move its sericulture to the northwest. A study of the seals of the

kommerkiariois shows that the positions of these officials cum traders were always

located in the area of silk production. Their jurisdictions in the seventh century

were still quite close to the early centres of the silk industry. In the eighth century

their command shifted to the western part of Asia Minor. By the early ninth

century, the seals of the kommerkiariois were found only in the territory west of

Constantinople (Oikonomides 1986, 43-7). According to Oikonomides, in this

period, the kommerkiariois were probably agents to promote sericulture in the de-

urbanized areas, as silk was undoubtedly a very vital component of the Byzantine

economy.


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Xinrustates: Most western scholars are of the opinion that the Chinese carefully

guarded their technology of sericulture. This is based on the legend that the

Khotanese smuggled the eggs of silkworm from their east neighbour (Hsuan

Tsang, 1021-22)... A wooden plaque depicting the silk princess obtained from

Dandan-Oilik excavations in Taklamakan by Aurel Stein, dated 7thto 8

thcent AD

and now in the British Museum clearly confirms this part of the silk story:

AChineseprincess(secondleft)defiedtheemperor'sembargobyhidingmulberryseedsandeggsofthesilkmothinherheaddressandsmugglingthempastaborderpost.Anattendantdrawstheviewer'sattentiontothisbypointingtotheprincess'shead(Khotan,7thto8thcentAD,SteinCollection,BritishMuseum)

According to Procopius a Byzantine

Historian from the 6thcentury AD,

Nestorian monks smuggled the eggs of

silkworm from Serindia. There is an

undated image from French sources

(Wikipedia) showing Nestorian monks

handing over silkworms to Emperor

Justinian.

TheemperorJustinianreceivessilkworms,552AD.


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Xinrumentions about the erroneous conviction of historical Chinese sources aboutthe existence of sericulture in ancient Rome - technology transfer of silk was

probably much more complicated than these legends indicate. The history of the

later Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) written in the fifth century AD, recorded that the

Roman empire had a flourishing sericulture and that people wore embroidered

silks. At least in the fifth century AD, the Chinese thought that the Roman Empire

was a strong and vast country similar to China. Naturally there should be

sericulture in that country (HHS 88/2919). Later Chinese historical sources

continued to repeat this description of the Romans. If the Chinese thought that

sericulture was already established in the Roman Empire, there was no point in

keeping its technology a secret.However, much of the connected research and

literature shows that in the Mediterranean only the Byzantines for much of the

early middle Ages (500-1500 AD) had sericulture. The Roman Empire was a great

consumer of silk; by the year 380 AD,Marcellinus Ammianus, a 4th century

Roman historian reported, "The use of silk which was once confined to the nobility

has now spread to all classes without distinction, even to the lowest."The desire

for silk continued to rise over the centuries. The price of silk was very high in

Rome. The best Chinese bark (a particular kind of silk) cost as much as 300 denarii

(a Roman soldier's salary for an entire year!); going by such reportage, it is evident

that ancient Rome had no sericulture, perhaps the ancient Chinese historical

understanding about sericulture in the Roman Empire was misplaced.

THE SILK CONNECTION BETWEEN THE STATE ANDCHURCH IN BYZANTIUM

The reluctance of the Byzantine emperors to let purple and gold embroidered silks

be traded in domestic and foreign markets did not come in their way in donating


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magnanimously these luxuries to churches and priests. Sharing prestigious silk

vestments with the Christian church was only one of the ways in which Byzantine

emperors sought to enhance their political power through the church. The Church

in turn benefited from its use as a tool for political power by the emperors and

grew more powerful.

From the time that Constantine legalized the Christian church to the reign of

Justinian I, fundamental social changes occurred in the eastern Roman Empire

which further strengthened the Church vis--vis the Emperor. The Archbishops

became permanent local leaders. While eparches (governors or prefects) as state

officials sent by Constantinople stayed in office for only short terms and had few

local contacts, archbishops held their episcopates for long periods, if not life terms,

which enabled them to build local ties (Cormack 1985,75). With the weakening of

state functionaries and the breakdown of civic structures, local wealth flowed into

religious institutions. Cormacksstudy of Thcssaloniki, a city in northern Greece,

shows that in the seventh century, aristocrats donated their wealth to the church of

St. Demetrios to build a haven of peace and safety, instead of giving money to

maintain public and civic facilities as they used to do (Cormack 1985, 94).

From Constantine to Justinian, Byzantine emperors encouraged the spread of the

Christian church not only because their religious faith required them to do so, but

also because an ideologically unified religious institution could serve the important

purpose of defending and expanding the empire (Walker 1985, 184-185).

The rise of the Church and the decline of imperial power contributed to a change in

the perspective of Byzantine citizens. They attributed their successesmilitary

victories and accomplishments in other endeavoursto the grace of God and help

from saints, and their failures to the scourge of God and saints as a punishment for


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their sins. Constantinople became the city of the Virgin. In 717, the patriarch

attributed the failure of an Arab attack on the city to the Virgin instead of to the

military campaign of Leo III (Cormack 1985, 107). The accumulated financial and

spiritual power of the church caused many tensions with the imperial power, which

ultimately led to the iconoclasm (intolerance and destruction of religious images)

of the eighth century.

Eventually, in the 9th

cent AD, when the iconoclast tides finally regressed, the

Christian church in the empire emerged even more powerful as an ideological

force and institution and achieved greater autonomy from the monarchy. The

grandeur of the enthralling Eucharistic rites of the Byzantine Church made possible

by the richness of silks so impressed Prince Vladimir of Kiev, that he chose

Christianity as his state religion, soon Russians chose to follow in his footsteps.

SILK IN BYZANTINE DIPLOMACY

Byzantine rulers considered silks to be a financial resource as important as gold,

and the administration of silk production was under the ministry of mint since thefourth century. Later changes in administration never really separated the silk

industry from the fiscal department (Starensier 1982, 492).

Inter-cultural trade did not prosper in the early medieval world. The monetary

system in Europe, as well as in Asia, was not comprehensive. The collapse of the

Roman Empire with its implications devastated economy generally all over

Europe, especially Western Europe it perhaps even contributed to discontinuity of

coins in Europe and the lack of interaction of different coinages in the early

medieval world; this helped make silk one of the best gifts and a very useful tool in

diplomacy. The Byzantines used the dazzling effect of silk displays in parades and

court ceremonies in impressing both Byzantine citizens as well as foreigners. With


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the fading of military glory, Byzantium relied increasingly on maneuvering foreign

relations to keep its trade going, to defend its borders and even to get support for

domestic power struggles. In 705, Justinian II regained the throne with the aid of

the Bulgarian King Khan Tervel. As a token of his gratitude, Justinian II presented

silk cloth and purple leather to the Bulgarians in addition to an export license for

controlled Byzantine goods (Lopez 1945, 32). This was a strategy the empire often

employed to buy off barbarians along its borders (Starensier 1982, 290),

The Byzantines sent silks as largess to Islamic rulers or as dowries to German

kings. From the eighth to the twelfth centuries, about sixteen marriages between

the Byzantine and German empires were negotiated or arranged and Byzantine

envoys invariably carried silks as gifts (Muthesius 1984, 250). In 1100, the

Byzantine emperor Alexis I Comnenus paid 100 purple silk garments to a German

king (Reinhold 1970, 70). The Byzantine rulers acknowledged gratitude by

presenting their gifts as religious donations; thus in 1261 Emperor Michael VIII

donated an altar frontal portraying the saints Lawrence, Sixtus and Hippolytus all

patron saints of Genoa, to the city in gratification for its help in recapturing

Constantinople from the Latin emperor, Baldwin II (Starensier 1982, 349). The

examples of religious donations that brought Byzantine and eastern silks to western

churches are numerous.

SILK IN THE CULT OF SAINTS AND CHRISTIAN EXPANSION

IN POLYTHEISTIC EUROPE

Due to the association of silk with relics, most silk samples from the early

medieval world, whether they be Byzantine, Persian, Central Asian or even

Chinese, have survived in the tombs of saints and church treasuries in Europe. The


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connection of exquisite silks with the relics of saints and religious institutions was

a component of the rise of the cult of saints and the spread of Christianity in

Europe.

The centuries of conflicts and assimilation with a view to either defeat the

Barbarians or integrate them within the Roman Empire finally took a toll on the

institutions and civic structures of Rome and eventually resulted in the Empires

collapse in the 5th

century (Geary 1988, 38). However, the legacy of Roman

influence, both political and cultural continued and inspired the Romanized

barbarian kingdoms in their quest to build a civic structure in Europe. This process

was slow and governmental administration was weak and it was in such a situation

of debilitated governance that the Christian church functioned as the key

institutional force in the consolidation of European civilization.

Christian religious institutions, which provided some cohesion in chaotic late-

antiquity and early medieval Europe, were mainly vassals of the feudal lord. Their

clergy were related to aristocrats by blood. In the Frankish Merovingian period,

most of the bishops in the Frankish kingdom were old Roman aristocrats. Gregory

of Tours (575-594 AD as bishop) was of distinguished senatorial stock from both

sides of his family; thus, in a way Roman influence maintained its continuity

ecclesiastically in a Christian age.

The Christian church did not have an easy road in spreading its influence in

Europe. It had to establish itself in the whole of Europe through manyproselytizing efforts. In this process, the cult of saints became the major medium of

cultural influence helping expand the geographical extent of Christianity from the

more civilized and already Christianized territory of the former Roman Empire to

the less civilized and still pagan western and northern Europe. Silk textiles


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preserved in western and northern European churches arc material evidence of the

religious and cultural infiltration. The commonality of traditions and manners

across various communities and peoples in Europe that we understand today as

European culture can be attributed in no small measure to the cult of saints in

evolving European Christendom.

The cult of saintshelped consolidate their national identity and

thus states based on those identities. The most well known

example in this respect is that of the abbot Suger of St. Denis

who mobilized France to fight against Henry V of Germany in

the early twelfth century, thusPanofskymentions: While the

hosts were assembling, the relics of Saint Denis and his

Companions were laid out on the main altar of the Abbey, later

to be restored to the crypt 'on the shoulders of the king himself.

The monks said offices day and night. And Louis le Gros

accepted from the hands of Suger, and 'invited all France to

follow it', the banner known as the 'Oriflamme'that famous

'Oriflamme' that was to remain the visible symbol of national

unity for almost three centuries yet at the same time, to

proclaim the king of France a vassal of St. Denis; for the 'Oriflamme' was in

reality the banner of Vexin, a possession the king held in fief of the Abbey

The Oriflamme or gold flame (image on the right, source: Societe de

lOriflamme) going by one of many accounts, is described as a crimson silkvexillum with three tails, green fringe, and tassels. Like the Oriflamme, St

Georges cross appears on the English flag since he is the Patron Saint of England,

Similarly, St Andrews cross appears on the Scottish flag since he is the Patron

Saint of Scotland. The Union Jack which appears on the flag of the United

Oriflamme


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Kingdom is a combination of both St. Georges as well as St. Andrews crosses.

St. Andrew is also the Patron Saint of Russia and the Naval Ensign as well as the

Naval Jack of Russia display St. Andrews cross on them.

CHRISTIANITY IN ADDRESSING ESCHATOLOGICAL

CONCERNS

Like Judaism, early Christianity stressed upon the intrinsic goodness of this world.

Eschatological concerns like dealing with after life, heaven or hell, were

considered theologically insignificant (Placher 1984, 53). According toBrownthe

late fourth century saw Christian theologists attempting to create a clear structure

of the world beyond; sin and final judgment became their greatest concern. This

concern saw the genesis of various specific Christian theological features which

led to relic-worship. Gearythinks that because Christians believed in the

resurrection of the dead body, they kept the relics of saints as a pledge that the

martyrs would pick up at the final judgment. According toBaynes, the Byzantines

believed that honouring the holy dead would make the saints speak to God on theirbehalf. Bentleygives an example of the relics of a saint transforming the horror of

death into hope of attaining heaven. Since the saint's soul was in heaven, the relics

were links between earth and heaven.

The vision of the afterlife and the ways to achieve salvation were the decisive

factors in conversion of Western Europe to Christianity. There were various

approaches to salvation in Christianity, these included baptism, communion and

penance, but the goal of these approaches was either divine protection in this world

or the bliss of heaven. Eschatological visions of the bliss of heaven, the ruthless

torture of purgatory and the despair of hell urged pagan people to seek a safe

approach to the afterlife.


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In England, Bede (673-735 AD), a monk of Jarrow and the author of the famous

Ecclesiastical History of the English Peoples related how a man who returned from

death after witnessing the procedure after death became a devout Christian. In 627

AD, King Edwin of Northumbria in North England held a council with his chief

followers to decide whether they should accept Christianity. One of his chief men

supported the conversion with the argument that Christianity provided a better

knowledge of the afterlife than did their original religion: 'Man appears on earth

for a little while, but of what went before this life and of what follows, we know

nothing. Therefore, if this new teaching has brought any more certain knowledge,

it seems only right we should follow it'(Bede). Webbmentions that when

Northumbrians suffered a plague and many people resorted to praying to local

deities and to witchcraft, Cuthbert (634-687 AD), then a prior and later the bishop

of Lindisfarne, preached with the promise of heaven. The logic was that if

Christianity could not help its faithful escape death, it would help them to go to a

better place after death; thus the eschatological comfort provided by Christian

reasoning was a powerful factor in the spread of Christianity in England as

elsewhere in Western Europe.

After their conversion to Christianity, in order to address their concern with the

hereafter, aristocrats in the Frankish kingdoms and English isles did everything in

their power to ensure their access to heaven. From the seventh century, Frankish

families built monasteries on their own property. According toGeary, the

monastery not only received family members who chose a religious life, but also

served as the necropolis of the family to pray for the souls of all members. St.

Denis was the necropolis of the Frankish rulers. In Carolingian times, the clerks of

kings guarded the relics of saints in palace chapels and provided religious services

to the loyal family (Rich 1973, 91-92). The Franks also made every effort to


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remind the living to pray for the dead. Lists ofthe names of the ancestor of

aristocratic families were preserved in abbeys for prayers. Xinru Liuopines that

the earnest concern with eternity among the Christians of Western Europe was

natural considering the extremely difficult and unstructured social conditions in

which they lived - warfare, famine and plague constantly decimated the population.

The upper classes may have suffered less in times of famine, but fratricide and

feuds for power often wiped out entire families.

Despite the alleged healing power of the saints and their relics, in early medieval

Europe, diseases took many lives of the bulk of the elite and the low-born. Thorpe

mentions that before the Frankish king Clovis converted to Christianity, his son

died just after being baptized in a white robe; Clovis, nevertheless, received

baptism, along with more than three thousand of his soldiers. His sister was also

baptized but died soon after. The theological explanation for all the calamities

falling on innocent and devout Christians was that the sins of the people incurred

the scourge of God. Sin was inevitable; there was no way to stop other people from

sinning, and hence the curse was also inevitable. The only hope, therefore, was the

promise of a better afterlife ensured by getting into the Christian fold. St.

Remigius, the bishop of Rheims comforted Clovis upon the death of his sister with

the assurance that since she had been baptized, she would certainly go to heaven

(Thorpe). On this matter of fate of the soul in the hereafter alone, the Christian

church never failed its faithful followers. Priests always baptized the living and

always took care of the dead to prepare them for heaven. Thorpedescribes that in

the great plague of Auvergne in 571 AD, bodies piled up in churches. In St. Peter's

church in Clermont city, 300 bodies were buried on one Sunday. Rather than

fleeing from the city, the priest, Cato, buried the dead and continued to say mass

until he himself succumbed. Thus, the firm belief of the clergy in the evolved


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eschatological models of the church paved the way for a Christian Europe in late

antiquity.

ROLE OF RELICS IN TRANSITING FROM POLYTHEISTIC

FAITHS TO CHRISTIANITY IN PAGAN EUROPE

In spite of the several important theological debates between the iconoclasts and

iconophiles in the Eastern Church, neither the western nor the eastern churches

disputed the sacredness of relics. The second council of Nicaea in 787, where the

major aim was to reverse the iconoclast trend, ruled that all churches should have

relics under their altars (Bentley 1985, 214). In the Frankish empire in the early

ninth century, the council of Carthage ordered the destruction of all church altars

without the relics of saints (Geary 1978, 43).

The cult of the saints helped the church in its goal of making inroads into pagan

populations as saint cults helped to replace the many functions of pagan gods. The

Christians treated the relics of saints in a similar way to that of gods. Relics were

used as talisman in witchcraft. The queen of the English king, Ecgfrith, took away

the reliquary full of relics from Wilfrid the bishop and wore it as a necklace (Webb

1988, p. 142). Frankish kings collected relics in their palaces for protection (Geary

1988, 188).

For the Pope and Byzantine emperors, the distribution of relics helped propagate

Christianity, showed the superiority of their civilization and reminded barbaric

states of their predominant position in the religious sphere, if not in military power.

But for western European monarchs, whether Frankish, English or others,

collecting relics and establishing the norm that an altar with the relics of saints was

the centre of worship and ritual became a means to obtain protector saints for their


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states and subjects and thus consolidate their national states for example, the

oriflamme of St.Denis.

DEMAND FOR RELICS AND THEIR ROLE IN ENRICHING

THE POWER OF THE CHURCH

As Christianization proceeded in the Frankish Carolingian Empire relics were

necessary for all churches, and hence the demand for saint relics increased. Relics

were in short supply, especially in Europe, north of the Alps in Germany. Most

early saints were martyrs and naturally, martyrdom was the most easily recognized

standard for sainthood. Yet there had not been many opportunities to produce

martyrs in the regions north of the Alps. Churches in the west naturally looked to

and sought relics from Rome as martyrdoms mainly took place in this city.

Different kinds of transactions took place. The Abbot of St. Medard of Soissons

used Frankish imperial influence to compel the Pope to render him the body of St.

Sebastian in the early ninth century through Frankish imperial power (Geary 1978,

47). Gearystates that the less influential abbots had to rely on professional relictraders. These traders, like other traders in medieval times, travelled in caravans,

crossing the Alps periodically and then the continent to supply goods to England

The famous relic merchant, Deusdona, obtained the bodies of St. Peter and St.

Marcellinus for Einhard at Mulinheim (Geary).

When primary and important relics were not adequate to meet the demands of the

many churches in Europe, secondary relics, though not as good, bridged the gap.

The clothes of saints, especially those stained by their blood and the instruments

used in the torture of martyrs, were considered important relics (Bentley 1985, 42-

4). Theoretically these relics were as valued as the whole body. As early as the

fourth century, the Cappadocian father, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, made it clear


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that even a drop of blood from a saint or martyr was an efficacious relic.

Considering that many martyrs did not leave their entire bodies to devotees, this

claim was quite practical. There was a whole nomenclature on the different sets of

relics in medieval Europe (Bentley).

With the rise of the cult of saints and the traffic of relics into Western Europe, rose

the trade of silk. Silk textiles were preserved in churches in various forms: church

decorations and hangings, altar covers, decorations and wrappings on reliquaries

and shrines for saints, and shrouds and tomb covers for bishops and kings. In the

middle ages all the magnates, whether secular or clerical, were buried in

ecclesiastic institutions. Churches stored silks in their treasuries as a form of

wealth.

Even though the early Christian priests condemned the practice of burying the dead

with rich clothes and ornaments and tried to convince the people that irrespective

of how the dead were dressed, they ultimately faced God naked (Kyriakos), this

advice seemed applicable only to common Christians. With the burials of

commoners became unostentatious, more and more treasures went into the tombs

of priests, whether they had led austere or lavish lives.Kyriakosmentions that in

the fourth century, a bishop was buried with 'clean sheets, silk clothes, plenty of

myrrh and perfume' (Kyriakos 1974, 46). BothKyriakosand Starensiermention

that by the fifth century, Christian holy men were all buried with their finest silk

liturgical vestments. Later, when the bodies of many such clergy were relocated,

their well preserved silks assumed great significance as secondary relics of

tremendous significance. This association of silk with the remains of the holy men

raised the divine status of silk and made it an object of veneration. The burial

ceremonies of holy men and the re-burials of saints became increasingly luxurious,

due to the anticipation of blessings in proportion to the donations made. The shift


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from burying luxuries with dead relatives to giving the luxuries to holy men or

saints became a norm in the middle ages and was connected to the eschatological

concerns of the donors. It was as if the holy souls of these saints would help the

dead relatives of the donors in the other world upon receiving generous donations

of silks.

In Western Europe the Franks buried goods with the dead on the basis of status.

Hence, silks and other objects of veneration were reserved for a few rulers and

quite a few saints. The rulers wanted to be buried dose to the saints; Charlemagne

was buried in the cathedral of Aachen and Charles the Bold was buried in St. Denis

(Panofsky 1979, 71). The relics of saints made people want to bury their dead in

churchyards, in the proximity of the holy power. According to Christian theology

and tradition, the difference between common human bones and those of saints

was that the latter produced miracles and so to mark the difference in order to

venerate and please the saint, Christians decorated the relics of saints. From the

sixth century, the lay people regarded silk clothes placed over a tomb as

acknowledgement of a canonized saint (Starensier 1987, 450). Gregory of Tours

described the silk covers on the tombs of St. Denis and St. Goar (Muthesius 1982.

286). By the eleventh century, the tombs of most bishops were covered with silks

(ibid., 287). In England too, Byzantine silks covered the corpses of eminent holy

and secular persons in churches (Dodwell 1982, 159). When Byzantine silks

depicting sacred images were not readily available in the West, country folks and

rural saints were satisfied with whatever silks were available. Even Fatimid silk

textiles with heathen images and Arabic inscriptions were used as shrouds

(Starensier 1982, 452). Thus, Churches became repositories of silks originating

from Byzantine, Islamic, Sassanid empires (Muthesius 1982).


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Most silks owned by churches were stored in church treasuries. But before the

twelfth century, most churches and monasteries did not have treasuries, in which

case reliquaries and altars were used for this purpose (Muthesius 1982, 264). Thus,

silks were inseparable from relics. The practice of using reliquaries as treasuries to

hold luxurious donations started in Byzantium (Rich, 1973, 72-3). In the Lateran

Palace of Rome, through the grille front of the Sancta Sanctorum, medieval

pilgrims could see a variety of reliquaries enclosing relics and silks (Muthesius

1982, 265). The shrine at St. Servatius, Maastricht, housed many silks including an

Islamic lion silk dated to the tenth-eleventh centuries,and a piece of purple twill

(ibid, 266).

The altar cover was considered a sacred piece of silk in a church as the altar often

contained relics. St.Gregory of Tours regarded the altar cover as a sacred

protection. Through his gifted vision Gregory predicted that King Guntram would

rush to the church of St. Martin to catch Eberulf, a Frankish noble and an enemy of

the king, who had taken refuge in the church. Gregory, in order to help the refugee,

suggested that he take the silken altar cover for protection (Thorpe 1974, 404).

Some of the altar clothes were from Byzantium with Greek inscriptions, as was the

altar cloth at St. Mark of Venice, and cloth for bread and wine at Halberstadt

Cathedral (Muthesius 1982, 280).

Being scarce, the relics of important saints often had to be divided into small

portions for distribution in churches all over Europe. Silk pouches, specially made

for relics, have been found in churches and archaeological sites. Quite a few of the

pouches were made of Byzantine silks, perhaps accompanying the relics from

Byzantium (Muthesius 1982, 267). A relic pouch made of the famous Samson silk

in 8th

to 9thcentury Byzantine exists in the Museo Sacro, Vatican. In Sens

Cathedral, Burgogne, Eastern France, there is a relic pouch made of a lion silk in


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purple, sewn together with an olive green silk, both ninth-tenth century Byzantine

products (ibid.).

There is a Byzantinerelic pouch from the 9th

century stored at St. Michael in Beromunster,

Switzerland it portrays lions and other quadrupeds

worked on a blue silk ground, lined with ruby red

taffeta. There are Seams at the bottom and along

one side. Two strips of similar silk, ending in

fringes, adorn the side edges. The drawstrings and

carrying-cords are tablet woven silk (Flury-

Lemberg 273).

Another Byzantine relic pouch from the 10th or 11th

century is stored at St. Michael in Beromunster,

Switzerland; it has a lattice-work wreath pattern worked

on a silk ruby red ground. It is made from a single linen-

lined piece of cloth, and has seams on two sides. These are

concealed by a narrow gold tablet woven border. The red

silk drawstrings and carrying-cords are adorned with 25

silver balls (ibid). Muthesius speculates that silks were

perhaps symbols of sacred bones. Even the less important

relics were associated with unpatterned tabby silks cut intosmall squares of a few centimeters.

Silks made in Byzantine state workshops carried the inscriptions of rulers to

western European shrines, such as the lion silk at St. Servatius, on which is

Byzantinerelicpouchfromthe9th

century;storedatSt.Michaelin

Beromnster,Switzerland,source:

FluryLemberg,Mechthild.Textile

Byzantinerelicpouchfromthe10thor11

thcentury;storedatSt.

MichaelinBeromnster,Switzerland,source:Flury

LemberMechthild.

Textile


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inscribed during the reign of Ramanos and Christophoros the devout rulers (721-

731 AD) (Muthesius 1982, 16). For churches that could not obtain imperial gifts,

the less prestigious silks made in private workshops were better than anything

made locally (Lopez 1959, 77). With the revival of the private silk industry in

Byzantium, this kind of silk continued to reach western church treasuries. Thus, in

a sense, Byzantine material culture along with the relics and their associated silks

permeated all of Europe.

Following in the footsteps of the Byzantine material beauty and elegance in

ecclesiastical matters, the missionaries in Western Europe also needed beautiful

shrines to impress their converts. Clotild, the queen of Clovis, the King of the

Franks had the church decorated with hangings and curtains for the baptism of her

son, in order to arouse her husband's faith in Christ through the solemnity and

splendour of the ceremony (Thorpe 1974, 142). Poorer than Byzantine rulers, the

western rulers with their limited resources nevertheless, wanted to show their

generosity and piety to the church. Thus, when Pepin the Short (751-768 AD)

received a gift of the 'Rider Silk', patterned with parried emperors riding on horses,

from Emperor Constantine V, he donated it to St. Austremoines in Auvergne as a

shroud (Starensier 1982, 146). The attitude of the Franks towards silks was

ambivalent- Charlemagne used only luxurious textiles during festivals (Dalton

1961, 589). Charles the Bald incurred criticism for deviating from Frankish

traditions by wearing a Byzantine robe after being crowned by Pope John VIII

(Lopez 1943, 35). However, Clovis (481-511 AD) one of the early Frankish rulers,

who was conferred the title of consulate by Emperor Anastasius in 507 AD, was

clad in purple when crowned in St. Martin (Thorpe 1974, 154). According to

Notker the stammerer, Charlemagne did not encourage his nobles to wear silk

dresses (Thorpe 1969, p. 167). Charlemagne wore the national dress of the


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Franks, but his tunic was edged with silk, according to Einhard (Thorpe 1969,

Einhard 23, p. 77). Charlemagnes wife, Luitgard, and his daughters, however, did

wear silk dresses (Muthesius 1982, 289). Also upon his death, Charlemagne was

shrouded in rich silks, the symbol of sacredness and elevated status. Thus,

resentment mixed with envy and admiration

sums up the attitude of Frankish rulers to

silks, the colour purple and other luxuries.

In keeping with their spirit of competition

with Byzantium, the Frankish kings donated

many silks to churches. Xinru Liu translates

from French while quoting from Sabbein

giving a long list of royal donations: -

Charlemagne gave donations to a group of

churches; among them the splendid

collection of the church in Aix-la-Chapelle

made Eginhard admire, in 790, the

monastery of St. Goar which received two pieces of silk cloth from the emperor.

The St. Riquier Abbey under the Abbot Angilbert (789-814) acquired several

liturgical ornaments: 78 pieces of luxurious clothes, 24 silk dalmatics, 6 Roman

albs (a white tunic), and brocade amices, 5 stoles and 10 oraires in brocade. 5 silk

cushions, 5 mantles probably made in silk, 30 chasubles of silk, 10 of purple, 6 of

styrax, one of peach colour, 15 of brocade, and 6 of sendal (a thin, fine silk), out of

these certain number were definitely gifts of Charlemagne. In the period 823-833

Louis the Pious gave the St. Wandrille Abbey in Foutenelle 3 silk tissues with gold,

2 of styrax, one piece of Spanish cloth, 4 carpets, one tunic in Sacerdotal indigo. 4

chasubles in silk, 5 of purple, 3 of indigo sendal, 3 of green sendal, 1 of red sendal,

FragmentofCharlemagne'sshroudfromMuseNationalduMoyenge,Paris. Itisa9

thcentury

polychromeByzantinesilkwithaquadrigapattern.


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1 of purple, 2 Roman capes, one of them was red sendal and decorated with green

fringe, another was in beaver fur; 1 oraire in brocade, 1 of styrax, 2 of sandal,

some cushions in silk and one cross-belt in brocade. In the same period, he also

offered one splendid vestment in rose silk, 5 chasubles in brocade, 12 in various

coloured sendal, 3 dalmatics and 3 pieces of brocade, as well as 8 luxurious

carpets to the abbey of Luxeuil, and 40 pieces of precious cloth, some chasubles

and 30 pieces of sendal in various colours to the abbey of Flavigny (translated

from French) (Sabbe 1935. 820-2).

Since the supply from Byzantine imperial workshops was unreliable and limited,

and, additionally, some of the designs on the silks available may not have been

consistent with the theology of western churches, the palace women of the

Carolingian and Ottonian royal houses embroidered sacred images on imported

Byzantine or other eastern silks. As embroiderers they could raise themselves to

the status of primary donors to churches (Starensier 1982, 329). The work of the

sister of Charles the Bald became the pillow of St. Remigius in 852 (ibid, 330).

The Ottonian court was even busier and produced more embroidered textiles for

saints (ibid, 332). In contrast to the Byzantine emperors who imposed their styles

and preferences on the church, the Ottonians deliberately cut their royal ceremonial

robes in the style of ecclesiastical vestments - clearly, a semiotic effort which was

meant to reflect upon the Christian nature of their state.

The Popes in Rome despite their differences with the Byzantine Patriarchate

followed the Byzantine tradition in one aspect - distributing silks to churches. In

the eighty year period from Pope Hadrian I (772-795 AD) to Leo IV (847-855

AD), five popes made numerous donations of silks to Roman churches (Muthesius

1982, 281-2), Following the Byzantine example, the Romans put silk hangings in

front of the portraits of Christ and the saints as well as in the shrines of saints.


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Pilgrims from Western Europe were impressed by the heavenly scene of dazzling

silk hangings in the church of St. Peter and in other churches in Rome (Xinru Liu).

The Popes also sent missionaries with gifts of silks to countries outside Italy. Pope

Gregory sent altar coverings and vestments, and a pallium for ritual performances,

presumably all made of silk, for Augustine in England (Bede). In the period when

England converted to Catholicism, popes continuously sent palliums to

archbishops there as tokens of honour and authority. In 624 AD, Pope Boniface V

sent a pallium with a letter to Archbishop Justus who had just assumed the position

(Bede). In 634 AD, Pope Honorius sent another pallium to Honorius who had

succeeded Justus as the metropolitan archbishop of Canterbury (ibid). In order to

convert King Edwin, Pope Boniface sent him a letter, a tunic with a golden

ornament and a cloak from Ancyra (Ankara), probably from Byzantium (ibid.).

Byzantine silks thus reached western European churches through the Roman

patriarchate.

English churchmen influenced by the silk displays in

the churches in Rome managed to procure their own

Byzantine silk supply to decorate their churches.

Church documents refer to priests in London who

owned patterned silk robes in the seventh and eighth

centuries, the early days of Christianity in Anglo-

Saxon England. The earliest sample is a small piece of

silk in a reliquary dated to the seventh century. This

piece was probably a fragment from a vestment buried

with a saint, and therefore became part of the relics of

the saint (Owen-Crocker 1986, 187). The shrine of Cuthbert preserved silks

varying from the seventh century 'Nature Goddess' silk to the tenth or eleventh

FragmentoftheNatureGoddesssilkofSt.Cuthbert:DurhamCathedraltreasury


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century 'Rider' silk (Flanagan JF). The association of silk with ecclesiastic

purposes was taken for granted, as indicated by the Anglo-Saxon use of the word

'godweb', meaning divine cloth, to refer to a kind of special precious silk. Due to

heavy demand, the Byzantine silk supply was never sufficient, and the technology

of weaving patterned silks was unavailable. Thus, English ladies, like their

Frankish counterparts, also learned to embroider gold on silks for the church. The

textiles were so heavy with gold that the value of gold exceeded the value of silk

(Dodwell 1982. 174). Archbishops, abbots and other high priests emulated the

Pope in distributing luxurious goods to those churches which came under their

pastoral responsibility (Starensier 1982, 486). Thus, even rural monasteries in

Europe could enjoy the luxury of silks to decorate their saints. An association

between saints and silks was thus established in European Christendom. With

more silks available, silks in churches were not only religious items to sanctify

relics and corpses and decorate shrines, but also stored treasures and valuable

commodities. Webb mentions about Abbot Benedict Biscop who brought back two

silk cloaks with good workmanship from his fifth trip to Rome. Later, he used the

cloaks to purchase three hides of land for his monasteries in Wearmouth and

Jarrow.

Between the ninth and tenth centuries, many churches specifically kept special sets

of silk vestments for special occasions. Some of the archbishops owned purple of

various shades for celebrating different festive occasions (Muthesius 1982, 269).

The churches used every means to obtain such silks. The council of Aachen in 836

required those among the faithful who were lucky enough to possess silks to

donate them to the church (Starensier 1982, 449). The church of St. Denis, built by

the Frankish king, Dagobert I (629-638 AD) received many hangings of tapestries

woven of gold (Panofsky 1979, 87). Silk collections and treasures in this church


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increased over time. Suger, an abbot of St. Denis in the twelfth century, contended

that there would be no graver sin than to withhold from the service of God and His

saints what He had empowered nature to supply and man to perfect. It appears that

the Christian priests in Western Europe did not care about from where the silks

originated and the kinds of pattern they bore. In their view, silk was a luxury that

only the churches and saints deserved to use it.Xinru Liucontends that in the

early medieval world, commerce was not the most respected of occupations and

the status of merchants was quite low and so to acquire a luxury in the name of the

church sounded far better than to gain it for oneself and efforts to obtain silks in

Byzantium were often made under the pretext of getting them for a church. Even

so, only some met with success.

SILK MARKET IN EUROPE

The association of silk with relics and its use as a medium of divine expression in

the form of tapestries was the driving force behind silk trade in Medieval Europe.

In addition to the Byzantine imperial gifts and the golden embroidery added on

plain silk textiles from the Byzantine market or elsewhere, there were patterned

silks from other parts of the world. Thus European churches became in a sense,

keepers of world heritage, at least in so far as silks are concerned.Dorothy

Shepherdcatalogued sixteen Sassanian patterned silk samples in church treasuries,

from the collections of Museo Sacro, Vatican; Cathedral Treasure, Sens and

Aachen; and Musee Diocesain, Liege.

The European churches repository of silks has enabled silk historians to

understand the geographical extent of the European silk market in the medieval

period and also the study of such silks which are almost non-existent in the areas of

their origin such as Bokhara zandaniji, Sassanid, Chinese etc.


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In the ninth to the eleventh centuries, Italian towns undergoing reform stopped

hoarding wealth in churches (Duby 1974, 150). The rise of Venice and other Italian

trading cities illustrates this transformation in medieval silk trade. The commercial

community in the Mediterranean region by the 10th

and 11th

centuries comprised

Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Goiteinreports about twelve variations of silks

appearing in the Genizah papers (repository of Jewish religious, social and

economic history); the silks originated from such diverse places as Spain, Sicily,

Syria, Iraq, Iran, India and China. But, notwithstanding the wide range of silks,

there was a standard price set at two gold dinars a pound. Silk provided crucial

stability in international trade at a time when the monetary system was weak and

the markets feeble, according to Goitein, the very fact that around those times - 9th

to 11thcenturies, every trader in Europe and especially the Mediterranean carried

silk points to the reality that silk was used as a capital investment rather than a

commodity.

In spite of zealously guarded Byzantine monopoly over silk, Europe got its own

sericulture and silk industry largely due to a

chain of events in history connected with the

crusades. In 1147 while Byzantine emperor

Manuel I Komnenos was concentrating all his

efforts on the Second Crusade, the Norman

king Roger II of Sicily attacked Corinth and

Thebes, two important centres of Byzantine silk production. The attackers took the

mulberry crops and silk production infrastructure, and deported all the workers to

Palermo, thereby causing the Norman silk industry to flourish (Georges

Ostrogorsky). The plunder of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204

deteriorated the city and its silk industry, and many artisans left the city in the early

ThecoronationmantleofRogerIIofSicilywasmadefromByzantinesilk,embroidered,3.4meterwide,andweighed11kg:KunsthistorischesMuseumWien


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13th century (Anne Kraatz et al). Eventually, Italy developed a large domestic silk

industry after 2000 skilled weavers came from Constantinople. Many also chose to

settle in Avignon to furnish the popes of Avignon. The sudden boom of the silk

industry in the Italian state of Lucca, starting in the 11th and 12th centuries was

due to much Sicilian, Jewish, and Greek settlement, alongside many other

immigrants from neighbouring cities in southern Italy. With the loss of many

Italian trading posts in the Orient, the import of Chinese styles drastically declined.

Gaining momentum, in order to satisfy the rich and powerful bourgeoisie's

demands for luxury fabrics, the cities of Lucca, Genoa, Venice and Florence were

soon exporting silk to all of Europe. In 1472 there were 84 workshops and at least

7000 craftsmen in Florence alone. By 15th

century Italy had its own silk guild.

There is a 15th

century manuscript about the rules of the silk guild titled Precetti

dellArte della Seta in the Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, in Florence which

illustrates silk throwing, warp making and weaving (Schoesser). The loss of

monopoly over the silk trade in Europe weakened the Byzantine Empire

significantly and is counted as one of the many reasons that contributed to its

eventual fall in the mid 15thcentury.


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SILK IN CHURCH VESTMENTS

Roman Catholic Church, source: verbatim from Catholic Doors Ministry

online, for images: Wikipedia

THE BIRETTA

The biretta is a stiff square-shapped hat

with silk trim and tuft. It has three or four

ridges, called "horns," across the crown. It

is worn by the clergy. It is black for priests,

deacons, and seminarians, purple for

bishops, and scarlet for cardinals. The

biretta is now optional for clerics who are

celebrating or concelebrating Mass.

THE CAPPELLO ROMANO

A cappello romano, meaning Roman hat, is

a hat with a wide, circular brim and a

rounded rim worn by the clergy. It is made

of either beaver fur or felt, and lined in

white silk. It serves no ceremonial purpose,

being primarily a practical item. The

wearing of it is optional, but it is never worn

during services. It is generally uncommonoutside of Rome today. The pope wears a

red cappello with gold cords. All other

clerics wear black cappelli. A cardinal may

have a cappello with red and gold cords

with scarlet lining. A bishop's may have

green and gold cords with violet lining. A

priest may substitute black lining for his.

Cappelli worn by deacons and seminarians

have no distinguishing items.


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ARomanor"fiddleback"chasuble

Complex decoration schemes were often

used on chasubles of scapular form,

especially the back, incorporating the image

of the Christian cross or of a saint; and rich

materials such as silk, cloth of gold or

brocade were employed, especially in

chasubles reserved for major celebrations

THE CHASUBLE

The chasuble is the vestment that is put on

over all the other vestments during

Liturgical services. Originally this was a

very full garment, shaped like a bell andreaching almost to the feet all the way

round. During a bad artistic period, the 18th

and 19th century especially, the Chasuble

suffered much from a process of shortening

a stiffening. Today there is a return to the

historical and beautiful, ample, nicely

draping Chasubles. The Chasuble

symbolizes the virtue of charity, and the

yoke of unselfish service for the Lord, which

the priest assumes at ordination.

PopeJohnXXIIIwearingthePapalFanon

THE FANON

The fanon is a shoulder cape that only the

pope wears. It consists of two pieces of white

silk ornamented with narrow woven stripes

of red and gold. It is nearly circular in shape

with a round hole in the middle for the head

to pass through, and with a small gold cross

embroidered in front. It is worn over the

alb, and only at solemn pontifical Mass.


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ArchbishopCelestinoMigliore,nunciotoPoland,wearinghispurpleferraiolo

THE FERRAIOLO

The ferraiolo is a full cape, now almost

completely out of style, worn by clerics in

abito piano. It is scarlet watered silk for a

cardinal, violet silk for a bishop, violet woolfor a protonotary apostolic, and black wool

for any other degree of cleric. The Pope does

not make use of a ferraiolo.

THE GAUNTLETS

The gauntlets are the liturgical gloves that

are an option for bishops to use during

liturgical celebrations (as celebrant or

concelebrant, not in choir). They are madeof silk, and extend partially past the wrist.

They can match the liturgical color, or can

be always white. The gauntlets, like so many

vestments, developed out of necessity to help

keep the hands of the bishops warm during

liturgical ceremonies in cold, stone

churches. Since they became optional after

Vatican II, the gauntlets are today seen only

very rarely.

THE MANIPLE

The maniple is an ornamental vestment of

colored silk or damask over the left

forearms. Originally this vestment was a

handkerchief carried in the left hand or

thrown over the left arm. It symbolizes the

labor and hardship the priest must expect in

his ardent apostolate.


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St.ZenonofVeronawearingamitre.

THE MITRE

The mitre is the common headdress of

bishops, worn at liturgical functions. It is

either precious, golden (orphreyed), or

simple (simplex). The precious mitre is wornby celebrants, the simple by concelebrants,

and the golden by the celebrant at an

ordination. All the cardinals wear a

damasked mitre (simplex) in presence of the

Pope. It is very tall, and is made of layered

white damask silk.

THE SOPRANA

The soprana is a black wool cloak worn by any cleric, but most notably by Roman

seminarians. It is rarely seen outside of Rome today. This cloak originated in the

seminaries of Rome, and used to include colored silk trim and facings, which were specific

to each seminary.

THE ZUCCHETTO

The zucchetto is the silk skullcap worn by

the Catholic clergy. It is white for the Pope,

scarlet for a cardinal, and violet for a

bishop. Priests may use a black cloth

zucchetto for everyday wear, but not duringthe liturgy.

For the silk vestments in Eastern Orthodox Church; the reader is advised to visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestment#Eastern_Church_vestments

CONCLUSION

After China, Byzantium monopolized silk, in a sense silk defined Byzantium the

fabric was to Byzantium what oil is today to the Middle East. In the wake of the


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collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, civilization and the institutions that

upheld it went into decay; the implications of such an event resulted in former

Roman territories such as Western Europe suffering a significant lack of coinage

and into such an economic vacuum, silk assumed importance both as a gift and as

capital, since silk spelt money in late antiquity and even the medieval ages. Just as

with the case of Buddhism in China, Japan and Korea silk became a medium of

Christian religious expression in Byzantium as well as Europe and this by itself

contributed to the trade in silk from Byzantium to Europe.

The theological debates within the church about proliferation of art in the name of

God led to the iconoclasm in Byzantium which began in 730 and lasted till 843. In

Rome, however Pope Gregory the Great suffered from no such theological torment

he maintained that imagery was useful for teaching the Christian message to the

pagan and illiterate and for helping the faithful towards the contemplation of God

(Robin Cormack). This saw a flowering of Christian art and its expression on silks

in Europe, it became a common practice to bury Christian Priests and holy men

with silken shrouds - such silks, when the relics of such holy men were translated

(relocated to another place) also became important secondary relics. The

translation of relics played an important part in the cult of saints and the

subsequent Christianization, consolidation of Christian European nationalism in

the name of patron saints. The patron saints supposedly came to the aid of those

who invoked them, especially in battles and their most visible symbol would be

an appropriately decorated silken heraldic banner. The Galleria delle Tappezzerie

(Tapestry Gallery) in Vatican displays a fine collection of Silk tapestries with

religious imagery. Robin Cormack puts it, while speaking about the power of

icons in Christianity: As things of beauty and symbols of eternal truths, icons

transform their space into a vision of paradise; silk was an important medium


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which enabled this vision and in the process, the fabric itself became godly, no

small wonder that the Anglo-Saxons called it godweb.

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Silk and Christianity

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