Crown of Thorns
crown of thorns
The thorny wreath plaited by the soldiers of Pilate and put on the head of Jesus, when they mocked Him as king of the Jews (Matthew 27; Mark 15; John 19). For centuries it was venerated at Jerusalem . Probably during the 11th century it was conveyed to Constantinople . In 1238 Baldwin II pawned it to the Venetians, from whom Saint Louis IX, King of France , redeemed it, 1239 , and built in its honor the magnificent Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Since 1806 it has been preserved in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Single thorns, too numerous to be all authentic, are found throughout Christendom . A replica in gold and rubies of the real crown, as reconstructed by Rohault de Fleury, was placed on the statue of Our Lady of Martyrs at Auriesville , New York, the site of the martyrdom of Blessed Isaac Jogues and his companions. As an emblem in art , symbolical of suffering, a crown of thorns is associated with Saint Agnes , Saint Louis, Saint John of God, and Saint Catherine of Siena .
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Crown of Thorns
Although Our Saviour’s Crown of Thorns is mentioned by three Evangelists and is often alluded to by the early Christian Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and others, there are comparatively few writers of the first six centuries who speak of it as a relic known to be still in existence and venerated by the faithful. It is remarkable that St. Jerome, who expatiates upon the Cross, the Title, and the Nails discovered by St. Helena (Tobler, Itinera Hierosolym., II, 36), says nothing either of the Lance or of the Crown of Thorns, and the silence of Andreas of Crete in the eighth century is even more surprising. Still there are some exceptions. St. Paulinus of Nola, writing after 409, refers to “the thorns with which Our Saviour was crowned” as relics held in honour along with the Cross to which He was nailed and the pillar at which He was scourged (Ep. ad Macar. in Migne, P. L., LXI, 407). Cassiodorus (c. 570), when commenting on Ps. lxxxvi, speaks of the Crown of Thorns among the other relics which are the glory of the earthly Jerusalem. “There”, he says, “we may behold the thorny crown, which was only set upon the head of Our Redeemer in order that all the thorns of the world might be gathered together and broken” (Migne, P. L., LXX, 621). When Gregory of Tours (“De gloriâ mart.” in “Mon. Germ. Hist.: Scrip. Merov.”, I, 492) avers that the thorns in the Crown still looked green, a freshness which was miraculously renewed each day, he does not much strengthen the historical testimony for the authenticity of the relic, but the “Breviarius”, and the “Itinerary” of Antoninus of Piacenza, both of the sixth century, clearly state that the Crown of Thorns was at that period shown in the church upon Mount Sion (Geyer, Itinera Hierosolymitana, 154 and 174). From these fragments of evidence and others of later date — the “Pilgrimage” of the monk Bernard shows that the relic was still at Mount Sion in 870 — it is certain that what purported to be the Crown of Thorns was venerated at Jerusalem for several hundred years.
If we may adopt the conclusion of M. de Mély, the whole Crown was only transferred to Byzantium about 1063, although it seems that smaller portions must have been presented to the Eastern emperors at an earlier date. In any case Justinian, who died in 565, is stated to have given a thorn to St. Germanus, Bishop of Paris, which was long preserved at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, while the Empress Irene, in 798 or 802, sent Charlemagne several thorns which were deposited by him at Aachen. Eight of these are known to have been there at the consecration of the basilica of Aachen by Pope Leo III, and the subsequent history of several of them can be traced without difficulty. Four were given to Saint-Corneille of Compiègne in 877 by Charles the Bald. One was sent by Hugh the Great to the Anglo-Saxon King Athelstan in 927 on the occasion of certain marriage negotiations, and eventually found its way to Malmesbury Abbey. Another was presented to a Spanish princess about 1160, and again another was taken to Andechs in Germany in the year 1200.
In 1238 Baldwin II, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, anxious to obtain support for his tottering empire, offered the Crown of Thorns to St. Louis, King of France. It was then actually in the hands of the Venetians as security for a heavy loan, but it was redeemed and conveyed to Paris where St. Louis built the Sainte-Chapelle (completed 1248) for its reception. There the great relic remained until the Revolution, when, after finding a home for a while in the Bibliothèque Nationale, it was eventually restored to the Church and was deposited in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in 1806. Ninety years later (in 1896) a magnificent new reliquary of rock crystal was made for it, covered for two- thirds of its circumference with a silver case splendidly wrought and jewelled. The Crown thus preserved consists only of a circlet of rushes, without any trace of thorns. Authorities are agreed that a sort of helmet of thorns must have been platted by the Roman soldiers, this band of rushes being employed to hold the thorns together. It seems likely according to M. De Mély, that already at the time when the circlet was brought to Paris the sixty or seventy thorns, which seem to have been afterwards distributed by St. Louis and his successors, had been separated from the band of rushes and were kept in a different reliquary. None of these now remain at Paris. Some small fragments of rush are also preserved apart from the sainte Couronne at Paris, e. g. at Arras and at Lyons. With regard to the origin and character of the thorns, both tradition and existing remains suggest that they must have come from the bush botanically known as Zizyphus spina Christi, more popularly, the jujube-tree. This reaches the height of fifteen or twenty feet and is found growing in abundance by the wayside around Jerusalem. The crooked branches of this shrub are armed with thorns growing in pairs, a straight spine and a curved one commonly occurring together at each point. The relic preserved in the Capella della Spina at Pisa, as well as that at Trier, which though their early history is doubtful and obscure, are among the largest in size, afford a good illustration of this peculiarity.
That all the reputed holy thorns of which notice has survived cannot by any possibility be authentic will be disputed by no one. M. de Mély has been able to enumerate more than 700 such relics. The statement in one medieval obituary that Peter de Averio gave to the cathedral of Angers “unam de spinis quae fuit apposita coronae spinae nostri Redemptoris” (de Mély, p. 362), meaning seemingly a thorn which has touched the real Crown of Thorns, throws a flood of light upon the probable origin of many such relics. Again, even in comparatively modern times it is not always easy to trace the history of these objects of devotion, which were often divided and thus multiplied. Two “holy thorns” are at present venerated, the one at St. Michael’s church in Ghent, the other at Stonyhurst College, both professing, upon what seems quite satisfactory evidence, to be the thorn given by Mary Queen of Scots to Thomas Percy Earl of Northumberland (see “The Month”, April, 1882, 540-556). Finally, it should be pointed out that the appearance of the Crown of Thorns in art, notably upon the head of Christ in representations of the Crucifixion, is posterior to the time of St. Louis and the building of the Sainte-Chapelle. Some archaeologists have professed to discover a figure of the Crown of Thorns in the circle which sometimes surrounds the chi-rho emblem on early Christian sarcophagi, but it seems to be quite as probable that this is only meant for a laurel-wreath.
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The only recent and authoritative study of the whole subject is that of De Mély, forming the third volume of RIANT, Exuviae Constantinopolitanae (Paris, 1904).
HERBERT THURSTON Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler In honor of St. Louis of France and his Sainte-Chapelle
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IVCopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Crown Of Thorns
( , Mat 27:29). Our Lord was crowned with thorns in mockery by the Roman soldiers. The object seems to have been insult, and not the infliction of pain, as has generally been supposed. The Rhamnus, or Spina Christi, although abundant in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, cannot be the plant intended, because its thorns are so strong and large that it could not have been woven () into a wreath. The large-leaved acanthus (bear’s-foot) is totally unsuited for the purpose. Had the acacia been intended, as some suppose, the phrase would have been . Obviously some small, flexile thorny shrub is meant; perhaps cappares spinosce (Reland’s Palaest. 2:525). Hasselquist (Travels, p. 260) says that the thorn used was the Arabian nulk. It was very suitable for their purpose, as it has many sharp thorns which inflict painful wounds; and its flexible, pliant, and round branches might easily be plaited in the form of a crown. It also resembles the rich dark green of the triumphal ivy-wreath, which would give addition. al pungency to its ironical purpose (Rosenmller, Botany of Script. p. 202, Eng. ed.). Another plant commonly fixed upon is the southern buckthorn, which was very suitable to the purpose. SEE BRAMBLE. On the empress Helena’s supposed discovery of the crown of thorns, and its subsequent fate, see Gibbon, 2:306; 6:66, ed. Milman. Smith, s.v. Treatises on the crown in question have been written in Latin by Bartholin (Hafn. 1651), Bottier (in the Bibl. Brem. 8:942), Frenzel (Viteb. 1667, 1679), Gitsch (Altdorf, 1694), Gonsager (Hafn. 1713), Ldemann (Viteb. 1679), Sagittarius (Jena, 1672), Wedel (Jena, 1696), Glauch (Lips. 1661), Hallmann (Rost. 1757), Mller (in Menthenii Thes. 2:230-233). SEE THORN.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Crown of thorns
our Lord was crowned with a, in mockery by the Romans (Matt. 27:29). The object of Pilate’s guard in doing this was probably to insult, and not specially to inflict pain. There is nothing to show that the shrub thus used was, as has been supposed, the spina Christi, which could have been easily woven into a wreath. It was probably the thorny nabk, which grew abundantly round about Jerusalem, and whose flexible, pliant, and round branches could easily be platted into the form of a crown. (See THORN, 3.)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Crown Of Thorns
CROWN OF THORNS ( or , Mat 27:29, Mar 15:17, Joh 19:2; Joh 19:5).This was plaited by the soldiers and placed on Christs head in mockery of His claim to Kingship, after Pilate had condemned Him to be scourged. It was a garland hastily twisted from the twigs of some thorny plant, which it is difficult now to identify. Tristram (Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 429) supposes it was the thorn-tree or nubk of the Arabs, which is very common in the warmer parts of Palestine. It abounds near Jerusalem, grows to a great size; its twigs are tough and pliant, and the spikes very sharp and numerous. Others incline to think it was the Zizyphus Spina-christi, a spiny plant covered with sharp prickles. The purpose of the soldiers was rather, perhaps, mockery of the Jews than cruelty to Christ. Pliny speaks (HN) of the meanest of crowns, a thorny one.
In the writings of St. Paul a crown is promised to faithful followers of Christ, and in many parts of the NT Christ Himself is spoken of as wearing a crown. Sometimes the word for a victors wreath is used (), and sometimes that for a royal crown ().* [Note: The distinction between , the badge of merit, and , the badge of royalty, is not consistently observed in Hellenistic Greek (see Encyc. Bibl. i. 963).] The emblematic significance, afterwards seen by the Church in the crown of thorns, is possibly hinted at in Heb 2:9 crowned with glory and honour. As a sacrificial victim, in being led out to death, often wore a garland of flowers, so Jesus, in the eyes of God and His own disciples, even in suffering the deepest humiliation, wears a crown of glory. In the death of Christ His Church sees mankind crowned with life, because the law of sin and death was thereby abrogated, and the Kingdom of heaven opened to all believers. The thorns with which a hostile world pierced the Saviours brows are an emblem of the sin of man, the curse of thistles and thorns having been threatened after the Fall (see Dr. H. Macmillans Ministry of Nature, ch. v., where this idea is finely worked out). But these wounds become the worlds salvation. Through the sinful cruelty of man new life comes to a condemned world. God thus makes the wrath of man to praise Him. What was meant as derision is really a prediction of glory. See also art. Thorn.
David M. W. Laird.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Crown of Thorns
thornz ( , akanthinos stephanos): three of the four evangelists mention the crown of thorns, wherewith the rude Roman soldiers derided the captive Christ (Mat 27:29; Mar 15:17; Joh 19:2). All speak of the akanthine (AcanThus) crown, but there is no certainty about the peculiar plant, from the branches of which this crown of cruel mockery was plaited. The rabbinical books. mention no less than twenty-two words in the Bible signifying thorny plants, and the word akantha in the New Testament Greek is a generic and not a specific term. And this word or its adjective is used in the three Gospels, quoted above. It is therefore impossible definitely to determine what was the exact plant or tree, whose thorny branches were selected for this purpose. Tobler (Denkbl., 113, 179) inclines to the Spina Christi, as did Hasselquist. Its botanical name is Zizyphus Spina Christi, It is very common in the East. Its spines are small and sharp, its branches soft, round and pliable, and the leaves look like ivy, with a dark, shiny green color, making them therefore very adaptable to the purpose of the soldiers. Others have designated the Paliurus aculeatus or the Lycium horridum. Both Geikie (Life of Christ, 549) and Farrar (Life of Christ, note 625) point to the Nubk (Zizyphus lotus). Says the latter, The Nubk struck me, as it has all travelers in Palestine, as being most suitable both for mockery and pain, since its leaves are bright and its thorns singularly strong. But though the Nubk is very common on the shores of Galilee, I saw none of it near Jerusalem. The settlement of the question is manifestly impossible.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Crown of Thorns
The crown placed in derision on the head of the Lord Jesus, when arrayed in a scarlet robe. Though applied to His sacred head by the rough soldiers, it was connived at by Pilate, who presented the Lord in this garb to the Jews, but which only drew forth their cry, ‘Crucify Him.’ We read that the robe was taken off Him, but nothing is said of the crown, so that He may have worn that on the cross. It is supposed to have been made of the Arabian nabk, which has flexible branches with very sharp thorns, and ivy-like leaves: mocking the Lord, as some think, both as a king and as a victor. Mat 27:29; Mar 15:17, Joh 19:2; Joh 19:5.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Crown of Thorns
Crown of Thorns. Our Lord was crowned in mockery by the Roman soldiers. Mat 27:29; Mar 15:17; Joh 19:2. It is questioned whether this was only mockery, or whether it was specially intended for additional torture. Such a crown, it is clear, must have been made of some plant that would readily twist into a wreath. The large-leaved acanthus would not: hardly would the Spina Christi, as it is called, with strong sharp thorns. Hasselquist imagines the thorn in question the Arabian nubk, a very common plant, “with many small and sharp spines, soft, round, and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if in designed mockery of a victor’s wreath.”
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Crown of Thorns
Crown of Thorns. Mat 27:29 Our Lord was crowned with thorns, in mockery, by the Roman soldiers. Obviously, some small flexile thorny shrub is meant perhaps Capparis spinosa. “Hasselquist, a Swedish naturalist, supposes a very common plant naba or nubka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp spines; soft, round and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if, in designed mockery, of a victor’s wreath.” –Alford.