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http://www.shroud.com/history.htm

SHROUD.COM:

The history of the Shroud of Turin can be best studied by dividing it into two specific categories. The general consensus of even the most doubting researchers is to accept a "1350" date as the beginning of the "undisputed" or documented history of the Shroud of Turin. This also happens to coincide with the approximate date determined by the 1988 carbon dating of the cloth. Although there is a significant amount of evidence supporting the Shroud's existence prior to the mid 1300's, much of it is, in fact, "circumstantial" and remains mostly unproven.

In an effort to bring factual information to the viewers of this website, I am including here only the undisputed history as accepted by most scholars. I am also limiting the scope of this history to only the more significant events. A completely detailed Shroud chronology can be found in the 1998 book titled "The Blood and the Shroud," by Ian Wilson, that includes the earlier, more speculative and "circumstantial" material as well. (It is available directly from Amazon.com via the Books section of the Website Store page of this site).

I wish to include a special note of thanks to Ian Wilson for providing his detailed chronology of Shroud history (circa 1996) as the basis for this page and allowing me to share it with you on this website. Ian is a highly respected Shroud researcher and noted author. His many books are listed on the "Shroud Booklist" page of this site. This page would not exist without his dedicated and meticulous efforts as a Shroud historian and his willingness to share his material with all of us.

You can use the following Century Navigator to skip directly to the era of Shroud history you wish to read about or you may scroll through the page in the usual manner. The Century Navigator links will take you to the first event in the list for the specific century you selected. You can always return to this navigator by using your browser's "back" button. A duplicate of this navigator also appears at the end of the history.

[1300's] [1400's] [1500's] [1600's] [1700's] [1800's] [1900's] [2000's]

Highlights of the Undisputed History

© 1996 Ian Wilson
Used by Permission

• April 10 (or 16), 1349: The Hundred Year War had been raging between France and England for over eleven years and the Black Death had just finished ravaging most of Europe when Geoffrey de Charny, a French knight, writes to Pope Clement VI reporting his intention to build a church at Lirey, France. It is said he builds St. Mary of Lirey church to honor the Holy Trinity who answered his prayers for a miraculous escape while a prisoner of the English. He is also already in possession of the Shroud, which some believe he acquired in Constantinople.
  
  
• 1355: According to the "D'Arcis Memorandum", written more than thirty years later, the first known expositions of the Shroud are held in Lirey at around this time. Large crowds of pilgrims are attracted and special souvenir medallions are struck. A unique surviving specimen can still be found today at the Cluny Museum in Paris. Reportedly, Bishop Henri refused to believe the Shroud could be genuine and ordered the expositions halted. The Shroud was then hidden away.
  
  
• September 19, 1356: Geoffrey de Charny is killed by the English at the Battle of Poitiers, during a last stand in which he valiantly defends his king. Within a month his widow, Jeanne de Vergy, appeals to the Regent of France to pass the financial grants, formerly made to Geoffrey, on to his son, Geoffrey II. This is approved a month later. The Shroud remains in the de Charny family's possession.
  
  
• August 4, 1389: A letter signed by King Charles VI of France orders the bailiff of Troyes to seize the Shroud at Lirey and deposit it in another of Troyes' churches pending his further decision about its disposition.
  
  
• August 15, 1389: The bailiff of Troyes reports that on his going to the Lirey church, the dean protested that he did not have the key to the treasury where the Shroud was kept. After a prolonged argument, the bailiff seals the treasury's doors so that the Shroud cannot be spirited away.
  
  
• September 5, 1389: The king's First Sergeant reports to the bailiff of Troyes that he has informed the dean and canons of the Lirey church that "the cloth was now verbally put into the hands of our lord the king. The decision has also been conveyed to a squire of the de Charny household for conveyance to his master".
  
  
• November (?) 1389: Bishop Pierre d'Arcis of Troyes appeals to anti-pope Clement VII at Avignon concerning the exhibiting of the Shroud at Lirey. He describes the cloth as bearing the double imprint of a crucified man and that it is being claimed as the true Shroud in which Jesus' body was wrapped, attracting crowds of pilgrims.
  
  
• January 6, 1390: Clement VII writes to Bishop d'Arcis, ordering him to keep silent on the Shroud, under threat of excommunication. On the same date Clement writes a letter to Geoffrey II de Charny apparently restating the conditions under which expositions could be allowed. That day he also writes to other relevant individuals, asking them to ensure that his orders are obeyed.
  
  
• June 1390: A Papal bull grants new indulgences to those who visit St. Mary of Lirey and its relics.
  
  
• May 22, 1398: Death of Geoffrey II de Charny. He is buried at the Abbey of Froidmont, near Beauvais, his tomb decorated with his effigy as a knight in armour.
  
  
• 1400: Geoffrey II de Charny's daughter Margaret marries Jean de Baufremont.
  
  
• June 1418: The widowed Margaret de Charny marries Humbert of Villersexel, Count de la Roche, Lord of St.Hippolyte sur Doubs.
  
  
• July 6, 1418: Due to danger from marauding bands, the Lirey canons hand over the Shroud to Humbert for safe-keeping. He keeps it in his castle of Montfort near Montbard. Later it is kept at St.Hippolyte sur Doubs, in the chapel called des Buessarts. According to seventeenth century chroniclers annual expositions of the Shroud are held at this time in a meadow on the banks of the river Doubs called the Pré du Seigneur.
  
  
• 1438: Death of Humbert de la Roche, husband of Margaret de Charny
  
  
• May 8, 1443: Dean and canons of Lirey petition Margaret de Charny to return the Shroud to them.
  
  
• May 9, 1443: Parlement of Dole gives judgment on case of Margaret de Charny v. the Lirey canons.
  
  
• July 18, 1447: The Court of Besançon gives judgment on the case of Margaret de Charny v. the Lirey canons.
  
  
• 1448/9: Archives of Mons record Margaret de Charny (as Mme de la Roche) with in her care 'what is called the Holy Shroud of Our Lord' entering Mons and ordering French wine there.
  
  
• 1449: Belgian chronicler Cornelius Zantiflet records Margaret de Charny exhibiting the Shroud at Liege.
  
  
• September 13, 1452: Margaret de Charny shows the Shroud a Germnolles (near Macon) in a public exposition at the Castle.
  
  
• March 22, 1453: Margaret de Charny, at Geneva, receives from Duke Louis I of Savoy the castle of Varambon and revenues of the estate of Miribel near Lyon for 'valuable services'. Those services are thought to have been the bequest of the Shroud.
  
  
• 1457: Margaret de Charny is threatened with excommunication if she does not return the Shroud to the Lirey canons. On 30 May the letter of excommunication is sent.
  
  
• 1459: Margaret de Charny's half-brother Charles de Noyers negotiates compensation to the Lirey canons for their loss of the Shroud, which they specifically recognize they will not now recover. The excommunication is lifted.
  
  
• October 7, 1460: Margaret de Charny dies, leaving her Lirey lands to her cousin and godson Antoine-Guerry des Essars.
  
  
• February 6, 1464: By an accord drawn up in Paris, Duke Louis I of Savoy agrees to pay the Lirey canons an annual rent, to be drawn from the revenues of the castle of Gaillard, near Geneva, as compensation for their loss of the Shroud. (This is the first surviving document to record that the Shroud has become Savoy property) The accord specifically notes that the Shroud had been given to the church of Lirey by Geoffrey de Charny, lord of Savoisy and Lirey, and that it had then been transferred to Duke Louis by Margaret de Charny.
  
  
• 1465: Duke Louis I dies at Lyon. Just over two decades later a chronicle of Savoy will record his acquisition of the Shroud as his greatest achievement. He is succeeded by his son Duke Amadeus IX an inactive but devout prince who has a Cordelier as preceptor and who shares with his wife Duchess Yolande of France a particular devotion to the Shroud. Amaedeus is said in 1502 to have instituted the cult of the Shroud in the Sainte Chapelle at Chambéry. Yolande founds Chambéry's Poor Clares convent, whose sisters, in a few decades time, will repair the Shroud after the chapel fire. However, Amadeus neglects to honor the terms of Duke Louis's agreement to pay an annual rent to the Lirey canons.
  
  
• April 21, 1467: Pope Paul II elevates status of the Chambéry chapel to a co llegiate church.
  
  
• 1471: Beginning of second phase of construction of the Sainte Chapelle at Chambéry.
  
  
• September 20, 1471: Shroud transferred from Chambéry to Vercelli.
  
  
• 1472: Death of Duke Amadeus IX.
  
  
• 1472: Philibert I ('The Hunter') of Savoy succeeds his father as Duke at the age of six, although his mother, dowager duchess Yolande assumes the role of regent during his minority.
  
  
• May 14, 1473: Two delegates from the canons of Lirey press regent Yolande for eight years arrears in the promised rent, or, in place of this, the return of the Shroud to them.
  
  
• July 2, 1473: Shroud transferred from Vercelli to Turin.
  
  
• October 5, 1473: Shroud transferred from Turin to Ivrea.
  
  
• July 18, 1474: Shroud transferred from Ivrea to Moncalieri.
  
  
• August 25, 1474: Shroud transferred from Moncalieri to Ivrea.
  
  
• October 5, 1475: Shroud transferred across the Alps from Ivrea back to Chambéry.
  
  
• 1477-8: Shroud at Susa-Avigliano-Rivoli.
  
  
• March 20, 1478 (Good Friday): Shroud exhibited at Pinerolo.
  
  
• 1482: Warrant on behalf of the Lirey canons that the dowager Duchess of Savoy should observe agreement made by her late husband. About this same time Leonardo da Vinci leaves Florence to serve as court painter and military engineer at the court of Ludovico Sforza (Il Moro), Duke of Milan. He will stay in Milan for the next 18 years.
  
  
• June 6, 1483: Jean Renguis and Georges Carrelet, respectively chaplain and sacristan of the Sainte Chapelle at Chambéry, draw up an inventory in which the Shroud is described as "enveloped in a red silk drape, and kept in a case covered with crimson velours, decorated with silver-gilt nails, and locked with a golden key."
  
  
• 1485: The Shroud is regularly carried around with the Savoys as their Court journeys from castle to castle.
  
  
• 1488 Easter Sunday: Shroud exhibited at Savigliano.
  
  
• 1494 Good Friday: Dowager Duchess Bianca of Savoy exhibits the Shroud at Vercelli in the presence of Rupis, secretary to the Duke of Mantua. Leonardo begins painting of the Last Supper in Milan, on which he will work for two years.
  
  
• 1498: King Louis initates extensive remodelling of the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. An inventory detailing the Shroud when at Turin in this same year describes its case as "a coffer covered with crimson velours, with silver gilt roses, and the sides silver and the Holy Shroud inside wrapped in a cloth of red silk."
  
  
• June 11, 1502: At the behest of Duchess of Savoy Marguerite of Austria, the Shroud is no longer moved around with the Savoys during their travels, but given a permanent home in the Royal Chapel of Chambéry Castle. Duke Philibert, Duchess Marguerite, Francois of Luxembourg, viscount of Martigues, husband of Louise of Savoy (grand-daughter of Duke Louis), together with nearly all the local clergy, attend the ceremony of translation during which Laurent Alamand, bishop of Grenoble, solemnly carries the Shroud in its silver-gilt case from Chambéry's Franciscan church to the Sainte-Chapelle. The Shroud is displayed on the Chapel's high altar, then entrusted to the care of archdeacon Jacques Veyron and the canons of the Chapel, who replace it in its case and deposit it behind the high altar, in a special cavity hollowed out of the wall. In this cavity it is secured by an iron grille with four locks, each opened by separate keys, two of which are held by the Duke. Pope Sixtus IV confers on the Chambéry chapel the title Sainte Chapelle.
  
  
• April 14, 1503 Good Friday: Exposition of the Shroud at Bourg-en-Bresse for Archduke Philip the Handsome, grand-master of Flanders, on his return from a journey to Spain. The Shroud, which has been specially brought from Chambéry, with great ceremony, by Duke Philibert of Savoy and Duchess Marguerite, is exposed on an altar in one of the great halls of the Duke's palace. Savoy courtier Antoine de Lalaing records of the events of that day: "The day of the great and holy Friday, the Passion was preached in Monsignor's chapel by his confessor, the duke and duchess attending. Then they went with great devotion to the market halls of the town, where a great number of people heard the Passion preached by a Cordeilier. After that three bishops showd to the public the Holy Shroud of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and after the service it was shown in Monsignor's chapel." Lalaing adds that the Shroud's authenticity has been confirmed by its having been tried by fire, boiled in oil, laundered many times 'but it was not possible to efface or remove the imprint and image.'
  
  
• 1509: New casket/reliquary for the Shroud is created in silver by Flemish artist Lievin van Latham, having been commissioned by Marguerite of Austria at a cost of more than 12,000 gold ecus. The Shroud's installation in this new casket takes place on 10 August, before the Sainte- Chapelle's grand altar, in the presence of the presidents of the Council of Savoy and other dignitaries. In return for the gift of the casket, the Sainte Chapelle chapter are required to say a daily Mass for Marguerite and her dead husband Philibert.
  
  
• 1511: Private exposition for Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, and for Francesco of Aragon.
  
  
• 1513: Death at Chambéry of Marguerite's mother-in-law dowager duchess Claude. She is buried behind the high altar of the Sainte Chapelle, Chambéry, immediately facing the repository containing the Shroud.
  
  
• 1516: King Francis I of France journeys from Lyon to Chambéry to venerate the Shroud after his victory at Marignan. Copy of Shroud preserved in the Church of St.Gommaire at Lierre is dated to this year.
  
  
• 1518: Shroud exhibited from castle walls at Chambéry in honour of the Cardinal of Aragon.
  
  
• 1521: Duke Charles III marries Beatrice, daughter of King Emanuel of Portugal in this year, and they make a pilgrimage from Vercelli to Chambéry to venerate the Shroud. Shroud exhibited at Chambéry for benefit of Dom Edme, abbot of Clairvaux. Carried by three bishops, it is shown on the castle walls, and then for privileged observers hung over the high altar of the Sainte Chapelle, Chambéry.
  
  
• 1530: Death of Marguerite of Austria.
  
  
• December 4, 1532: Fire breaks out in the Sainte Chapelle, Chambéry, seriously damaging all its furnishings and fittings. Because the Shroud is protected by four locks, Canon Philibert Lambert and two Franciscans summon the help of a blacksmith to prise open the grille. By the time they succeed, Marguerite of Austria's Shroud casket/reliquary as made to her orders by Lievin van Latham has become melted beyond repair by the heat. But the Shroud folded inside is preserved bar being scorched and holed by a drop of molten silver that fell on one corner.
  
  
• April 16, 1534: Chambéry's Poor Clare nuns repair the Shroud, sewing it onto a backing cloth (the Holland cloth), and sewing patches over the unsightliest of the damage. These repairs are completed on 2 May. Covered in cloth of gold, the Shroud is returned to the Savoys' castle in Chambéry.
  
  
• 1535: Savoy is invaded by French troops. Charles III and his family abandon Chambéry. The Shroud is taken to Piedmont, passing through the Lanzo valley.
  
  
• May 4, 1535: The Shroud is exhibited in Turin.
  
  
• May 7, 1536: Ths Shroud is exhibited in Milan. Indicative of the rumours that it had been destroyed in the fire, Rabelais' Gargantua published in France in this year includes a scene in which soldiers sacking a monastery vineyard call upon various saints and relics when attacked with a processional cross by one 'Frere Jean':. 'Some made a vow to St.James, others to the Holy Shroud of Chambéry, but it caught fire three months later so that not a single scrap could be saved...'
  
  
• 1537: The Shroud is taken for safety to Vercelli because of French invasions.
  
  
• March 29, 1537: The Shroud is exhibited from the tower of Bellanda, Nice.
  
  
• 1540: The Shroud at Aosta.
  
  
• 1541: The Shroud is once again at Vercelli, where it will stay for the next twenty years.
  
  
• Early June 1561: The Shroud is brought back to Chambéry and deposited in the Church of St.Mary the Egyptian, in the Franciscan convent.
  
  
• August 15 and 17, 1561: Showings of the Shroud from the walls of the city and in the piazza of the castello.
  
  
• 1578: The saintly Cardinal Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) decides to journey on foot from Milan to Chambery to give thanks to the Shroud following release of Milan from the plague. To save Borromeo the rigours of a journey across the Alps Duke Emanuel Philibert orders the cloth to be brought from Chambery.
  
  
• September 14, 1578: The Shroud arrives in Turin, heralded by a gun salute from the local artillery.
  
  
• Friday, October 10, 1578: Private showing of the Shroud for Charles Borromeo and his companions. Upon removal of its black silk coverlet, the cloth is shown stretched out on a large table.
  
  
• Sunday, October 12, 1578: The Shroud is carried in procession from the Cathedral to the Piazza del Castello where, with Borromeo, Vercelli's cardinal, the archbishops of Turin and Savoy, and six other bishops officiating, it is shown on a large platform before a crowd estimated at forty thousand.
  
  
• October 14, 1578: After forty hours of devotions, a second procession brings the Shroud to the piazza for a second showing.
  
  
• October 15, 1578: Second private showing of the Shroud for the close circle of Charles Borromeo. Cusano describes the Shroud as 'testimony to its own authenticity'.
  
  
• June 13, 14 & 15, 1582: Showings of the Shroud on the occasion of a fresh pilgrimage by Cardinal Charles Boromeo to Turin, with Cardinal Gabriel Paleotto as another of the officiants. These showings are recorded on a rare print preserved in the Ufficio Manoscritti e Rari of Turin's Biblioteca Civica.
  
  
• May 4, 1604: Showing of the Shroud in the presence of Duke Charles Emanuel I and his Court.
  
  
• February 14, 1606: Private showing of the Shroud to Silvestro da Assisi-Bini, father general of the Capuchin order, an offshoot of the Franciscans.
  
  
• May 9, 1606: Public showing. The crowd swelled by 40,000 foreigners who had come to Turin to see the Shroud.
  
  
• 1608: The thirtieth anniversary of the Shroud's arrival in Turin. A print issued to mark the occasion is preserved in London's British Museum.
  
  
• 1620: Shroud shown in the castle piazza to mark the marriage of Duke Vict or Amadeus with Christine of France.
  
  
• June 16, 1633: Public showing of the Shroud in the Castle Piazza, Turin.
  
  
• May 4, 1635: Public showing of the Shroud in the Castle Piazza, Turin
  
  
• 1638: Private showing of the Shroud at Turin for St.Jeanne Franeoise de Chantal, founder of the Order of the Visitation.
  
  
• 1640: Shroud exhibited as an expression of thanks for the release of Turin from plague. A painted copy of the Shroud preserved at the Castillo de Garcimunoz was 'extractum ex originali' at this time.
  
  
• 1642: Solemn showing of the Shroud to mark the conclusion of peace between the princes of Savoy, in the presence of Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy, her young son Charles Emanuel II, and the princes Maurice and Thomas of Savoy.
  
  
• May 4, 1647: At a public showing this year, held in the Cathedral, some of the enormous crowd died of suffocation.
  
  
• May 16 and 17, 1663: Exposition of the Shroud in the Cathedral of Turin is delayed from the normal May 4 date to coincide with the wedding of Duke Carlo Emanuele II of Savoy with Francesca d'Orleans. The copy of the Shroud preserved in St. Paul's Church, Rabat, Malta was placed in contact with the Shroud at this time.
  
  
• 1665: Showing of the Shroud in the Royal Chapel, in the presence of Archbishop Michele Beggiano, to mark the marriage of Duke Charles Emanuel II with Maria de Savoy-Nemours.
  
  
• May 14, 1665 (Feast of the Ascension): Shroud is shown in public before a huge crowd, held up by seven bishops.
  
  
• March 24, 1666: Private showing for Duke Maximilian of Bavaria.
  
  
• May 4, 1666: Public showing conducted by the Archbishop of Turin and four bishops.
  
  
• May 4, 1667: Public showing, with ambassador Morosini of Venice in attendance.
  
  
• June 1st, 1694: The Shroud is brought solemnly into the Guarini Chapel where it has remained almost uninterruptedly for over three centuries.
  
  
• May 4, 1722: Public showing.
  
  
• May 4, 1737: Public showing of the Shroud to mark the royal marriage, commemorated by a print showing a vast crowd in front of the royal palace, as the Shroud is displayed from a balcony.
  
  
• June 29, 1750: Showing of the Shroud, presided over by Cardinal Delle Lan ze, to celebrate the marriage of Prince Victor Amadeus (III) with Maria Antonia of Bourbon, Infanta of Spain.
  
  
• June 16, 1769: Private showing of the Shroud for Emperor Joseph II of Hapsburg-Lorraine [?]. Shown in the Cathedral from the balcony of the Royal Chapel for the large crowd gathered in the Cathedral.
  
  
• October 15, 1775: Marriage of Piedmont Prince Charles Emanuel (IV) with Princess Marie Clotilde of France marked by showing of the Shroud with same ceremonial used in 1750.
  
  
• December 9, 1798: Forced to leave Turin and withdraw to Sardinia, Charles Emanuel IV (1796-1802), venerates the Shroud with the rest of the royal family before their departure.
  
  
• November 13, 1804: Private showing of the Shroud for the visit to Turin of Pope Pius VII, virtually a prisoner en route from Rome to Paris to crown Napoleon, who would be crowned by none other than the Pope. According to Sanna Solaro '.. The Pope knelt down to venerate it, then examined it in every part, kissing it with tender devotion'. Seven cardinals, eight bishops and many other notables were present.
  
  
• May 20, 1814: Solemn showing of the Shroud to mark the return of the monarchy, in the person of King Victor Emanuel. This is the first full public showing of the Shroud since 1775.
  
  
• May 21, 1815: Pope Pius VII's second presiding over an exposition of the S hroud, this time marking his return to Italy after Napoleon's defeat. He personally displays it from the balcony of the Palazzo Madama. On the Shroud being returned to its casket the latter is sealed with the papal and royal seals.
  
  
• January 4, 1822: Showing of the Shroud to mark the start of the reign of Charles Felix, following the abdication of his brother Victor Emanuel I. This is held out first in the Royal Chapel, in the presence of the royal family, then displayed from the Chapel balustrade for the benefit of the ordinary populace in the Cathedral below.
  
  
• May 4, 1842: Showing of the Shroud to mark the marriage of Crown Prince Victor Emanuel (II) with Maria Adelaide, Archduchess of Austria. Lithographs show the Shroud being exhibited from a balcony of the Palazzo Madama. The making of a daguerrotype of the Shroud on this occasion is considered but rejected.
  
  
• April 24-27, 1868: During the brief archbishopric of Alessandro Riccardi dei Conti di Netro, marked by exceptional pastoral care, a showing of the Shroud is held to mark the marriage of Prince Umberto with Princess Margaret. Instead of a brief holding up of the cloth in the cathedral or from a balcony of the Palazzo Madama as had happened in 1815 and 1842, the Shroud is properly displayed on a board on the cathedral high altar for four days.
  
  
• April 28, 1868: Princess Clotilde of Savoy (1843-1911), daughter of Victor Emanuel II and wife of Prince Gerolamo Napoleon, changes the Shroud's former lining cloth of black silk that had been sewn on by Bl. Sebastian Valfre back in 1694, substituting for it one of crimson taffeta. An official record of this, with sample of the former black silk lining, is preserved in Turin. On this same date the Shroud is 'scrupulosamente' measured by Monsignor Gastaldi, then bishop of Aluzzo, and later archbishop of Turin, and found to be 410cm. x 140 cm.
  
  
• May 28, 1898: Public exhibition. Secondo Pia, an Italian amateur photographer, makes the first photograph of the Shroud of Turin. It ushers in a new era in the Shroud's history, the era of science.
  
  
• 1900: Canon Ulysse Chevalier's Etude critique sur l'origine du Saint Suaire de Lirey-Chambry-Turin is published in Paris, detailing the d' Arcis memorandum and other mediaeval documents indicating the Shroud's fraudulence.
  
  
• April 21, 1902: (Monday afternoon) Agnostic anatomy professor Yves Delage presents a paper on the Shroud to the Academy of Sciences, Paris, arguing for the Shroud's medical and general scientific convincingness, and stating his opinion that it genuinely wrapped the body of Christ.
  
  (Evening) Secretary for the physics section of the Academy, Marcelin Berthelot, inventor of thermo-chemistry, and a militant atheist, orders Delage to rewrite his paper (for publication in the Comptes rendus de l' Acadmie des Sciences) so that it treats only on the vaporography of zinc and makes no allusion to the Shroud or to Christ.
  
  
• April 23, 1902: Paris edition of New York Herald carries headline, 'Photographs of Christ's Body found by science'.
  
  
• April 27, 1902: Paris edition of New York Herald carries headline, 'Scientists Denounce Turin's Holy Shroud. M. Leopold Delisle tells Academy of Inscriptions "the claim has not been proved"'.
  
  
• 1918: Alarmed by the danger of air raids from the World War then raging, King Victor Emanuel III orders the Shroud to be put in a place of safety, on condition that it does not leave the Royal Palace. A secret underground chamber is specially constructed two floors below ground level in the south-east side of Turin's Royal Palace, with not even the contractors told its purpose. On the floor of this chamber is set a large strongbox with a complex combination lock. On 6 May the casket of the Shroud is removed from the Royal Chapel (in which it has lain undisturbed since 1898). It is wrapped in a thick blanket of asbestos, put in a chest made of tin plate, hermetically sealed with cold solder, then carried down to the secret chamber, where it is solemnly locked inside the strongbox. Prayers are recited, after which the chamber's heavy entrance doors are locked.