More Holy Girdles

I do not know if the Girdle of Thomas in the Prato Cathedral inspired the others, or if the stories of others in the East inspired a Girdle of Thomas for the West, but there are a few out there that purport to be a cincture worn by the Virgin Mary.

One is the Cincture of the Theotokos. The "Theotokos" is the Blessed Virgin. The story is the same as with the one in Prato. At the time of Mary's death, the remaining Apostles were with her except for Thomas, who was traveling on his mission to India. Thomas arrived three days later and asked to pay his respects to the body. He is led to the tomb, where they find that the body is missing. The conclusion is that she has been bodily taken to Heaven. She suddenly appears and offers her girdle/belt/cincture to Thomas. Thomas is singled out because of his "doubting nature": he did not believe that Jesus had resurrected and appeared until he was able to put his finger into the nail holes in Christ's hands and feet.

This would have happened in the 1st century CE, but the object does not surface in history until the 6th century, when it was brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople (with Mary's robe as well; no knowing if she also tossed that to Thomas). It had gold thread embroidered into it by Zoe, wife of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI. It even has its own feast day, 31 August, established by Emperor Manuel I Comnenos.

The Syriac Orthodox Church has its own Holy Girdle of Mary. In this case, Thomas was brought from India through the sky by the Holy Spirit as Mary lay dying. Even with this miraculous mode of transportation, he was late, but he saw a vision of Mary being taken to Heaven by angels. He asked her to give him a sign, and the chariot in which she was being taken to Heaven stopped so she could give him her belt. Thomas, reversing his reputation for doubt, showed the belt to others to convince them that it was real, then carried it back with him on his travels, creating miracles for those who touched it or even saw it.

This girdle was brought from India in 394 CE and placed in the Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt. That is the story. It wasn't actually discovered until 1953 when the church was being renovated and this was "found" in the altar. Orthodox tradition celebrates an eight-day Lent in September to commemorate Mary; the belt is brought out for viewing on the last day. The belt/girdle has been cut into almost a dozen parts and distributed to other churches.

The woman who had the Byzantine girdle embroidered with gold thread, Zoe Zaoutzaina, had an interesting rise to power, from a humble first marriage to becoming an empress. I'll tell you about her tomorrow.

Louis and the Second Crusade, Part 1

The Second Crusade was the first to be led by European kings. It was announced by Pope Eugene III, preached widely by Bernard of Clairvaux, and brought Louis VII of France together with Conrad III of Germany and other European nobles, like Frederick "Barbarossa."

The French army reached Hungary, where they were hosted by King Géza II of Hungary. Conrad was already there. Géza asked Louis to be godfather to his son, Stephen. Relations between France and Hungary remained cordial for a long time, and later on Louis' daughter Margaret would marry Géza's son Béla III of Hungary.

Eleanor of Aquitaine accompanied her husband on this journey—well, they traveled separately: Louis had taken a vow of chastity during the Crusade, and did not want to be tempted. She brought 1000 knights from Aquitaine and equipped a large retinue of women with horses and armor, dressed as Amazons. When they reached Constantinople, the men camped outside, while the women were entertained in palaces the likes of which Europe could not offer.

Constantinople had recently negotiated a treaty with the Seljuk Turks, and was now hosting a Crusading army that was going to enter Turkish territory and cause trouble. Some speculate that what happened next was due to interference by Emperor Manuel I Comnenos, who may have tipped off the Turks.

The European armies marched separately, Conrad going first. The French army encountered remnants of the Germans who warned that they had been attacked and defeated by Turks. Shortly after, Louis caught up with Conrad (who was wounded in the head) and the remains of his army. They reached Ephesus at Christmas, where Conrad decided he was too injured to continue. His foot soldiers stayed with Louis while the German nobles all went home.

The French army was then struck with four days of torrential rain that smashed their tents and washed away supplies. Louis chose to cross the mountains to get to Antioch as soon as possible. This put them in the path of Turkish raiders who threw rocks down and shot arrows at them. The parade-and-party atmosphere had faded for Eleanor and the ladies who followed her.

Another disaster arose, this one of Eleanor's making, and it almost destroyed the army. I'll tell you more tomorrow.