Once More, the Shroud

Geoffroi de Charny would probably be almost completely unknown to modern audiences but for this strange bit: he gave us the Shroud of Turin.

Geoffroi died in 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers, having spent a life distinction guessing himself through his actions (since he was a younger son who stood to inherit nothing). He did so well that, in 1353, he was able to establish a collegiate church in Lirey near Troyes. Bishop of Troyes Henri de Poitiers approved the founding on 28 May 1356, about four months before Charny's death.

In 1390, the then-Bishop of Troyes wrote that a cloth bearing the imprint of Christ's crucified body was being displayed there, and that Henri de Poitiers claimed it was a clever forgery made by a contemporary artist and shut down the display. Now we get into a tricky timeline. If the bishop did not approve, why did he make no mention of it in his approval of the church? The document that establishes the church's foundation exists, but contains no mention of such a cloth as one of its assets. So when did the cloth appear? When did Geoffroi obtain it? It is tempting to say he found it on his travels and crusading in the East, but he makes no mention of it in his writings.

I mention here how it wound up in Turin, Italy. In the 19th century, in Paris, a pilgrim badge had been found that clearly was made for those who viewed the cloth: it bears the phrase ’SVAIRE IhV’(‘Shroud of Jesus’). It also bears the coat of arms of Geoffroi and of his second wife, Jeanne de Vergy, with the Vergy arms in the dominant position, indicating that she was in charge of the operation. Some speculate that this indicated the arms of Geoffroi's son, Geoffroi de Charny II, partnered with his mother. In later depositions, however, both Geoffroi II and granddaughter Marguerite stated that it was Geoffroi senior who acquired it personally, and not that it came to the church later.

An important facet of its story in France turned up in 2009, when a metal detectorist found a casting mold in the town next to Lirey, a mold for making pilgrim badges. It would make a badge nearly identical to the damaged on found in Paris.

It is odd that Geoffroi de Charny came across something so amazing and kept it quiet. Unless, of course, the family legend is just that, and Henry of Poitiers was right. Perhaps it came into the family's possession while Geoffroi was away at Poitiers and they decided to turn it into a money-making scheme for the cathedral church. Tests of the Shroud of Turin have yielded contradictory results, with various teams of scientists accusing the others of improper techniques or having a particular agenda to establish it was a 14th-century work of art or a 1st-century miracle. As yet there is no definitive answer that satisfies all sides.

What exactly was a "collegiate church"? How was it different from other churches? Do they still exist? I'll explain next time.

Geoffroi de Charny at War

Yesterday's post introduced Geoffroi de Charny, a third son with no prospects from his family who set out to make a name for himself. He did very well as a soldier, impressing the king of France, Philip VI, and being given at one point the task of getting the town of Calais back from the English during the Hundred Years War.

As mentioned yesterday, he was captured at one point earlier in his career because of an ambush set up by the English. Unfortunately for him, history was about to repeat itself. In 1349, Geoffroi made contact with a Lombard mercenary who had the responsibility of maintaining the gates into Calais. Edward III of England had made this man, Aimery of Pavia, the captain of the city guard.

Aimery said he would sell Calais to Geoffroi for the sum of 20,000 écus, or gold crowns. Someone blabbed, and Edward found out. He summoned Aimery to London and told him to keep the arrangement, take the money, and let Edward's army know when the French forces intended to arrive to take over the town.

On the night of 31 December 1349, Geoffroi arrived with 500 men, paid the money to Aimery, and entered Calais with 12 knights and 100 archers. Edward's forces were waiting, and the attempted takeover of Calais was thwarted. There was some fighting, and Geoffroi was wounded and taken prisoner once again. (The illustration above is of the wounded Geoffroi lying before Edward III is from a 14th century French chronicle.)

Geoffroi spent a year in an English prison. King Philip VI was succeeded by King John II "the Good", who paid Geoffroi's ransom. Once back on the continent, Geoffroi found out where Aimery de Pavia was, caught him in bed with a mistress, dragged him to Geoffroi's home base at Saint-Omer, and had him publicly executed (tortured with hot irons, then quartered with an axe) as an oath-breaker.

In 1356, King John II and Geoffroi met with Edward, the Black Prince, who was raiding towns in southern France. The two sides parlayed. Mindful that a battle between the two armies would likely produce another bloody Crécy, Geoffroi suggested a "Trial by Combat" with hand-picked men instead of full-scale war. According to an account by the English herald John Chandos:

Then said Geoffroi de Charny: 'Lords,' quoth he, 'since so it is that this treaty pleases you no more, I make offer that we fight you, a hundred against a hundred, choosing each one from his own side; and know well, whichever hundred be discomfited, all the others, know for sure, shall quit this field and let the quarrel be. I think that it will be best so, and that God will be gracious to us if the battle be avoided in which so many valiant men will be slain.'

It was French overconfidence that decided against this advice. The result was the Battle of Poitiers, in which the French overconfidence proved misguided. King John was captured. Geoffroi de Charny was killed, an easy target since he upheld the oriflamme. He was given a quick burial at a nearby Franciscan convent, but in 1370 the body was re-interred in a church in Paris.

Although already mentioned a few days ago, I want to return to the subject of the Shroud of Turin that appeared in Geoffroi's possession with a little more detail surrounding the controversy of its origin. That will be tomorrow.

Geoffroi de Charny*

Geoffroi de Charny (c.1306 - 19 September 1356) was an extremely accomplished and well-known French knight. He was a third son, which meant he was not going to inherit the title Lord of Charny from his father, so he set out to distinguish himself in jousts and tournaments. In fact, he was so lacking of property that, on the records of involvement in the Hundred Years War, he is listed as from Pierre-Perthuis, the fief of the family of his first wife, Jeanne de Toucy.

In 1342, during the Battle of Morlaix in Brittany against the English, he fell for an ambush and was captured and taken to Goodrich Castle in England. Because he had no property to speak of for ransom, and because of the "gentlemanly nature" of war-time noble captives, he was released to go back to the continent and raise money for his ransom.

He turned to the Dauphin Humbert II de Viennois, who owed him the revenues of the town of Saint-Marcellin for service rendered earlier, but the Dauphin was always short of money, so the request for payment was futile. Unable to get anything substantial from Humbert, in the summer of 1344 Geoffroi set sail for the East to find fortune. From his adventures he wrote Livre de chevalerie (The Book of Chivalry), which begins:

Because I am minded to examine the various conditions of men-at-arms, both of the past and of the present, I want to give some brief account of them. And it is right to do so for all such matters are honorable, although some are honorable enough, others more honorable on an ascending scale up to the most honorable of all. And always the noblest way rises above all others, and those who have the greatest heart for it go constantly forward to reach and achieve the highest honor, and for this reason we must start by speaking of these...

Although the book deals with the high-minded ideals of chivalry, we still get a very down-to-earth look at the realities of the life of an active knight. Geoffroi describes the dangers of tournaments and the consequences of losing, the homesickness one feels when on a months-long Crusade, and his own injuries like getting a concussion while scaling a tower.

In October of 1344 he was Crusading against the Turk-held fortress of Smyrna, as part of a group of knights who were given a special commendation for bravery by Pope Clement VI. By the spring of 1346, Geoffroi was back in France. With war against the English ongoing, he prevented an invading Flemish army from capturing the town of Béthune around the same time that King Philip VI lost the battle of Crécy and lost the port of Calais.

Philip was so pleased with Geoffroi that he made him the bearer of the oriflamme, the standard of the French army. This was a great honor with a downside: the enemy would try for a symbolic achievement by striking down the oriflamme, so its bearer became an automatic target.

He was given the task of retaking Calais, and was on the verge of succeeding, when he fell for another ambush. But I will get to that tomorrow.

*This is not Geoffroi de Charney, a Templar who died c.1314.