Crowning Paris King Louis IX, Archbishop Cornut, and the Translation of the Crown of Thorns
The translation of Crown of Thorns from Constantinople to Paris marked the symbolic reinvention of the object, its new owner and final destination. When the Latin Emperor Baldwin II (1217, r. 1237 1273) offered the relic to King Louis IX of France (1214, r. 1226 1270, canonized 1297) this diplomatic transaction was celebrated as gift from God. A multitude of events orchestrated in honor of the Crown's arrival in August 1239, which included public displays, sermons, vigils, and processions of the relic, signified the divine anointment of the Capetian kingdom. The acquisition of more Passion relics in 1241 appeared to confirm what the initial festivities of the Crown first revealed: That Christ had selected France for the veneration of his Passion. In the text known presenty as the Historia Susceptionis Coronae Spineae, a melodical office composed for the inaugural feast of the Crown in August 1240, Archbishop Gauthier Cornut of Sens (d.1241) explains how and why the relic came to France and provides an eyewitness description of the final stages of the Crown's journey, culminating in its joyous arrival in Paris. This monograph will explore the content and significance of the Historia, arguing that its author is responsible for a fast flourishing and enduring cult. The representation of the Crown's translation in the 1240s glass of the Sainte Chapelle and Tours Cathedral is examined in light of its appropriation of the Historia text for narrative design. With an in depth analysis of the Historia, this account will expose the legacy of Cornut as the preliminary architect behind the construction of the French cult of the Crown of Thorns.