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Relics are the bodily remains of a saint or objects from his or her possessions. As visible signs of the saint’s individual support and intercession, they enjoyed great estimation. Of special significance were the relics in the Cathedral which, along with the great age of the church, constituted the uncommonly important rank and prestige of the Trier Church. According to the Trier diocesan chronicle, the Gesta Treverorum, written around 1100, St. Helena, Emperor Constantine’s mother, donated her palace to the Bishop Agritius (died 330/335), who then had the Cathedral built. Moreover, she brought a series of important relics to Trier: besides the Holy Robe and relics of the Apostle Matthias, a tooth from St. Peter, the Holy Nail, and the Sandal of St. Andrew. Enshrined in reliquaries, in precious works of goldsmiths’ artistry, these relics comprise the basic elements of the Trier Cathedral Treasury.
Reliquaries between Liturgy and Treasury Art
Reliquaries played a significant role in Cathedral liturgy: they were placed on the altars, carried in processions, carried to meet Emperors and Kings when they entered into the city, and shown to pilgrims at public exhibitions. In the Middle Ages, the veneration of relics was expressed by enshrining them in precious works of art. Gold, silver, gemstones, pearls, and intaglios from Antiquity were not just valuable materials, but they also reflected the aura of the saint by their brilliance. The technically and artistically superb form of the reliquaries was an added adjunct. As early as the 10th century, Trier was the seat of several artists’ workshops of European rank under Archbishop Egbert (died 993), from which manuscripts and works of great art issued.
Secure Safekeeping and Public Exhibition
The reliquaries were kept secure from fire and theft in a treasury on the north side of the east choir, built around 1200. After public showings of the relics in the Cathedral became more popular in the 14th century, the so-called “Baden Annex” was built on the south side of the church in 1480, an addition in the upper story of the Cathedral archives and which still houses the Cathedral Treasury today. When the high altar was opened in 1512, not only the Holy Robe was found but numerous other relics as well. In the years between 1512 and 1655, the great throng of the faithful made it necessary to exhibit the relics of the Cathedral Treasury to pilgrims on Cathedral Square from one of the stands built onto the west choir of the Cathedral.
Losses and New Acquisitions
Inventories from 1238, 1429, and 1776 as well as a copper etching from 1655 provide detailed information about the Trier Cathedral Treasury, which, despite numerous wars over the centuries, was carefully guarded. Not until the 18th century were large segments used to finance the first of several wars against French Revolutionary troops: in 1792, 880 lbs./399 kg of precious metal were sent to the Electoral mint in Coblenz and melted down for coinage. Only 12 works of the Treasury survived this loss. In the 19th and 20th centuries, numerous works came into the Treasury from secularized churches, through donations, loans, from the art trade, and also through new creations.
The Cathedral Treasury Today
Today, the Trier Cathedral Treasury presents one of the most important collections of ecclesiastical art, containing remarkable pieces from Late Antiquity (relief of relic procession), the Romanesque era (portable altar of St. Andrew, reliquary of the Holy Nail, Gozbert censer), the Gothic and baroque eras, and the 19th/20th century (especially Neo-Gothic works from the Trier studio of Brems-Varain). The Treasury also contains several important medieval manuscripts (the Simeon’s Codex, the Evangeliary by Roger of Helmarshausen, the pericope book of Kuno of Falkenstein), and a few liturgical vestments.
Author: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schmid
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