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Ecclesiastical: Paul
Dugdale has preserved from olden days two lists of relic treasures in old St. Paul's, which fill about two pages and a half in folio, including an immense amount of precious stones, the relics being encased in reliquaries of gold and silver, studded with jewels. The pride and glory of St. Paul's was the shrine of St. Erkenwold. Here were wrought the most frequent miracles, and therefore the most lavish offerings were made. It consisted of a lofty, pyramidical structure, in the most exquisitely-decorated pointed style, with an altar-table in front, covered with jewels and articles of gold and silver. A citizen of London, Richard Preston, left his best jewel, a sapphire, to the shrine, there to remain, for curing every infirmity of the eyes. Another citizen gave a costly tablet, enriched with many precious stones and enamels. The jewelled riches of Croyland Abbey were immense. Amongst them was a present from a King of France, a beautiful and costly sphere, constructed of various metals, according to the different planets, and adorned with such a mixture of precious stones as amazed the beholder.
Pope Leo IV. gave to the abbey an altar-cloth, woven with gold and spangled all over with pearls. It had on each side a circle bounded with gold, within which the name of the donor was inscribed in precious stones. The shrine of St. Cuthbert, in Durham Cathedral, was, for five centuries, enriched with the offerings of pilgrims. It became a blaze of gold and jewellery of extraordinary splendour.
The commissioners of Henry VIII., when examining this shrine, discovered "many worthy and goodly jewels, but especially one precious stone, which, by the estimate of those then visitors and their skilful lapidaries, was of sufficient value to a ransom a prince."
Bishop Arundel, of Ely (died February 1413-14), rebuilt the episcopal palace in Holborn, and presented to the church, among other gifts, a curious tablet of great value, full of the relics of the saints, set in large pearls, rubies, and sapphires. Arundel had purchased it of the Black Prince, Edward. It had once belonged to the King of Spain.
Henry de Blois (thirty-ninth Abbot of Glastonbury, 1126) gave to the abbey, among many rich gifts, a precious sapphire, bestowed on the church by St. David, long hid on account of the wars, none knowing the place until the abbot found it in a certain door of the church of St. Mary, and had it magnificently adorned with silver, gold, and precious stones.
In our own country, shrines, the objects of idolatrous worship, belong, happily, only to the past. The glorious light of the Reformation withered these superstitious practices. In 1537, Cromwell, the willing instrument of his royal master's will, commenced his war against them, and in the following year issued his famous admonition to the clergy:--"Such feigned images as ye know in any of your cures to be so abused with pilgrimages, or offerings of anything made there-unto, ye shall, for avoiding of that most detestable offence of idolatry, forthwith take down, and without delay." In Roman Catholic countries abroad, however, pilgrimages are still sustained, and the shrines to the Virgin and popular saints are resplendent in costly offerings. These prevail more particularly in Italy, France, and Spain. In Italy there are some magnificent specimens, in which enamelled work and jewels are introduced as pale or palliotti, altar fronts or coverings. Those of San Marco at Venice, of Sant' Ambrogio at Milan, of the Baptistery at Florence, and the Cathedral at Pistoia, are among the most remarkable. Many specimens of the same nature, together with votive offerings, cups, vessels, and the like, are still preserved in the sacristies of the churches. A traveller describes the subterranean chapel under the dome of Milan Cathedral, dedicated to and enclosing the mortal remains of St. Charles Borromeo: "We descended by torchlight into a temple of an octagonal form, and of about fifteen feet diameter. The riches contained in this sepulchre seemed to exceed the ransom of kings, and although the comparison be not strictly applicable, I could not help thinking of the palaces I had read of in the 'Arabian Nights' or 'Tales of the Genii.' Here are columns of the choicest marble, with gold capitals, crimson damask embroidered with gold, and wrought to the highest perfection, while round the sepulchre are a series of bassi relievi, in solid silver, representing the birth of the saint, etc. The corpse is embalmed in a gold and crystal coffin, and completely habited in sumptuous robes. Over the golden mitre on the head of the saint is suspended a crown of precious stones; in his hands he holds his crozier, similarly enriched and costly; while an emerald cross of immense value, and an antique figure about a foot high, of massive gold, both presents from crowned heads, formed only part of the riches contained in the coffin."
Political commotions, so frequent in France, have caused the dispersion of the costly jewels and rich works of art which formerly decorated the shrines in the magnificent cathedrals of that country. Some, however of these inestimable treasures have been recovered, and are, for the most part, in the Museum of Antiquities in Paris.
The sanctuary and treasury of St. Denis contained enormous riches in ecclesiastical ornaments; the former was of solid gold, and was protected against robbers by the following inscription, thus translated: "If any impious person dares to despoil this altar, resplendent in gold, may he perish justly, and be damned like Judas, his companion." This malediction did not, however, prevent the Leaguers of 1590 from pillaging the shrines, and the Revolutionists of 1793, with the same predatory spirit, cleared away the treasures that were left. Some few relics, however, found their way to the Museum of Antiquities, comprising remarkable specimens of gold and jewel work; such as the altar service pretended to have been used by St. Denis, his ring, and pastoral staff, covered with gold, pearls, and enamels. Of the works of the famous Suger, France still possesses the grand chalice and patena, the former ornamented with topazes and amethysts, weighing one hundred and forty ounces. The patena is of serpentine, with gold dolphins in the centre, and precious stones around.