What year was the Shroud of Turin discovered?

Answer 1

The cloth now known as the Shroud of Turin first appeared about 1355 at a little church in Liry, in north-central France. Its owner, a soldier of fortune named Geoffroy de Charney, claimed it as the authentic shroud of Christ, although he never explained how he acquired it.

Answer 2

A:

The cloth now known as the Shroud of Turin first appeared about 1355 at a little church in Liry, in north-central France. Its owner, a soldier of fortune named Geoffroy de Charney, claimed it as the authentic shroud of Christ, although he never explained how he acquired such a fabulous possession.

According to a later bishop's report, written in 1389 by Pierre D'Arcis to the Avignon pope, Clement VII, the shroud was being used as part of a faith-healing scam:

"The case, Holy Father. stands thus. Some time since in this diocese of Troyes the dean of a certain collegiate church, to wit, that of Lirey, falsely and deceitfully, being consumed with the passion of avarice, and not from any motive of devotion but only of gain, procured for his church a certain cloth cunningly painted, upon which by a clever sleight of hand was depicted the twofold image of one man, that is to say, the back and the front, he falsely declaring and pretending that this was the actual shroud in which our Saviour Jesus Christ was enfolded in the tomb, and upon which the whole likeness of the Saviour had remained thus impressed together with the wounds which He bore. . . And further to attract the multitude so that money might cunningly be wrung from them, pretended miracles were worked, certain men being hired to represent themselves as healed at the moment of the exhibition of the shroud."

D'Arcis continued, speaking of a predecessor who conducted the investigation and uncovered the forger: "Eventually, after diligent inquiry and examination, he discovered the fraud and how the said cloth had been cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who had painted it, to wit that it was a work of human skill and not miraculously wrought or bestowed."

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AnswerThat really depends on what you mean by "discovered". The history of the Shroud that can be proven and is believed even by skeptics started in 1349. There is considerable evidence before that time, but it is mostly circumstantial and remains mostly unproven. If you would like to read the entire history of the Shroud, the book, titled "The Blood and the Shroud," by Ian Wilson can be obtained at a number of locations. From the website The Shroud of Turin:

The history of the Shroud of Turin can be best studied by dividing it into two specific categories. The general consensus of even the most doubting researchers is to accept a "1350" date as the beginning of the "undisputed" or documented history of the Shroud of Turin. This also happens to coincide with the approximate date determined by the 1988 carbon dating of the cloth. Although there is a significant amount of evidence supporting the Shroud's existence prior to the mid 1300's, much of it is, in fact, "circumstantial" and remains mostly unproven.

In an effort to bring factual information to the viewers of this website, I am including here only the undisputed history as accepted by most scholars. I am also limiting the scope of this history to only the more significant events. A completely detailed Shroud chronology can be found in the 1998 book titled "The Blood and the Shroud," by Ian Wilson, that includes the earlier, more speculative and "circumstantial" material as well. (It is available directly from Amazon.com via the Bookssection of the Website Store page of this site).

April 10 (or 16), 1349: The Hundred Year War had been raging between France and England for over eleven years and the Black Death had just finished ravaging most of Europe when Geoffrey de Charny, a French knight, writes to Pope Clement VI reporting his intention to build a church at Lirey, France. It is said he builds St. Mary of Lirey church to honor the Holy Trinity who answered his prayers for a miraculous escape while a prisoner of the English. He is also already in possession of the Shroud, which some believe he acquired in Constantinople.

• 1355: According to the "D'Arcis Memorandum", written more than thirty years later, the first known expositions of the Shroud are held in Lirey at around this time. Large crowds of pilgrims are attracted and special souvenir medallions are struck. A unique surviving specimen can still be found today at the Cluny Museum in Paris. Reportedly, Bishop Henri refused to believe the Shroud could be genuine and ordered the expositions halted. The Shroud was then hidden away.

Answer 3

The cloth now known as the Shroud of Turin first appeared about 1355 at a little church in Liry, in north-central France. Its owner, a soldier of fortune named Geoffroy de Charney, claimed it as the authentic shroud of Christ, although he never explained how he acquired such a fabulous possession.

According to a later bishop's report, written in 1389 by Pierre D'Arcis to the Avignon pope, Clement VII, the shroud was being used as part of a faith-healing scam:

"The case, Holy Father. stands thus. Some time since in this diocese of Troyes the dean of a certain collegiate church, to wit, that of Lirey, falsely and deceitfully, being consumed with the passion of avarice, and not from any motive of devotion but only of gain, procured for his church a certain cloth cunningly painted, upon which by a clever sleight of hand was depicted the twofold image of one man, that is to say, the back and the front, he falsely declaring and pretending that this was the actual shroud in which our Saviour Jesus Christ was enfolded in the tomb, and upon which the whole likeness of the Saviour had remained thus impressed together with the wounds which He bore. . . And further to attract the multitude so that money might cunningly be wrung from them, pretended miracles were worked, certain men being hired to represent themselves as healed at the moment of the exhibition of the shroud."

D'Arcis continued, speaking of a predecessor who conducted the investigation and uncovered the forger: "Eventually, after diligent inquiry and examination, he discovered the fraud and how the said cloth had been cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who had painted it, to wit that it was a work of human skill and not miraculously wrought or bestowed."