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THE THORN

The Royal Monastery of the Incarnation undoub-
tedly houses one of the “jewels in the crown” for
the Christian faithful: the Shrine of the Holy
Thorn whose interior accommodates a shrine
which belonged to the Crown of thorns that Jesus
Christ wore in the Passion and a tuft of hair of the
Virgin Mary.

Although the first mention of the Crown of
thorns dates back to the 5th century, there is no
further reference to it again until the 11th century
when it turned up in Constantinople. In 1238 the
emperor Baldwin II offered the holy shrine to Luis
IX, the King of France, seeking his support. To
safeguard it, the monarch built the Holy Chapel of
Paris built where it was to remain until the French
Revolution until it was finally moved to the Notre
Dame cathedral. Over the centuries, the thorns
were offered as a gift between monarchs and
noblemen, spreading throughout Christendom.
Today, some of them can be revered such as the
one at Barcelona Cathedral or that houses by the
Chapel of the Holy Thorn at the Royal Monastery
of the Incarnation in Mula, attended by the Poor
Clare sisters.