Documented Proof of Shroud of Turin

Many people are still under the impression that the shroud of Turin is a medieval hoax. The shroud of Turin, also known as the burial shroud of Jesus, is a piece of linen cloth. It was woven more than 2000 years ago. One can see the image of a tall, muscular human body, imprinted on this burial shroud. There are bloodstains on it, consistent to these the flagellation wounds, nails and the crown of thorns torturing the body of Jesus. Some people say that Leonardo Da Vinci created it through some medieval photographic equipment. There are still others who say that the shroud of Turin was created by an artist. He must have been a genius to have created this masterpiece without the use of any paint and pigments. Apart from that, he made sure that he stained the shroud of Turin with blood stains, to add creative verisimilitude to his artistic creation. Can one really expect a medieval artist to have that sort of knowledge, intelligence, and know-how?

So now we come to the documented proof of the Shroud of Turin. Skeptics aside and religious sentiments aside, let us go to the historical proof. The documentation of this burial cloth has been done long before Leonardo da Vinci picked up his paintbrush. On the other hand, the holy cloth which is known as the Sudarium Christi, or the shroud in which Jesus was buried has been referred to, since 500 AD. Now, let us go to 570 AD to the city of Edessa. There is a cloth which has been preserved and is worshipped here, known as The Image Of Edessa. Many historians, scholars and researchers now consider the shroud of Turin and the Image Of Edessa to be one and the same.

Now, we are in Constantinople, the year is 944 AD. The Emperor of Byzantium Romanus Lacapenus sends an army to Edessa, so that this precious treasure can be taken to Constantinople. This cloth is referred to by the archdeacon, Gregory Referendarius, at the time, speaking on August 16, 944 AD to the people about the sacred cloth with its full length image.

Now let us go to the 12th century; it is the time of the holy Crusades. Requests are being made to Henry IV and Robert of Flanders to protect" the sacred cloth, found in the holy sepulcher, after the resurrection. "What could this cloth be, but the shroud of Turin, also known as the image of Edessa?

And now, let us come to one of the lesser known facts of the fourth Crusade. Historians gloss over the fact that the Crusades were politically motivated by Kings, in order to expand their lands, and loot the treasury of the East, all in the name of winning Jerusalem. So here we are, with the Doges of Venice trying to get rid of the business competition by sending an army made up of so-called crusaders, to destroy Constantinople, their business rival, in 1204 AD. Constantinople does not seem to be anywhere near Jerusalem, does it?
One of the treasures looted by these mercenaries masquerading as religious crusaders was the shroud of Turin, which was then called the holy Mandylion. Theodore Ducas Anglelos wrote a letter in 1205 to the then Pope Innocent III , in which he spoke about the looting and destruction of Constantinople. He said that the treasures had been partitioned between the French and the Venetians. Among these treasures were sacred relics, including the Edessa Cloth. These relics and treasures were in Athens, in Venice, and in France. An Abbott, Nicholas d’Orrante saw this cloth in 1207. Robert de Clari who chronicled the 4th Crusade has noted the fact that this holy relic disappeared from Constantinople in 1204. This shroud surfaced again in 1306, in Turin, when Geoffrey de Charny, a descendent of one of the knights who had been a crusader during the fourth Crusade, displayed this cloth, in the church of Turin.

So now we have documented proof going back to more than 2000 years about this sacred Shroud of Turin. And still people consider it to be a fake, and a possible medieval work of art? Talk about arguing for the sake of talking!