The Fortean Times is my favourite monthly read. xmorbidcuriosityx: Bones with Bling: The Amazing Jewelled Skeletons of Europe, The Fortean Times The trend for jewelled skeletons began in the late 16th century. The Roman catacombs, which had been abandoned as burial sites and largely forgotten about, were rediscovered in 1578 by vineyard workers. This coincided with the initial phase of the Counter-Reform­ation; the Council of Trent, called to formulate the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation, had just concluded, and one of the areas of concern was affirming the efficacy and belief in relics against attacks by their detract ors. Since the remains in the catacombs dated from the second to fifth centuries AD, it was possible, with a bit of wishful thinking, for Church leaders to romant icise the bones as belonging to almost any famed early Christian saint or martyr. In the newfound cache they saw a potential tool to bolster their supply of relics and promote their power. —From “Bones with Bling: The amazing jewelled skeletons of Europe,” by Paul Koudounari for The Fortean Times, June 2011 Via the always-awesome, Morbid Anatomy…

The Fortean Times is my favourite monthly read.

xmorbidcuriosityx:

Bones with Bling: The Amazing Jewelled Skeletons of Europe, The Fortean Times

The trend for jewelled skeletons began in the late 16th century. The Roman catacombs, which had been abandoned as burial sites and largely forgotten about, were rediscovered in 1578 by vineyard workers. This coincided with the initial phase of the Counter-Reform­ation; the Council of Trent, called to formulate the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation, had just concluded, and one of the areas of concern was affirming the efficacy and belief in relics against attacks by their detract ors. Since the remains in the catacombs dated from the second to fifth centuries AD, it was possible, with a bit of wishful thinking, for Church leaders to romant icise the bones as belonging to almost any famed early Christian saint or martyr. In the newfound cache they saw a potential tool to bolster their supply of relics and promote their power.
—From “Bones with Bling: The amazing jewelled skeletons of Europe,” by Paul Koudounari for The Fortean Times, June 2011

Via the always-awesome, Morbid Anatomy…

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