In the Italian city of Perugia, an ancient wedding ring has been kept for many centuries - it is believed that it belonged to the Mother of God herself. There is a lot of controversy surrounding one of the most unusual Christian relics. Experts are trying to find out how this ring appeared in Italy and whether it is possible to be sure of its authenticity. About the amazing history of the shrine and the versions of researchers - in the material of RIA Novosti.
Monk scam
More than five centuries have passed, and the old grievances have not gone anywhere. In the Italian town of Chiusi, residents of neighboring Perugia are still disliked. And all because of the relic, the origin of which is shrouded in mystery.
On a hot July day in 1473, the German monk Vinterio, a resident of the monastery of San Francesco di Chiusi, was heading to the city of Assisi, one of the European centers of pilgrimage, where the famous Francis of Assisi was born and lived. It was believed that the pilgrims in Assisi were granted the forgiveness of all sins.
The monk walked with his bag at the ready, constantly looking around. He expected to reach Assisi without stopping in a day, but in the evening the path was suddenly covered with thick fog. And Winterio spent the night in Perugia.
There he met an old friend, whose name was Luca Main, and revealed to him a terrible secret: in his bag there is a ring that belonged to the Virgin Mary herself! He was so scared that he began to convince Winterio to go to the municipality and tell about everything. After all, the monk stole no less than the main shrine of the then powerful city of Chiusi. He himself explained this by "the command of the Virgin Mary."
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Mysterious Jeweler
In the city of Chiusi, the ring has been kept since about 983. And it appeared there miraculously. According to legend, Countess Giuditta, a great lover of jewelry, heard that a certain Jewish jeweler came to Italy from the East, who had many different precious stones. She instructed a merchant named Ainerio to ransom as much of the goods as possible from him.
Ainerio tracked down a Jewish merchant in Rome and acquired almost everything he had.
In parting, the Jew handed Ainerio a modest onyx ring as a reward for all these purchases. But Ainerio looked with contempt and asked if he was laughing at him. “No,” the jeweler replied, “don't reject him, because all the money in the world is not enough to buy him! With this ring, Mary of Nazareth became engaged to Joseph. It was kept in our family - even though we are not Christians - with due reverence. But Mary appeared to me in a dream and ordered to give it to you. Place the ring in a worthy place! - called the jeweler.
But the merchant from Chiusi disobeyed him and threw the ring into one of the boxes, where it lay for several years - until a miracle happened. Ainerio's son died. But during the funeral service, he unexpectedly got up from the coffin and told the shocked parents an amazing story.
Having reached the “limit of heaven”, he saw Madonna walking towards him with the words: “Return to your father and tell him that what he said on earth is confirmed in heaven. He keeps what his friend gave him as a useless thing. And Ainero remembered the ring.
This is the tradition. The shrine, called the Holy Ring (Il Santo Anello), was placed in the Basilica of Santa Mustiola. In 1251, the relic was moved to the large cathedral of San Vtoriano - quite atypical for that time. Chronicles explain this by the fact that "not all the townspeople were in awe of the shrine," as well as the need to "protect it from possible theft by foreigners."
Such fears did not arise out of nowhere. Medieval cities, especially in Italy, competed fiercely with each other in the pursuit of relics. The Genoese and Barians stole them. The Venetians bought up in the Middle East. And some even faked. After all, the more significant the shrine, the more pilgrims will arrive in this or that city, and with them money.
Pontiff's decision
Upon learning of the disappearance of the shrine, the people of Chiusi were furious. The search did not last long - news came from Perugia that the city master solemnly met the monk Winterio and presented him with 200 florins. And the ring with all the honors was placed in the cathedral.
And war broke out between the cities. Chiusi's army laid siege to Perugia.
The conflict was reported to Pope Sixtus IV. He sent his people to Perugia, and they confiscated the shrine - for the sake of "reconciling the parties." A few months later, the ring was displayed for worship … in Perugia. The Pontiff gave his blessing to bring him back from Rome. And at the same time, he gave the monk Vinterio who stole the relic to the judgment of the inhabitants of Chiusi - he was thrown behind bars for life.
The Christians of Perugia took into account the mistakes of their neighbors and made a special chest with a very complex mechanism for Mary's ring. It can only be opened by turning the 14 keys at the same time, which are kept by city councilors, judges and clergy.
And so to this day: once a year, on July 30, the city fathers gather to open the chest. Then the shrine is put on public display in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo.
It is very ancient
Historians argue about the authenticity of the relic. Some argue that the ring was made by Greek craftsmen. Others consider the legend about buying a ring from a jeweler to be a beautiful tale of the Chiusi people who made it themselves.
Thus, the Italian researcher Ettore Ricci draws attention to a number of inconsistencies in the stories about the acquisition of the shrine by the inhabitants of Chiusi and its theft by the monk Winterio. In different chronicles, the ring is described in different ways, down to the material from which it is made.
“Somewhere it says that the ring is made of chalcedony. And somewhere - from onyx, as in reality. Such discrepancies give reason to think that there could be several relics, and all of them are fake,”the scientist argues.
Some historians are still confused that the Basilica of Santa Moustiola, where the relic was located from the 10th to the 13th century, was located outside of Chiusi. It is unlikely that the townspeople would keep the shrine outside the city walls.
And the date of its transfer to the main cathedral of the city is also being questioned - perhaps, as researchers believe, the ring was there not in 1251, but only in 1420. So it wasn’t so important, and therefore the Chiusi people knew it wasn’t real.
However, not everyone agrees with such arguments. The Italian scientist Micelli Tosti compared the relic to other wedding rings, which, according to legend, belonged to Joseph.
He, according to the Gospel, in old age, being a widower, took Mary as his wife. “Before they were combined, it turned out that She had in her womb from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being righteous and not wanting to publicize Her, wanted to secretly let Her go. But when he thought this, - behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David! do not be afraid to receive Mary, your wife, for what is born in her is of the Holy Spirit; She will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. And all this happened, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, who says: behold, the Virgin in her womb will receive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel, which means: God is with us,”says the Evangelist Matthew.
Joseph's engagement ring, which he wore at the wedding, is now kept in Notre Dame Cathedral, and its “everyday” version is in the Italian Messina.
“The ring from Perugia most likely belonged to a man of the 1st century AD. This is confirmed by similar finds by archaeologists in the Middle East,”Tosti points out in his work“The Holy Ring: Legend, History, Art”.
For a long time it was believed that wedding rings were introduced into use not earlier than the Middle Ages. However, in the 20th century, with the development of archeology and methods of dating artifacts, scientists became convinced of the antiquity of this tradition dating back to the 6th century BC.
“And this ring is not made of silver or gold, but of a simple stone - onyx. Moreover, its processing cannot be called skillful. This means that it belonged to poor people,”Tosti emphasizes.
There are still many open questions. Scientists have long sought permission to conduct a full-fledged study of the ring using modern methods, but the inhabitants of Perugia do not agree, fearing that the relic will not return to the city.