Sacred Relics and Imperial Ceremonies at the Great Palace of Constantinople

“When the city was captured [...] and the palaces were taken over, [...] they found in them riches more than a great deal. [...] And the palace of Bukoleon was very rich [...] and in it there were fully thirty chapels, great and small, and there was one of them which was called the Holy Chapel, which was so rich and noble that there was not a hinge nor a band nor any other part [...] that was not all of silver, and there was no column that was not of jasper or porphyry or some other rich precious stone. [And] within this chapel were found many rich relics: [...] two pieces of the True Cross as large as the leg of a man [...], and the iron of the lance with which Our Lord had his side pierced, and two of the nails which were driven through his hands and feet; and one found there in a crystal phial quite a little of his blood and [...] the tunic which he wore [...] when they led him to Mount Calvary. And one found there also the blessed crown with which he was crowned [...] and the robe of Our Lady and so many other rich relics that I could not recount them to you [...].”1