纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 066圣荆棘之匣（4）（在线收听）

There's no way now of proving that this was a thorn that actually pierced the head of Christ, but we can say with confidence that it's a type of buckthorn that still grows around Jerusalem, and the first mention of the Crown of Thorns as a relic is in Jerusalem, around 400. It was later taken from the Holy Land to Constantinople, the Christian capital of the eastern Roman Empire, where it was kept and venerated for centuries. But shortly after 1200, the impecunious emperor pawned the Crown to the Venetians for a mammoth sum. This shocked the crusader king of France, Louis IX, but it also gave him an opportunity. He paid off the debt, and redeemed the relic. So, although Louis as a crusader didn't conquer the Holy Land - the site of Christ's suffering - he did the next best thing, he acquired the Crown of Thorns. So great was its power in medieval people's eyes, that through it Louis was linked directly to Christ himself. To house his incomparable relic, Louis built not just a reliquary, but a whole church. He called it his holy chapel - the Sainte Chapelle.

The stained-glass windows of the Sainte Chapelle leave us in no doubt that Paris and the kingdom of France were to be permanently transformed by the arrival of the Crown of Thorns. St Louis is shown paired with Solomon, the Sainte Chapelle is his temple, and Paris has become Jerusalem. When the Crown arrived, it was described as being on deposit with the king of France until the day of judgement, when Christ would return to collect it and the kingdom of France would become the kingdom of Heaven. When this chapel was completed and dedicated in 1248, the archbishop proclaimed: "Just as the Lord Jesus Christ chose the Holy Land for the display of the mysteries of his redemption, so he has specially chosen our France for the more devoted veneration of the triumph of his Passion." The Crown of Thorns has played a long and fascinating part in the international politics of piety. It allowed St Louis to claim for France a unique status among the kingdoms of Europe, and every French ruler since St Louis has wanted to follow his example. Here's the historian Sister Benedicta Ward:

这件物品对跪在它前面的信徒产生的影响力之大，再怎么形容都不为过。这根原本毫无价值的荆棘刺出的鲜血可以拯救不朽的灵魂，让世间的任何宝物都黯然失色，无论是它下方的蓝宝石底座，保护它的水晶，还是环绕在它周围的红宝石与珍珠。这是用黄金与珠宝打造的布道，能助人反思，得到最深的抚慰。

我们无从证明这根荆棘是否曾刺穿耶稣的头部，但确信它出自一种至今仍生长在耶路撒冷附近、叫作鼠李的植物的枝条。在公元四百年的耶路撒冷，有人首次提出荆棘冠应被视为圣物。后来它从圣地来到东罗马帝国的基督教都城君士坦丁堡，在当地被珍藏了数个世纪。公元一千二百年后不久，穷困的国王将它抵押给了威尼斯人，换回一笔巨款。此事震惊了国王的表兄，时为法国国王、十字军首领的路易九世，但也带给了他一个难得的机会。路易九世付清了国王的欠款，赎回了荆棘冠。作为十字军的首领，他虽然未能占领耶酥的受难地圣城耶路撒冷，但至少得到了荆棘冠。荆棘冠在信众心中无比神圣，路易九世因此在他们眼中直接与耶酥本身相连。为了珍藏这件举世无双的圣物，路易九世不仅打造了一个圣物匣，还修建了一座教堂，他称之为圣礼拜堂。

圣礼拜堂的彩绘玻璃花窗让我们深信，荆棘冠的到来彻底改变了巴黎与法兰西王国。路易九世本人也在一二九七年被封圣，成了与所罗门平起平坐的圣路易。圣礼拜堂成了他的圣殿，巴黎成了耶路撒冷。荆棘冠送达之日，有人宣称它将由法兰西国王一直保存至最终审判日耶酥前来取回它为止，法兰西王国也将成为上帝的王国。一二四八年教堂落成时，主教宣布道：“正如耶稣基督选择圣城向我们展示他救赎的神迹，他也特别挑选了法国，作为对他受难的荣光更为虔诚的崇拜之地。”荆棘冠在国际宗教政治中长期扮演着重要角色一它使得圣路易宣布法国在欧洲诸国中具有独一无二的地位，之后的历任法国君主竞相效仿他的这一做法。

历史学家本尼迪克塔·沃德修女认为这不仅仅是一种宗教上的追求：