Editing Shrine of the Three Kings (section)

==History==

=== Origin ===
[[File:Chapel of the Magi.jpg|thumb|upright|Chapel of the Magi, Cologne Cathedral, where the Shrine of the Three Kings was kept from 1322 until 1948]]

The "[[relic]]s of the Magi" were originally brought to [[Constantinople]] by [[Helena, mother of Constantine I|Empress Helena]], [[Constantine the Great]]'s mother, then brought to Milan in an oxcart by [[Eustorgius I]], the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan|city's bishop]], to whom they were entrusted by Constantine in 314.<ref>[[David Lowenthal|Lowenthal, David]] (1998); ''The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998, xvi.</ref> Eight centuries later in 1164, [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick Barbarossa]] took the relics of the Magi from the church of [[Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio|Saint Eustorgio]] in Milan and gave them to the [[List of bishops and archbishops of Cologne|Archbishop of Cologne]], [[Rainald of Dassel]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cologne Cathedral Supposedly has the Bones of the Three Wise Men – Unearthed |url=https://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/unearthed/videos/cologne-cathedral-supposedly-has-the-bones-of-the-three-wise-men |access-date=7 November 2017 |website=www.sciencechannel.com |language=en-us}}</ref> who was also the imperial [[Archchancellor]] of Italy.  In 1164, Rainald transferred these relics to Cologne where the shrine for the three kings was built. Their bones were wrapped in white silk and returned to the shrine. The relics have since attracted a constant stream of [[pilgrim]]s to [[Cologne]].

Parts of the shrine were designed by the famous medieval goldsmith [[Nicholas of Verdun]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Köln |first=Cologne Digital Medienproduktion GmbH |title=Der Hohe Dom zu Köln – Kathedrale und Weltkulturerbe – Gebaut für Gott und die Menschen |url=https://www.koelner-dom.de/rundgang/bedeutendewerke/shrine-of-the-magi-circa-1190-1220/info/?L=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107222049/https://www.koelner-dom.de/rundgang/bedeutendewerke/shrine-of-the-magi-circa-1190-1220/info/?L=1 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |access-date=7 November 2017 |language=en}}</ref> who began to work on it in 1180. It was completed circa 1225. Other parts of the shrine were decorated during the time of Archbishop Philip von Hensberg with additional jewels and gold placed on it. Scholar Lisa Victoria Ciresi notes that these precious jewels are said to evoke images of the [[New Jerusalem|Heavenly Jerusalem]].<ref name=":1" />

Around 1199, [[Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor|King Otto IV]] gave three golden crowns, purported to be made for the three wise men, as a present to the cathedral of Cologne. Because of the importance of the shrine and the cathedral for the later development of the city, the [[coat of arms of Cologne]] still shows these three crowns symbolizing the Three Kings. Hugo Stehkämper theorizes that King Otto IV of Brunswick was often depicted as the fourth king.<ref name=":0" /> He ascended to the throne in 1198 and became Holy Roman Emperor in 1209. He donated all of the materials that were needed to complete the shrine.  On the shrine, he is depicted in the procession behind the Magi with inscription that labels him: "Otto Rex." Although King Otto IV offered the three kings the gold crowns, he, himself, does not wear one with them in his depiction on the shrine. Jūrgen Petersohn writes that King Otto IV wanted to be seen as having equal rank with the Three Magis, thus, he joins in on the Adoration of Christ.<ref name=":0" />

Construction of the present Cologne Cathedral begun in 1248 to house these important relics. The cathedral took 632 years to complete and is now the largest [[gothic architecture|Gothic]] church in northern Europe.

=== Disturbances and preservations ===
The shrine has undergone numerous disturbances and recoveries; however, aside from what was already lost, the shrine remains lavishly preserved. The last restoration of the shrine took place between 1961 and 1973 after it was removed during World War II from the cathedral.<ref name=":0" />

The shrine has been carefully preserved by an ''officiate'' or ''custodes regum'' that made it possible for the relics to remain in good condition for five hundred years. However, Renaissance collectors highly valued the gems on the shrine, making the shrine a target for robbery. On January 28 of 1574, several gems and pearls along with a large cameo were stolen from the trapezoid plate of the shrine.<ref name=":0" />

==== Ptolemy cameo ====
On January 28, 1574, the highly decorative parts of the shrine were stolen, including the Ptolemy cameo, from the trapezoid plate. The thief looted the shrine at a time when the priest celebrated mass and his back faced the laity. Unfortunately, the gems and jewels have never been recovered, nor has the identity of the thief been found. <ref name=":0" />
[[File:Ptolemäer-Kameo KHM IXa 81.jpg|thumb|Ptolemy Cameo]]
The stolen cameo, an Indian sardonyx with seventeen layers, eleven of which were used for engraving, was said to have two heads on it, and the measurement was about the size of a hand. The two heads represent the portrait of Ptolemy II and his wife, Arsinoë II. It was created during the Hellenistic period, 3rd century, in Egypt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cameo with portrait heads {{!}} Greek, Ptolemaic {{!}} Hellenistic |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/629510 |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>

[[Albertus Magnus]] described the appearance of the stolen cameo in a note. In October 1586, the cameo was later offered in Rome to [[Fulvio Orsini]], a Flemish dealer. It was discovered to have been fractured during the times of the robbery, but it was repaired with an armored piece called a [[gorget]], which was made of steel or leather, and a golden frame.<ref name=":0" /> From 1586 onward, it has not been returned to the shrine, rather, it resides in the imperial collection at Vienna, which was confirmed by Clifford Brown.<ref name=":0" />

=== Nineteenth-century history ===
On 20 July 1864, the shrine was opened, revealing human remains and the coins of [[Philip I, Archbishop of Cologne]]. An eyewitness report reads:

:"In a special compartment of the shrine now there showed – along with remains of ancient old rotten or moulded bandages, most likely [[Sea silk|byssus]], besides pieces of aromatic resins and similar substances – numerous bones of three persons, which under the guidance of several present experts could be assembled into nearly complete bodies: the one in his early youth, the second in his early manhood, the third was rather aged. Two coins, [[bracteate]]s made of silver and only one side stricken, were adjoined; one, probably from the days of ''Philipps von Heinsberg'', displayed a church (''See Note''), the other showed a cross, accompanied by the sword of jurisdiction, and the crosier (bishop's crook) on either side."<ref>German original:
:"In einer besonderen Abteilung des Schreins zeigten sich nun mit den Resten uralter vermoderter Binden, wahrscheinlich Byssus, nebst Stuecken aromatischer Harze und aehnlicher Substanzen die zahlreichen Gebeine dreier Personen, die mit Beihilfe der anwesenden Sachverstaendigen sich zu fast vollstaendigen Koerpern ordnen liessen: der eine aus erster Jugendzeit, der zweite im ersten Mannesalter, der dritte bejahrt. Zwei Muenzen, Bracteaten von Silber und nur auf einer Seite gepraegt, lagen bei; die eine, erweislich aus den Tagen Philipps von Heinsberg, zeigt eine Kirche (''See Note''), die andere ein Kreuz, das Jurisdictionsschwert an der einen, den Bischofsstab an der anderen Seite. (Floss, ''Dreikoenigenbuch'', 1864, p. 108)</ref>
<blockquote>''Note'': "Just as the coin of Philipp in ''Hartzheim, historia rei nummariae coloniensis'' Table 3 No. 14, 16, (1754),<ref>Hartzheim, Josephus, ''Historia Rei Nummariæ Coloniensis, Et Dissertationes De Eadem: Pars prima, De Nummis Archiepiscoporum Coloniensium, Pars Secunda, De Nummis Ducum Juliacensium & Montensium, & Agnatorum Genti Juliacensi, Pars Tertia. De Nummis Civitatis Coloniensis'', 1754</ref> yet without its circumscription; the other (coin) is in square form, showed in the center a cross, accompanied by the sword of jurisdiction, and the crosier (bishop's crook) on either side, also without transcription, most certainly it is not younger and can be assumed perhaps to turn out to be a coin by Rainald [of Dassel]."<ref>German original:

: "Ganz so wie die Muenze Philipps bei Hartzheim historia rei nummariae coloniensis  Tafel 3 Nr. 14, 16, doch ohne die Umschrift; die andere in viereckiger Form, in der Mitte ein Kreuz, das Jurisdictionsschwert an der einen, den Bischofsstab an der anderen Seite, auch ohne Umschrift, ist jedenfalls nicht juenger und duerfte sich vielleicht als eine Muenze Rainald's erweisen." (Floss, ''Dreikoenigenbuch'', 1864, p. 108)</ref></blockquote>