c. 1225

Othon de la Roche returns to Burgundy

The proposed Athens-to-Burgundy route follows Othon’s return from Greece.

This is a proposed link in the route to Lirey, not a documented transfer of the Turin Shroud. Family traditions and later objects have been invoked, but the custody chain remains uncertain.

Othon’s return from the Greek territories to Burgundy is part of the documented history of the de la Roche family. In Shroud reconstructions, the journey is proposed as the moment when a linen from Athens or Constantinople entered western European custody. The itinerary and family movements are historical questions; the presence of the Turin cloth is an additional inference.¹

What the surviving source says

No contemporary travel record or estate inventory currently establishes that Othon carried this particular relic. Later family traditions and proposed links between Othon’s descendants and the de Charny family do not by themselves demonstrate transfer. The proposed route also has to account for the long documentary silence before Lirey.¹²

Historical significance and limits

This entry is retained to explain the hypothesis, not to imply a confirmed handover. It should be read with the documentary gap visible.²³

Sources and further reading

1. Alan Friedlander, “On the Provenance of the Holy Shroud of Lirey/Turin”. Consult the cited passage in the full source and its transmission context; the article distinguishes the source’s wording from later interpretation.
2. Otangelo Grasso, The Image That Should Not Exist: A Scientific Investigation of the Shroud of Turin (2026), ch. 2, “Origins and Historical Record,” pp. 23–31, and ch. 17, “The Mandylion, Art, and the Historical Record,” pp. 232–243. Author synthesis; not an independent witness.
3. Otangelo Grasso, From Forensics to Faith (2026), ch. 2, “Pre-1355 History,” pp. 32–125, and ch. 3, “6th to 14th Century History,” pp. 126–194. The book advances a proposed reconstruction; claims are assessed here against the primary texts.
4. Otangelo Grasso, Chronological List of Pre-1356 Literature Mentioning the Shroud and Christ’s Burial Cloth (20 July 2025), pp. 1–9. Prepared with AI assistance and used as a research checklist; its identifications and confidence labels are not treated as verified facts.
5. Andrea Nicolotti, The Shroud of Turin: The History and Legends of the World’s Most Famous Relic. Further reading or contextual source retained from this event’s earlier bibliography.