1356–1359

The Battle of Poitiers and Geoffroy de Charny’s death

Geoffroy’s death affects the family history around Lirey.

Specific claims about display or custody immediately afterward should be distinguished from the better-attested events.

Geoffroy de Charny was killed at the Battle of Poitiers on 19 September 1356, fighting in the French army under King John II. He was a leading knight, writer on chivalry and standard-bearer of the royal oriflamme. His death came soon after the Lirey church’s foundation and around the period when the Shroud was first being displayed.¹

What the surviving source says

The battle and Geoffroy’s death are documented in chronicles and records of the Hundred Years’ War. They explain why the family’s role in the Lirey church passed to his widow and heirs. They do not reveal how Geoffroy acquired the cloth; no surviving account says he took it from Constantinople, Athens or the Templars.¹²

Historical significance and limits

The episode matters because it helps explain the transition from the founder to the family and canons who managed later exhibitions. It is a custody-context event, not proof of earlier custody.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. Author synthesis; not an independent witness.
3. Otangelo Grasso, From Forensics to Faith (2026), ch. 3, “6th to 14th Century History,” pp. 126–194. The book advances an interpretation; this article separates that interpretation from the underlying document or measurement.
4. Otangelo Grasso, The Shroud of Turin: A Forensic Summary, 3rd ed. (2026), ch. 16, “The Hidden Thread,” pp. 276–294. The author’s proposed reconstruction is cited as interpretation, not corroboration.
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.