1370

The Lirey relic remains in proposed family custody

The reconstruction places the cloth within the de Charny and de Vergy network.

This is a proposed bridge based on family and heraldic context, not a separately documented public exposition.

After Geoffroy de Charny’s death, the cloth’s history is reconstructed through the de Charny and de Vergy family, Lirey’s canons and later legal disputes. His widow Jeanne de Vergy and subsequent descendants are associated with the relic in later records. This period is not one continuous, well-preserved archive: the surviving documents are uneven and often concern rights, display or jurisdiction.¹

What the surviving source says

Later ownership claims need to be distinguished from physical possession and from the legal rights of the collegiate church. A family’s association with the shrine is evidence of a custody network, but it does not fill the pre-Lirey gap. The details of each handover should be anchored to dated acts rather than inferred from genealogy alone.¹²

Historical significance and limits

This episode marks the emergence of a more traceable medieval custody framework, while reminding readers that “family custody” is a summary of several records, not a single documented transaction.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.