Page "Crown of thorns" Paragraph 12

Francois de Mély supposed that the whole Crown was not transferred to Byzantium until about 1063.

In any case Justinian ( died in 565 ) is stated to have given a thorn to St. Germain, Bishop of Paris, which was long preserved at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, while the Empress Irene, in 798 or 802, sent Charlemagne several thorns which were deposited by him at Aachen.

Eight of these are said to have been there at the consecration of the basilica of Aachen by Pope Leo III.

The presence of the Pope at the consecration is a later legend, but the relics apparently were there, for the subsequent history of several of them can be traced without difficulty.

Four were given to Saint-Corneille of Compiègne in 877 by Charles the Bald.

Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks, sent one to the Anglo-Saxon King Athelstan in 927, on the occasion of certain marriage negotiations, and it eventually found its way to Malmesbury Abbey.

Another was presented to a Spanish princess about 1160, and again another was taken to Andechs Abbey in Germany in the year 1200.