The Basilica of the Holy Blood ( nl, Heilig-Bloedbasiliek, french: Basilique du Saint-Sang) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The church houses a relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. The historical location of Arimathea is uncertain, although it has been identified with several ...

and brought from the Holy Land by

Thierry of Alsace Theoderic ( nl, Diederik, french: Thierry, german: Dietrich; – 17 January 1168), commonly known as Thierry of Alsace, was the fifteenth count of Flanders from 1128 to 1168. With a record of four campaigns in the Levant and Africa (including pa ...

, Count of Flanders. Built between 1134 and 1157 as the

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

of the Count of Flanders, it was promoted to a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

in 1923. The basilica in Burg square consists of a lower and upper chapel. The lower chapel, dedicated to St. Basil the Great, is a dark Romanesque structure that remains virtually unchanged. The venerated Passion relic is in the upper chapel, which was rebuilt in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style in the 16th century and renovated in the 19th century in Gothic Revival style.

History

In 1134, Thierry of Alsace decided to build a private double chapel next to the ', the first residence of the Counts of Flanders, transformed today into the town hall of Bruges. Thierry went on crusade a second time in 1147 during the Second Crusade. According to the tradition, Thierry of Alsace returned to his capital Bruges on April 7, 1150, with the relic of the

Precious Blood Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in Christian theology refers to (a) the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomp ...

. During the first half of the 13th century, the name of the upper chapel was changed to the Chapel of the Holy Blood.

St Basil chapel

The chapel of Saint Basil is one of the best preserved churches in Romanesque style of

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

. Built from 1134 to 1149, the chapel is dedicated to St. Basil the Great of whom a relic was brought back by Count Robert II from Caesarea Mazaca in

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(modern-day

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

). The chapel consists of two side naves and a central nave continued by the choir, which in turn is ended by a semi-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

. In the tympanum above the entrance linking the chapel and the annex is a 12th-century representation of the baptism of Saint Basil. In the right nave, the ''seated Madonna and Child'' ('' Sedes Sapientiae'') is a wooden polychrome sculpture of the early 14th century. Carried each year during the procession, two venerated wooden statues, made around 1900 and representing ''Jesus on the Cold Stone'' and the ''Pieta'' are displayed. At the left of the choir, the chapel of Saint Yves was added in 1504 and houses the relics of Saint Basil and of Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders. The black marble retable is allegedly executed from designs by

Lancelot Blondeel Lancelot Blondeel, also Lanceloot (1498 – 4 March 1561), was a Flemish painter, designer of sculptures, tapestries and jewelry, architect, city planner, surveyor and cartographer who was active in Bruges. The monumental staircase, commonly named ', which leads to the upper chapel, was built in from 1529 to 1533 in late Gothic and Renaissance style according to the drawings of Flemish painter and architect William Aerts, ornamented on the outside with sculpted statues. The aftermath of the French Revolution left the staircase badly damaged and it was decided in 1832 to move it backwards and to rebuild it after removing the remaining ruins of the ''Oud Steen''. The gilded bronze statues represent Archduchess

Isabelle of Burgundy Isabella of Burgundy (1270 – August 1323), Lady of Vieux-Château, was the second and last Queen consort of Rudolf I of Germany.''Philippe Le Bel et la Noblesse Franc-Comtoise'', Frantz Funck-Brentano, ''Bibliothèque de l’École des char ...

Mary of Burgundy Mary (french: Marie; nl, Maria; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy who ruled a collection of states that included the duchies of Limburg, Brabant, Luxembourg, the counties of ...

, Thierry of Alsace and Philip of Alsace and, in the medallions, the Archdukes of Austria Albert VII and Maximilian III,

Margaret of York Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503)—also by marriage known as Margaret of Burgundy—was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Charles the Bold and acted as a protector of the Burgundian State after his death. She was a daugh ...

and

Sibylla of Anjou Sibylla of Anjou (–1165) was a countess consort of Flanders as the wife of Thierry, Count of Flanders. She served as the regent of Flanders during the absence of her spouse in 1147-1149. First marriage Sybilla was the daughter of Fulk V of Anj ...

, wife of Thierry and daughter of King

Fulk of Jerusalem Fulk ( la, Fulco, french: Foulque or ''Foulques''; c. 1089/1092 – 13 November 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger, was the count of Anjou (as Fulk V) from 1109 to 1129 and the king of Jerusalem with his wife from 1131 to his death. During t ...

. During the 19th century, successive renovation campaigns gave to the chapel its final Gothic Revival aspect, with its characteristic mural decorations. The stained-glass windows in the choir date from 1845 and represent the sovereigns who reigned over the County of Flanders from

Philip the Bold Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and ''jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg. Philip II w ...

duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

, till Archduchess

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

Holy Roman empress The Holy Roman Empress or Empress of the Holy Roman Empire (''Kaiserin des Heiligen Römischen Reiches'') was the wife or widow of the Holy Roman Emperor. The elective dignity of Holy Roman emperor was restricted to males only, but some empresse ...

. The following architects and artists took part in these

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

renovations of the Chapel of the Holy Blood: *

Jean-Baptiste Bethune Jean-Baptiste Bethune {April 25, 1821 - June 18, 1894) was a Belgian architect, artisan and designer who played a pivotal role in the Belgian and Catholic Gothic Revival movement. He was called by some the "''Pugin of Belgium''", with reference ...

Louis Delacenserie Louis Delacenserie (1838–1909) was a Belgian architect from Bruges. The spelling of his name differs greatly; De la Censerie, Delasencerie, Dela Censerie or Dela Sencerie are the most common alternative forms. His father was a merchant and buil ...

* Thomas Harper King * William Curtis Brangwyn, father of

Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator, and designer. Brangwyn was an artistic jack-of-all-trades. As well as paintings and drawings, he produced des ...

* Charles De Wulf, architect of the city of Bruges and winner of the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1887 The pulpit in the form of a globe was made in 1728 by Henry Pulinckx, inspired by its evangelical purpose : "''Go into all the world and preach the gospel''" . The large wall-painting behind the high altar was realized in 1905. In the upper part, the ''Mystery of the Cross'' depicts Christ shedding his blood, with, in the background, the towns of Bethlehem, where Christ was born, and Jerusalem where he died. The lower part depicts the transport of the relic from Jerusalem to Bruges: on the left, Thierry of Alsace receives the relic from

Baldwin III of Jerusalem Baldwin III (1130 – 10 February 1163) was King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. He was the eldest son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem. He became king while still a child, and was at first overshadowed by his mother Melisende, whom he eventu ...

, King of Jerusalem ; on the right, kneeling besides Countess

, he hands over the relic to the chaplain. The high altar used today for the Eucharist is decorated with a relief in alabaster from the beginning of the 17th century depicting the Last Supper. Typical attributes of a basilica, the tintinnabulum, the small processional bell, and the

Umbraculum The umbraculum ( it, ombrellone, "big umbrella", in basilicas also conopaeum) is a historic piece of the papal regalia and insignia, once used on a daily basis to provide shade for the pope (Galbreath, 27). Also known as the pavilion, in modern ...

, the sunscreen in the form of a parasol in yellow and red silk, are displayed next to the high altar. Laurent Delvaux completed in 1751 the white marble altar in Baroque style for the relic side chapel. The two adoring angels were made by Peter Pepers. The relic is kept in a magnificent silver tabernacle made by local silversmith François Ryelandt (1709–1774), representing the " Lamb of Christ". To the right of the altar, the painting of Jacob van Oost depicts the descent from the Cross. The relic is shown to the public every Friday and every day two weeks before Ascension Day.

Relic of the Precious Blood

The basilica is best known as the repository of a venerated phial said to contain a cloth with blood of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, brought to the city by Thierry of Alsace after the 12th century Second Crusade. Although the Bible never mentions Christ's blood being preserved,

Acts of Pilate The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

- one of the apocryphal gospels - relates that

preserved the

after he had washed the dead body of Christ; legends of Joseph were popular in the early thirteenth century, connected also with the emerging mythology of the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...

. Popular legend claims that the phial was taken to Bruges during the Second Crusade of CE 1147–1149, by Thierry of Alsace, who returned from Jerusalem with the relic of the Holy Blood presented to him by his brother-in-law

, as the reward of his great services. Recent research found no evidence of the presence of the relic in Bruges before the 1250s. In all likelihood, the relic originated from the 1204

sack of Constantinople The sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Crusader armies captured, looted, and destroyed parts of Constantinople, then the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the capture of the ...

by the army of the Count of Flanders,

Baldwin IX Baldwin I ( nl, Boudewijn; french: Baudouin; July 1172 – ) was the first Emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople; Count of Flanders (as Baldwin IX) from 1194 to 1205 and Count of Hainaut (as Baldwin VI) from 1195-1205. Baldwin was on ...

during the Fourth Crusade. Ever since, the phial has played a big part in the religious life of the city.

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

issued a papal bull in 1310 granting

indulgences In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...

to pilgrims who visited the chapel to view the relic; the blood was supposed to liquefy weekly at noon on Fridays; the miracle apparently ceased the same year, though a recurrence was alleged in 1388. There is no definitive evidence for or against the authenticity of the relic. Modern examination has shown that the phial, made of rock crystal and dating back to the 11th or 12th century, was a Byzantine perfume bottle made in the area of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. Its neck is wound with gold thread and its stopper is sealed with red wax. The phial is encased in a glass-fronted gold cylinder closed at each end by coronets decorated with angels. The date "''MCCCLXXXVIII die III maii''" (May 3, 1388) is engraved on the frame.

Procession of the Holy Blood

The reliquary used during the procession is displayed in the Basilica Museum. The shrine was made in 1617 in Bruges by

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

Jan Crabbe from some of gold and silver and more than 100 precious stones. It consists of a gem-encrusted hexagonal case topped by golden statues representing Jesus Christ, the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, St. Donatian and St. Basil the Great.

Jeu du Saint Sang

''Jeu du Saint Sang'' is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

passion play, performed in

. It was first published in 1938, and translated into French by Émile Schwartz.

In popular culture

In the 2008 movie ''

In Bruges ''In Bruges'' is a 2008 black comedy-drama crime film directed and written by Martin McDonagh in his feature-length debut and starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two London-based Irish hitmen in hiding, with Ralph Fiennes as the ...

'',

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times fo ...

as Ken pays a visit to the relic of the Holy Blood. However, the privately owned Church of Jerusalem ( nl, Jerusalemkerk)—built in the 15th century according to the plans of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem—was used instead of the Basilica.

Gallery

File:Basilica of the Holy Blood.jpg, Detail of the entrance of the Basilica File:Gold Work Above Entrance.jpg, Detail of the staircase leading to Basilica of the Holy Blood File:Heilig Bloed Basiliek - Glasramen.JPG, Stained glass windows in the staircase File:Side Altar with Relic - Basilica Holy Blood - Bruges.jpg, Chapel of the Holy Cross where Relic of the Precious Blood is presented to the worshippers. File:Relic of the Holy Blood - Brugges.jpg, Relic of the Holy Blood, carried during the

Procession of the Holy Blood The Procession of the Holy Blood ( nl, Heilig Bloedprocessie) is a large religious Catholic procession, dating back to the Middle Ages, which takes place each Ascension Day in Bruges, Belgium. In 2009, it was included in the UNESCO Representative ...

File:Brugge-staircase.jpg, Basilica of the Holy Blood staircase File:Chapel of the holy blood large window.jpg, Large stained glass window in the Chapel of the Holy Blood. File:Chapel of the holy blood small window.jpg, Chapel of the Holy Blood small stained glass window.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Official website of the Procession of the Holy Blood

at trabel.com

at

Frommers Frommer's is a travel guide book series created by Arthur Frommer in 1957. Frommer's has since expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks in 14 series, as well as other media including an eponymous radio show and a website. In 2017, the compan ...

{{Authority control Basilica churches in Belgium Medieval architecture Buildings and structures in Bruges Roman Catholic churches in Bruges Relics associated with Jesus Romanesque architecture in Belgium 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Belgium Double chapels Churches used by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter Minor basilicas Holy Blood churches