The Hand of Saint James the Apostle is a holy relic brought to England by Empress Matilda in the 12th century. In 1539 at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, English monks hid the hand in an iron chest in the walls of

Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, m ...

. It was dug up again in 1786 by workmen and given to

Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing th ...

. In 1840 it was sold to J. Scott Murray, who put it in his private chapel at Danesfield House. On his death in 1882 he gave it to St. Peter's Church in

Great Marlow Great Marlow is a civil parish within Wycombe district in the English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the hamlets of Bovingdon Green, Burroughs Grove, Chisbridge Cro ...

(now Marlow), which is where it resides today.Living the History: Empress Matilda and the Hand of St. James
accessed September 2017

Timeline

A timeline of the history of the hand is as follows: :640 — Records first document the hand being stored by Bishop of Torcello, Venice :1133 — Given to

Emperor Henry V Henry V (german: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125, in Utrecht) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ru ...

's widow Matilda, daughter of Henry I :1136 — Henry of Blois (later Bishop of Winchester) orrborrows relic for prayer :1155 — Returned to Reading Abbey :1220 — Used in healing miracles and dipped into 'water of St James' :1539 — Monks stashed it in an old iron chest and hid it in the Abbey walls during the Dissolution of the Monasteries :1786 — Unearthed by workmen building Reading Gaol and given to Reading Museum (private) :1840s — Sold to J Scott Murray placed in his private chapel at Danesfield House, Reading and Marlow. :1882 — On his death left to St Peter's Church, Marlow, where it is stored today.

References

Body parts of individual people Christian relics Empress Matilda {{christianity-stub