Some Remarks on the Image of Edessa

Author(s): Steven Runciman

Source: Cambridge Historical Journal, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1931), pp. 238-252
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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 II. SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE
OF EDESSA

C
BY STEVEN RUNCIMAN
HRISTIAN relicshaveneverreceived inhistory.
theirdueattention
Historians, justlysuspecting theauthenticity ofthemoreeminent
ofthem,havetendedtherefore to putthemall to one side,for-
gettingthatevena forgery can have its historicalvalue; and onlythe
theologianshavetakennoticeofthem,intheirrelations totheapocryphal
improvements onChristian thought andstory. Thisneglect is undeserved;
forthereare someofthemthatnotonlythrowimportant on
sidelights
thehistoryof theirtimes,but evenhave playedan activepartin the
moulding ofthathistory.
The ImageofEdessa,wereitsauthenticity established,wouldrightly
haverankedamongst thefirst ofall theholyrelicsofChristendom; and
in days whenpedigreeswereless meticulously scrutinised it indeed
occupiedsucha position.Theologianshavemadeit theobjectofstudy,
chieflyfromits connexionwiththe wholesaga of King Abgar. For
example,Tixeronthas exposedits falseclaimsin his Les Origines de
and
1lglise d?Adesse, alltheotherwriters on theEdessan church havehad
necessarilyto referto it: whilevon Dobschfitz has
in his Christusbilder
givenitthehonourofa longchapterto itself.Butforthelastthousand
years,sincethedaysofConstantine Porphyrogennetus, secularhistorians
havegivenit no morethana cursorymention.Whilethe questionof
authenticity is oftheologicalratherthanofhistorical importance, thefact
thattheauthenticity was forso longacceptedby theworldis ofgreat
historicalvalue,notonlyas illustrating thestateofaffairs andmindthat
ledto thevariousstagesofitsacceptance, butalsoin thatitenabledthis
dimpiece of canvasto exercisea directinfluence on the destiniesof
Christendom.
The townof Edessa or Urfastandssomeseventymileseast of the
Euphrates, in a districtclaimedby geographers alikeforSyria,Meso-
potamiaand Armenia.Duringthelast century B.C. and the first
two
centuries A.D. it was the capitalof a statecalled Osrhoene,tributary
alternatelyto theRomansandtheParthians and ruledbya lineofArab

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 SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE OF EDESSA 239
kingsmostofwhomborethename ofAbgar.Christianity reachedtherein
thecourseof the second centuryA.D. The firstbishop knowndefinitely
to history,Palut, who flourishedabout the year 2oo, certainlyhad pre-
decessors'; and earlyin the thirdcenturythe cityauthoritieshad gone
overtoChristianity,underKingAbgarVIII (I 76-I3)2, whowas deeplyin-
fluencedbythegreatbut unorthodoxteacherBardesanes. In a fewmore
yearsEdessa, whichwas annexedto the Roman Empire in 2i6, had be-
come the chiefcentreof Christianityacross the Euphrates,and held a
certainpositionas the home of native Syriac Christianityin contrastto
the Hellenismof all the otherchurchesof the Levant. This nationalism
led to a tendencytowardsheresythatwas continuallycausing suspicion
on thepartofthe orthodoxchurches;and so the Edessenes soughtto de-
fendthemselvesby givingtheirchurchso irreproachablean originthat
no one would dare to attackit.
By thefourthcenturyit was establishedthatthe Edessene churchwas
foundedduringthe verylifetimeof Christ. Accordingto the storythat
everyonebelieved, King Abgar V of Osrhoene (Abgar Ouchama, the
Black),who reignedfromA.D.I3 to 50, heard of Christand sentan envoy
to Him to inviteHim to Edessa. Christrefusedthe invitationbut sent
back a letterwith one of His disciples,Thaddeus or Addai, who con-
verted King Abgar to Christianity.Thus the church of Edessa was
founded,thoughunder the persecutionof Abgar's wicked successorsit
practicallydisappeared.
Historiansshould not be so much victimsto theirscepticismas to dis-
miss a legend as false,unless theycan suggesthow it was thatthe false
legendarose; forlegends are seldom born like Pallas Athenefull-grown
and fullyaccoutredfromone inventivebrain. It is easy to show thatthe
storyofAbgarand Jesusas we now have it is untrue,thattheletterscon-
tain phrases copied fromthe gospels and are framedaccordingto the
dictatesof later theology. But that does not necessarilyinvalidatethe
traditionon which the storywas based; and while we may respectthe
anxiousincredulity thatcharacterisesmodernbelievers,we shouldrecog-
nise thatthereis no reasonwhy King Abgar V should not have suffered
fromthereligiouscuriosityfashionableat thattime,and should not have
heardofthe Messiah in Palestineand sentto learnmore. I do not,how-
ever,proposeto enterinto this difficultquestion. My concernis witha
parasiticgrowthto the storywhichin a fewcenturiesentirelycoveredit.
1 Addai and Aggai, according to Tixeront (Les Originesde l'Eglise d'lgdesse,p. I5I).
The whole question is discussed and a hypotheticalsolution given in Burkitt,Early
Eastern Churches,ch. i.
2 Gutschmidt'sdates, given in Die Kdnigsnamen in den apocryphenApostelgeschichten,
in the RheinischesMuiseum,Neue Folge, xix, 2, I71.
i 6-2

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240 STEVEN RUNCIMAN
The Abgarlegendacquiredmanyadditions andaccumulations. To the
further gloryoftheSyriacchurch, thenumberofAbgar'scorrespondents
increased.Miraculouscureswereeffected.Even theInventionof the
Crosswasgivena SyriacturnandHelenabecamea princess ofOsrhoene.
Ofmorepractical valuewasChrist'spromise thatEdessashouldneverbe
captured byitsenemies.Butthechiefamongst theseadditionswas the
storyoftheImageofEdessa,theTrue LikenessofChrist.
The earliestaccountoftheAbgarlegendthatwe nowpossessis that
given by Eusebiusof Caesareain his EcclesiasticalHistory(Book i,
Chapter13) whichhe publishedabouttheyear325,hisversionis based,
he says,on documents keptat Edessa. In it thereis no mentionofany
portrait of Christ.The nextaccountis containedin the Syriacwork
knownas theDoctrineofAddai3,whichseemstobe an emendedanden-
largededitionofthedocuments thatEusebiussawat Edessa. I shalldis-
cussitsdatelater.
According totheDoctrineofAddai themessenger sentbyKingAbgar,
Ananias,was amongstotherthingsan artist,and duringhis interview
withChristhe paintedHis portrait, whichwas broughtbackto Edessa
andhungin theRoyalPalace4.
Thus a portraitofChristentersthestory.Butforabouttwocenturies
wehearno moreofit: tillEvagrius, writingabouttheyear6oo,mentions
as a well-known factthatthereis a portrait of Christ,of divineorigin
(0G0&TEvTOS) at Edessa,and he proceeds to tellofitsmiraculous helpin
thedefenceofEdessaagainstthePersiansin 5445.The portrait ofChrist
hasentered theclassofa%etpOWot&rot icons. Rathermorethana century
laterJohnDamascenegivesus thefullstoryofits origin5. The painter
sentby Abgar,he says,couldnotmanageto followthechangeson the
divinecountenance and gaveup theportrait in despair.So Christput
His napkinagainstHis faceand printedHis featuresupon it. The
acheiropoietos iconhas becomea Veronicaicon.
Thenceforward thisoriginwasaccepted;buttherewasstilla difficulty
which,twocenturies later,troubledthewriters ofthecourtofConstan-
tinePorphyrogennetus-a schoolthatprideditselfon accuratehistorical
research.The continuous historyoftheImagecouldonlybe tracedback
as faras thesiegeof544. Wherehad it beentillthen?The answerthat
theygavewasthatAbgar'ssuccessors hadgonebacktopaganismandthe
Armeniantranslationextant(Laboudna, Lettred'Abgar)
3 There is also a fifth-century
translatedby the MechitaristFatherAlishan (Venice, i8i8), and threeninth-and tenth-
centuryGreek MSS based on it, the Codex Parisinus 548 of the Bibliotheque Nationale,
and the Codex Vindobonensis XLV, which gave almost the same version,and the Codex
Vindobonensis 315 which gives later variants. See Tixeront, op. cit.
4 The DoctrineofAddai, theApostle,ed. and trans.by Phillips (London, I 876), p. 5.
5 Evagrius, in Migne [Patrologia Graecal, LXXXVI, 2, 2748-9.

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 SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE OF EDESSA 241

Image had been walled up; and it was not till the Persian siege thatthe
bishophad miraculouslydiscoveredit. A lamp was stillburningbeforeit
and duringits fivecenturiesof confinement it had managedto reproduce
itself. Havingbeen discovered,it thenmiraculouslyhelped in the defeat
of the Persians.
Such,roughly, arethevariousdevelopmentsin thelegendoftheImage.
Subsequentlyminormiracleswere attachedto it, dealingchieflywithits
powersof self-reproduction and the cures thatit effected.But these are
unimportant;the formerclass arose to explainthe extantreplicasof the
Image, forit seemed wrong that mortalhands should copy a divinely
paintedportrait;the latterclass belongs to the domain of faithhealing,
thatdangerousfieldplaced betweentheologyand medicinethat no one
has dared thoroughlyto explore. I shall not deal with these minor
miracles. Here I wantto discuss the real factsthatlie behind the meta-
morphoses,to see how far they illustrateand have affectedthe course
of history.
The firstproblemis to date the originofthe Image. It is essentialhere
to subdividethisquestion,to separatethelegendthatChristhad His por-
traitpaintedfromthe actual icon thatexistedlaterat Edessa6. The story
ofthe portraitfirstappearsin the DoctrineofAddai. Eusebius makesno
mentionof it in his account of the Abgar legend. Now the Doctrineof
Addai and Eusebius obviouslydrewtheiraccountsfromthesame source,
thedocumentsin the Edessene archivescitedby Eusebius. But whilewe
knowEusebius to have writtenhis accountabout the year 320, the Doc-
trineofAddai seemsdefinitely to be post-Nicenein itstheology,thatis to
say,tohavebeenwrittenafter325,thoughon the otherhand itclearlyante-
datesthereligiousproblemsof the fifthcentury7;and itwould probably
be safe to place it beforethe translationof St Thomas's body to Edessa
in 394-as otherwiseSt Thomas could hardlyhave been kept out of the
story.One maytherefore date thefirstextantversionofthelegendsome-
whereinthemiddleofthefourthcentury. But thefactthatEusebius does
not mentionit does not provethat it was not mentionedin the lost ar-
chivesofEdessa. He includesthepassagesplaced immediately beforeand
aftertheportraitepisode in the accountgivenin theDoctrine;but he may
well have suppressed the storyof the portrait. He disapprovedvery
6 It is here that writerslike Tixeront fail, in assuming that a legend at once creates
the objects that it mentions. Early Christianmentalitywas not, I think,so invariably
childish.
I See the theologicaldiscussionin Tixeront, Origines,ch. iii. But he assumes thatthe
Doctrinemust post-datethe visitof Sylvia-Etheria,because she mentionsno icon. That
argumentis I thinkvalueless. He is also badly handicapped by the fact that when he
wrote,Moses of Chorene, who mentionsthe existenceof the icon, was supposed to be
a genuine fifth-century author.

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242 STEVEN RUNCIMAN
strongly oficons. He admittedthatpicturesofPeterand Paul and evenof
Christexisted,but he referredto them coldly8; and when theAugusta
Constantiaasked him foran icon of Christ,he snubbed her withan em-
phaticrefusal9.It would therefore be strangeif he had mentioneda tale
thatshowedChristHimselfto have submittedto portraiture.Eusebius's
silenceprovesnothing. There is also anotherargumentforplacingthe
originofthelegendsomewhatearlier. In thecourseofthefourthcentury
Veronicalegends were beginningto appear; it was beginningto be felt
thatno mortalcould ever have paintedthe divinefeatures,and so icons
of Christwere given a miraculousorigin. The storyof the Death of
Pilate,a Veronicastorycloselyakinto the Abgar legend,dates fromthis
century'0:whileVeronicaor Bereniceherselfsometimeseven becomes a
princessof Edessall. The storyin the Doctrineof Addai belongs to a
simplerearlierstagethanthese. I am inclinedtherefore to thinkthatthe
traditionof the portraithaving been painted is very early-possibly
AbgarV was a notablepatronof the arts-but thatEusebius deliberately
suppressedit.
It was theeasierforEusebius to do so, in thatno portraitexistedat the
timeat Edessa. Of thatwe can be certain.The ladypilgrim,knownsome-
timesas Sylviabut moreoftennow as Etheria,who visitedEdessa about
the year 39612,neversaw it. She was a sightseerof a thoroughnessun-
rivalledevenbythemodernAmerican;and, had so interesting a relicthen
existed,she would certainlyhave referredto it. But thoughshe saw a
statueof King Abgarand his palaces, she saw no icon of Christ.The por-
traitwas thereforeonlya traditionto be foundwrittendown in the ar-
chivesof Edessa; and the outsideworldknew of it veryvaguely,as was
shown by the muddled way in whichit was sometimesharnessedto the
storyof Veronica.
This was thepositionthroughoutthefourthand earlyfifthcenturies-
therewas the traditionofa portraithavingbeen painted,but the portrait
itselfdid not exist. During these years Edessa was being increasingly
overrunby heresy;the main body of the Edessene churchwent overto
Monophysitism,and therewas a puritanicalatmosphereunsuitedto the
growthof icon legends.The fourthand fifth decades of thesixthcentury
8 Eusebius, HistoriaEcclesiastica,vii, i 8, writingof the statueof ChristthatVeronica
set up at Caesarea Philippi.
9 Eusebius, Epistola ad ConstantiamAugustam(in Migne, xx, 1545).
'0 Given in full in Tischendorf,Evangelia Apocrypha,pp. 432 ff.
11 As in the account (writtenabout 400) of Macarius of Magnesia, ed. Blondel (Paris,
I 878), p. I.
12 I accept the datinggiven by Weigand ("Zur Datierung der Peregrinatio Aetheriae,"
in ByzantinischeZeitschrift, xx, I-26), who proves thatMeister's date forthe pilgrimage
(533-540) is untenable,but EtheriavisitedEdessa shortlyafterthearrivalof St Thomas's
body there.

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 SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE OF EDESSA 243
werethe heydayof Monophysitism, thanksto the patronageof the Em-
press Theodora. Under her protection,in 543 a certainMonophysite,
Jacob Baradaeus, was consecratedbishop of Edessa, and henceforward
Edessa was his headquartersfor organisingthe Monophysitechurch
throughoutSyria and Mesopotamia-the church still called Jacobite
afterhis name. Edessa, however,occupied anotherrole; it was one ofthe
greatfortressesthatguarded the imperialfrontieragainstthe Persians,
and itwas filledwitha largegarrisondrawnfromall partsoftheempire-
a garrisonunaffected bytheMonophysitetendenciesoftheSyriacchurch,
and probablyservedby its own aggressivelyorthodoxchaplains13.
In 540 King ChosroesI ofPersia had declaredwar on theempire;and
in 544 he advancedin fullforceintoMesopotamiaand laid siegeto Edessa.
The defenceof Edessa was a triumphto Byzantinemilitaryengineering.
The walls of Edessa were tall and strong,but the Persiansbuilt a huge
towerto overtopthem: whence fromtheirgreat numbersthey could
swampthegarrison.But beforethe towerwas completed,the defenders
burrowedunderneathit,made a chamberand filledit withhighlyinflam-
mable materialand set it alight; theythen ostentatiously threwbrands
fromthewalls. The vast Persianworkscaughtfirefromunderneath;but
thePersiansthoughtthatthe burningcame fromabove, and so theytook
thewrongstepsto extinguishtheflames:tillat lastit was too late and the
whole edificewas consumed.Thereupon Chosroes raised the siege and
retired.Such is the accountgivenby Procopius14, writingin thecultured
circlesof the capital and anxious to extol the prowess of the imperial
soldiery.At Edessa, however,an additionto thestorywas told. Evagrius
is the firstto mentionit. Writinghalf a centurylater he attributesthe
flamesthatsaved Edessa to a miracle.Water thathad been spatteredon
theholyImage of Christwas, he says,thencast on thePersianedificeand
at once it burstinto flame15.Four centuriesafterthe siege we get a full
story,in the book on the Image writtenby the disciple of Constantine
Porphyrogennetus.Here we learn thatwhen the siege was at its height
theImage was discoveredby thebishophiddenintheplacewhereAbgar's
wickedgrandsonhad walled it up fivecenturiesbefore.The bishopun-
earthedit withall due honourand employedit in the successfulmanner
(1
giQe.r1hpA hPv
1IT Ev rQrj16

13 I owe this and the followingargumentto v. Dobschiitz, Christusbilder,pp. Io6 ff.,

where he points out that the bishop of this time was Jacob Baradaeus and offersthis
explanationwhich I have slightlyaugmented.
14 Procopius, De Bello Persico,I, 12.
16 Evagrius, 1c. cit.
16 ConstantinePorphyrogenitus, Narratio de Imagine Edessena,in Migne, Patrologia
Beilage iI. It was
Graeca, cxi. It is also quoted in fullin v. Dobschiitz, Christusbilder,
clearlynotwrittenby Constantinehimself,but by one of his courtiers. See Rambaud,
L'EmpireGrec au Xme siecle,pp. I05 if.

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244 STEVEN RUNCIMAN
It is wrongutterly to rejectthislaterlegend,justbecauseProcopius's
earthly versionmakesnomention ofit. Ifhehadheardthestory hewould
probablyhave dismissedit as absurd. But almostcertainly thereis a
foundation forit,a foundation thatexplainstheoriginoftheactualicon
knownlateras theImageofEdessa. One mayconjecture thetruestory.
Edessa in thetimeof JacobBaradaeuswas fullof religiousstrife;and
the orthodoxclergywere anxiousto have any weaponto strengthen
theirposition.In thestressof the siege,possiblyin thecourseof the
mining work,an old iconfellintothehandsoftheorthodox clergy,who,
knowing thetradition, gave it out to be the portrait of Christ.At so
desperate a moment itwasnaturaltoparadetheiconandtestitspowers;
forthedivinepromiseof immunity, theoldboastthat"Christstandsin
frontof our city17"was no longercarrying conviction.Possiblythe
garrison clergy,intouchwiththemilitary staff,arranged theintervention
oftheicon to coincidewiththe completion of the engineering opera-
tions;at anyratetheicon appearedto achievethe desiredresult,and
Edessawas saved.
Such, I conjecture, are thetruefacts.Procopius,if he heardthem,
wouldnotbothertomention them;butthereligious Evagriuslikedtotell
ofmiracles.By thetimeoftheConstantinian writerthestoryis some-
whatblurred;a miraculous reproduction is added,a fullerpasthistory
provided;thediscoverer is thebishop.Butunderlying hisaccountthere
maywelllie a stratum oftruth.Atthetimeofthesiegetherewassome-
wherehiddenin a wallor a cellar,an old icon,whoseoriginwe cannot
hopetotrace,andtherewastheoldtradition oftheportrait senttoAbgar,
a traditiongrowing faintinthisMonophysite city.Someorthodox cleric
harnessed thetwotogether as a timely politicalmoveagainsttheheretics,
and thusgavethelegendnewvitality by providing it withtheconcrete
accompaniment thatorthodox pietywas beginning to demand.
Whenthe Imageemergedintoexistenceit emergedas an "acheiro-
poietos,"an imagenotmade by hands. Probablyits sponsorsdid not
knowthetextoftheDoctrine ofAddaithatmadethemeremortal Ananias
itsartist;andanyhow bynowitwasfeltthatSt Lukealoneofmortals was
holyenoughto havebeen able to portray theactualfeatures of Christ.
Anyportrait notby Luke was miraculous.So theImageofEdessa ac-
quireda miraculous origin, thoughatfirst themiraclethatcreateditwas

17 These words,quoted fromthe Clzronicle ofYoshuatheStylite(ed. and trans.Wright,

p. 53) were no doubt meant metaphoricallyto referto Christ's promise of immunityto
whichJoshuafrequentlyrefers(ibid. pp. 47, 5z). But the Constantinianwriterseems to
have heard of some such phrase and to have taken it literally-as was natural,the pro-
mise by now having been undeniablybroken-hence he says thatAbgar set up the icon
beforethe gate of the city (Narratio, p. 59, in v. Dobschiitz's edition).

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 SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE OF EDESSA 245
unknown orat leastunrecorded. To Evagriusandto MosesofChorene,
whowroteaboutthe end of theseventhcentury and probablyvisited
Edessa,it remained vaguelyan " acheiropoietos " It wasnoteven
icon18.
the doyenof the "acheiropoietoi"; the Image of Camulianahad a far
lengthierandgrander history,and itscopy,theImageofMelitene,was
almostas renowned.Boththeseiconshad beentranslated in gloryto
Constantinople,theformer in 586,thelatterunderHeraclius"9.Butin
thecourseoftheeighthcentury it was to outstrip themall.
Therewerethreereasonsforthisvictory.First,theImageofEdessa
was ableto becomewhatwe maycall a Veronica.Secondly,it was the
oneimportant "acheiropoietos" leftoutsideofConstantinople. Thirdly
therewas theiconoclasticcontroversy.
It was almostinevitable thatthe Imageshouldbecomea Veronica.
Oncetheideahadbeenevolvedthatthedivinefacecouldbe printed upon
thenapkinthatwipedit, any"acheiropoietos" thatwas paintedupon
canvasinsteadofthemoreusualwoodcouldhardlyescapesuchan eleva-
andtheImageofEdessa,thoughitsactualhistory
tion20; didnotstretch
farback,belongedtoa family oflegendsofgreatantiquity andonewhich
hadalready hadconnexions withtheVeronicacycle.Moreover theAbgar
legendprovided a farcompleter andmoreconvincing foritsorigin
setting
thananyothericoncouldclaim. We cannottellwhenthisversionfirst
appeared, butit was soongenerally accepted;whenSt JohnDamascene
wrote,abouttheyear730, he mentioned thestorythatthe Imagewas
printedon a clothby ChristHimself,in termsthatshowedthatit ad-
mittedofno dispute.
The Imagewas equallyhelpedby remaining in a provincialtown-a
town,too,thatwas outsideof theempire.In the MiddleAges relics
playedalmostthe same part that old mastersplay to-day:the rich
everywhere soughtforthemandwonrenownby acquiring them.The
emperorsbuiltup at Constantinople by farthebest collectionin the
world. But thoughthis added to the gloryof Constantinople, it di-
minished thegloryofeachparticular relic.The Imagewhichinthevillage
of Camulianaseemedmarvellous and uniquewouldhardlybe noticed
nexttotheSeamlessCoatof ChristortheCrownof Thornsor thevery
WoodoftheCross. ButtheImageofEdessahad no rivalsin itsneigh-
18 Moses of Chorene in his HistoryofArmeniacalls it merely"the icon ofthe Saviour-
Pr'gtchaganbadgherin"(p. I34 in Whiston's edition), but in the Geography (p. 362 in
Whiston'sedition) uses the Armenianequivalent of acheiropoietos,calling it an "antze-
rakordzbadgher."
"I Cedrenus,I, I85 (in Bonn edition),Menaeum of theEmperorTiberius(ed. Imbrius,
Venice, I895), pp. 75 ff.
20 The onlyvariationslay in the question whetherthe Veronicas were made by water,
sweator theblood sweatedat Gethsemane.The Image of Edessa at varioustimesclaimed
each of these origins.

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246 STEVEN RUNCIMAN
bourhood,save only its minorcompanionpiece, the correspondenceof
Christand King Abgar, a relic that seems to have been valued unex-
pectedlylow21.Then the factthatit was preservedoutsideof the empire
gave it a greatadvantageover its fellowswhen the empirefell into the
hands of heretics.
But itwas theIconoclasticControversy thatraisedthe Image ofEdessa
to itsgreatesteminence.The Easternworldhad strangelychangedduring
the last two centuries. In the sixthcenturythe Image had been brought
forwardby theimperialauthoritiesto counterthe SyrianChristians;now
theSyrianChristianswereusingitto countertheimperialauthorities. The
Moslem conquesthad entirelyalteredthe situation.The greaternumber
of the Monophysitehereticsof the sixthcenturyhad been actuatedby
politicalseparatistmotivesratherthanbystrongviewsabout thenatureof
Christ.They made no effort to resisttheMoslems and mostofthemwere
convertedto Islam. Thus the Moslem conquest purged the Syrian
churches,and thoughtheorthodoxweredeprivedofpoliticalpowerthey
emergedas easily the supreme Christiansect. They worshippedtheir
icons and were proud of them; and theirone importantrelic outside of
Palestinewas now the Image of Edessa.
In 725 theEmperor,Leo the Isaurian,issued his famousiconoclastic
decree. There wereoutcriesthroughoutChristendom;but themostable
spokesmanofall his opponentswas a SyrianChristian,JohnofDamascus.
Early in the controversyJohn Damascene introduced the Image of
Edessa22.Possiblyithad nothithertobeen well knownat Constantinople;
and certainlytherewere advantagesin citingan icon outsidethe heretic
emperor'sdominions; but Johnspoke of it in termsthat assumed its
authenticity to be unquestionable;and,fromtheairoftriumphant finality
withwhichtheotherchampionsofimageworshipmentionedit,itmaybe
assumed that the iconoclastsnever venturedto challenge its value as
evidence.
Certainly, ifitwereaccepted,theImage was an unanswerableargument
againsticonoclasm.There was one othericon whichwas almostas potent
a weapon,theportraitof Mary by St Luke, of whichshe said: "My grace
willgo withit23." But whileitwas possiblethateven St Luke,just possible
thateven the Mother of God herselfmightbe mistaken,if Christhad
21 The whole historyof the letterof Christto Abgar is veryobscure. Possibly even in

theMiddle Ages itsauthenticity was doubted-there was some questionwhetherChrist's

message was writtenor merelyverbal (as in the Doctrineof Addai). Certainlyit never
seems to have been regardedas a major relic. Later we are told of two quite distinctoc-
casions on which the letterwas taken fromEdessa to Constantinople.
22 John Damascene, in Migne, xciv, De Fide Orthodoxa,ch. xvi, and De Imaginibuis
Oratio, i, ch. xxvii.
23 Quoted by the Eastern patriarchs,see n. 26, p. 247.

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 SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE OF EDESSA 247
made a printof His own features,thenthe Christologicalargumentthat
God cannot be representedfalls to the ground; and if Christsent His
portraitto King Abgar in lieu of His person,He must have meantthe
portraitto be reveredwithsomethingof the reverencedue to Himself.
Indeed to the less subtle it offeredan argumentfor unqualifiedimage
worship24;and as a concreteproofthatChristdisagreedwiththe icono-
clastictheoriesit providedthe sortofrefutation thatcarriedmostweight
in the Middle Ages. Subsequent image worshippersreturnedto it; the
patriarchNicephorusmade play withit25; the Easternpatriarchs, writing
to Theophilus,mentionedit alongwithSt Luke's portraitofMary26;and
Theodorethe Studitereferred to it notonlyas a proofthatChristwished
His featuresto be perpetuated27 but also to illustratehow contemplative
worshipis comparativelyworthless"unless the mind picture Him in
man's likenesson the righthand of the Father-unless one denies that
the Word was made flesh....Abgar worshippedChrist,"he continued,
"contemplatively28 when he receivedfaithbut he worshippedHim more
manifestly in the miraculousimage that Christsent him29."The Image
had become so reputablea theologicalauthoritythateven the best intel-
lects of the time were preparedto draw moralsfromit.
It was perhapsinevitable,consideringthe temperament ofthe average
Byzantinesubject,thaticonoclasmshouldfail. But theorthodoxfeltthat
the Image of Edessa had helped themto victory,and its creditrose to
unprecedentedheights. It is possiblethatitsnowworld-widefamehelped
to popularise Veronica legends in the West. In Constantinople,when
orthodoxemperorssat once moreon thethrone,it was markeddown as a
relic that must at all costs be secured for the imperialcollection. At
Edessa it became the pride of the town. Even the Moslem emirand his
followers, who formedthemajorityofthecitizens,thoughtheKoran bade
themlook upon portraitswithloathing,feltthatit did themcredit-the
SyrianMoslems always held a superstitiousregardforChristianrelics,
and a relic so intimatelyconnectedwith the Prophet Jesus did, quite
illogically,command a certain reverence. Its fame spread round the
neighbouringlands, and in Armeniait was thoughtto be the Veronica
itself.But it was in theArabic-speakinglands thatmen spoke ofit most,
as was shownwhen nextit enteredinto Byzantinehistory.
24 The controversy hung largelyon verbal subtleties,the differencebetween rpoo--
and Xa-rpeta-the formerbeing the worship championed by the orthodox.
K-vv1o-rtS
25 Nicephorus Patriarch,Antirrhetica,Migne, Patrologia Graeca, C, 46I. He refersto
it also by implicationon p. 26o.
26 Letter to Theophilus, under John Damascene in Migne, xcIv, 352.
27 Theodore Studites, in Migne, xcix, I77.

voypcb is thewordthathe employs.

28
29 Theodore Studites, in Migne, LXIV, 1288. He refersto it brieflyon p. I I53.

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248 STEVEN RUNCIMAN
The public of Constantinoplewas fickle.Afterthe fallof iconoclasm,
thereligiouscontroversies thatoccupiedthecitywerethePhotiandispute
and next the question of the Emperor Leo VI's fourthmarriage. In
neitherofthesecould iconsplaya part,and so theImage ofEdessa passed
out of men's notice. But towardsthe middleof the tenthcentury,under
the Emperor Romanus Lecapenus, therewas a militaryrevivalon the
easternfrontier.Imperialarmiesled by the greatgeneralJohnCurcuas
penetratedbeyondtheEuphratesintoMesopotamia. Edessa, forthefirst
timesincethe Saracen conquest,became a practicableobjective. At once
menthoughtofthe Image, and thepious old emperordeterminedto cap-
tureit. But now therewas a curiouschangein its nomenclature.During
theiconoclasticcontroversy theGreekauthors,thoughtheyknewthatthe
Image was a piece of our Lord's cloth,called it simplyan icon. Now
theyall mentionedit as the" Mav8 Xtov," whilethecontemporary .Arabic
writerscalleditthe"mandil." "Mandil" was a wordlongengrainedin the
Arabic language30,thoughprobablyit was originallyderived fromthe
Latin "Mantile" or "Mantilium,"our "mantle." But Mandelionwas new
as a Greekword. Owing therefore to the emphaticpridewithwhichthe
Edessans spoke of theirimage,the Greekstook over theirArabic name
forit; and thus,by thatroundaboutmeans,anotherLatin word entered
the Greek language.
At last,in thespringof943, theimperialarmiesappearedbeforeEdessa
and seemed likelyto take the town. But instead of orderingan assault
JohnCurcuas informedthe emirthat not onlywould he spare the town
but he would also release200 Moslem prisonersiftheImage werehanded
over to him. The emir did not know what to do. If he refused,Edessa
would certainlyfall,unless help came fromBagdad-and the authorities
therewerenotin a conditionto help him. In despairhe sentto thekhalif
to ask his duty.
Once again the Image of Edessa played an activerole in history.John
Curcuas held up his campaigntillthematterwas settled,contentinghim-
selfmerelywithraidingDara and Ras Ain,thoughall Mesopotamialay at
his mercyand he mightevenhave strucka deadlyblow againstthe Ham-
danids. Meanwhile at Bagdad the khalifsat withhis counsellors,and a
strangedebatewas held. The cadis whomhe consultedwereall carefulto
say thatof coursethe Image had no intrinsicvalue, but at the same time
theycould not bear to let an objectso greatlyveneratedby the Christians
pass out of their hands. Throughout the speeches there showed the
curioushalf-respectthat the Moslems held for Christianrelics. But at
30 "Mandil" has in Arabic the plural "Man-i-dil"-a formthat few foreignwords
ever acquired. It means a cloth or handkerchief.

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 SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE OF EDESSA 249
last the wise old ex-VizierAli Ibn-Iza, a pillar of blamelesspiety,con-
vinced themthatthe liberationof fellow-Moslemsoutweighedall other
considerations.The Image mustbe givenup31.This decisionwas carried
back to Edessa; and in the early spring of 944 Abraham, Bishop of
Samosata, a town that had recentlyacknowledgedimperialsuzerainty,
was deputedto receivethe Image in the name of the emperor.
Abrahamhad a difficult task.The Image,as we haveseen,had thepower
of miraculouslyreproducingitself,and two copies existedat Edessa, the
one in a Nestorianchurchand the otherwiththe original-this latterhad
come intobeing to cure a Persian princess,the daughterof King Chos-
roes.The inhabitantswantedto pass offone ofthesecopies on Abraham;
so to avoid all riskshe insistedon havingall threepictures32.At thesame
timehe demandedtheletterwrittenby Christto Abgar. But herehe was
less successful;the Edessenes managed,it seems,to give him a copy,for
in I032 we hear once again thatthe divineletterwas handed overto the
imperialgeneraland sent to Constantinople33. The Edessenes, Moslem
and Christianalike,wereveryloathto let the Image go. The emirhad to
use all his authorityto preventriotsbreakingout; and when Abraham,
accompaniedby the Bishop of Edessa, finallyset out, a rabble followed
themto thebanksoftheEuphratesand would have takenthe Image from
them,hadnotthebishop'sboatbeenwaftedwithmiraculousspeedwithout
thehelp ofoars or rudderacrosstheriver.The Image made a shortstayat
Samosata, wheremany unspecifiedmarvelsoccurred;then it resumed
the road to Constantinople.The last portionof thejourneywas made by
sea. The Paracoemomenos Theophanes met it at the mouth of the
riverSakaria and escortedit fortherestof theway; how fartheoriental
bishops travelledis unknown.
On the outskirtsof Constantinoplethe Image declared its political
opinions. The reigningEmperor Romanus Lecapenus had twenty-five
yearsbeforeusurpedthethroneofhis son-in-lawConstantinePorphyro-
gennetus. Romanus was veryold now and the questionof his successor
was becomingacute; would the EmperorConstantineregaincontrol,or
would Romanus's sons, Stephen and Constantine,alreadycrownedem-
perors,ousthim?As theImagewas lodgedat themonasteryofEusebius in
theOptimatantheme,a possessedman saw it and cried: " Constantinople,
31 See the account givenin Ali Ibn-Isa by H. C. Bowen (Cambridge, i928), to whom
personallyI am indebted forinformationon the Arabic attitudeto the Image.
32 Actually all the reproductionsdescribed to us were made on tiles, so the bishop
should not have had much difficulty.Two copies on tiles were shown to Anthonyof
Novgorod and to Robert de Clari (see below).
33 The Constantinian writer mentions the letter as coming with the Image, but
Cedrenus, II, 50I (in Bonn edition), speaks definitelyof the letterwrittento Abgar by
the hand of Christ coming to Constantinoplein I032.

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250 STEVEN RUNCIMAN
take the gloryand grace, and you, Constantinethe Purple-born,your
realm," and was straightwayhealed. On 15 August 944, the Image
reachedConstantinopleand passed thenightat thechurchat Blachernae;
next day the threeyoungeremperors-Romanus himselfwas too ill to
appear-and the patriarch,Romanus's son Theophylact,tookthe Image
in processionround the land walls and the sea walls of the city,thenin
throughthe Golden Gate to St Sophia. Eventuallyit was depositedin
thechurchby thelighthouse,thatis to say,thePalace Chapel ofBucoleon.
The letterof Christor its copywas placed therewiththe Image, but the
two reproductionsof the Image were sent back to Edessa34.
Miracles continuedto accompanyit. During the processionthrough
thecitya paralyticwas curedby themeresightofit. A littlelatertheholy
hermitPaul (surnamedof Latrum) asked a courtofficialcalled Photiusto
apply a clothof the same size to it and thento send it to him. When he
opened out the clothSt Paul founda completereproductionof the por-
traiton it. Unfortunately no one but thesaintcould see it35. A somewhat
similarincidentoccurredwhentheyoungemperorshad theirspecialview
of it-ordinarilyit was probablycoveredover withmetal work-an in-
cidentwhichprovidestheonlyinformation thatwe haveofitsappearance.
When it was displayedto them ConstantinePorphyrogennetus saw the
whole portraitveryclearly,but to his wickedbrothers-in-law it seemed
extremelyblurred36.It is possiblethatthe youngLecapeni were drunk:
thoughin thatcase it was curiousthatConstantine,who was notoriously
fondof stimulants,should have missed the opportunityof drinkingtoo.
More probablyone needed the intensefaiththatcharacterisedConstan-
tine to decipherthe divine features.To the ordinarymortalthe picture
was in factdecidedlywornand dim; and itsworthlessness as a workofart
or as a portraithelped in the decline of its prestige.
For,likealmosteveryicon thattooktheroadto Constantinople,magni-
ficentthoughthejourneywas, on its arrivalthe Image of Edessa fellinto
the background.There were too manyrivalsat Constantinople.In the
Bucoleon chapel, where the Image was housed, there were the major
relicsof Christendom,the Crownof Thorns,the Wood ofthe Cross,the
Holy Blood, the Lance thatpiercedOur Lord's side, His Seamless Coat,
theSponge thatgave Him vinegar,and manyothersofalmostequal rank.
In such companythis smudged piece of cloth was impressiveonly to
thosewho knew its history.However,travellersto Constantinoplecon-
34Narratio de Imagine Edessena,pp. 73-85 in v. Dobschutz-the fullest and most
credulous account: TheophanesContinuatus,pp. 432 f. (Bonn edition),which has slight
but not inconsistentvariations.
35 "Vita S. Pauli in Latro" in Analecta Bollandiana, xi (1892), 150 ff.
36 TheophanesCont. p. 432.

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 SOME REMARKS ON THE IMAGE OF EDESSA 25I

tinuedto mentionit amongstthe objectsto be noted in the greatcollec-

tion: WilliamofMalmesbury,WilliamofTyreand AnthonyofNovgorod,
amongstothers,putitin theirlists,but gave manyotherrelicsprecedence
over it; and some visitorslike the ScandinavianNicholas of Thingeyrar
apparentlydid notknowclearlywhatitwas37. It was a sad afternoon to its
greatcareer.
But worsewas to follow. In I204 the Crusaders,exchangingtheirpiety
forgreedand envy,capturedConstantinople,and the greatcollectionsof
relicswere destroyedor dispersed. At firstthosehoused in the Bucoleon
chapelwereleftwheretheywereas thepropertyofthenewLatin emperor.
But the Latin emperorswere extravagantand incompetent. By I239
the EmperorBaldwin II was in desperatefinancialstraits.He had sold
thelead fromhis roofs,he had evenpawnedhis son, and nowhe took the
final step of disposingof his relics. That year the Crown of Thorns
passed to the Venetianmoney-lenders, and duringthe next seven years
the whole collectionfollowedone by one. When the Venetiansput the
relicson to the markettheywere all boughtup by St Louis, the King of
France He, however,feltthatsuch a methodof acquisitionwas not very
satisfactory;so in 1247 he inducedBaldwinto issue a Golden Bull trans-
ferringall rightsof possessionfromthe emperorto himself.Amongthe
relicslistedin thebull was a holytowel-sanctamtoellamtabulaeinfertam.
This is the Image of Edessa38.
So the Image of Edessa journeyedto Paris and foundits last resting-
place in the Sainte Chapelle. But on thisjourneyand in its new home
the Image was still overshadowedby its neighbouringrelics. Conse-
quentlyits true fatewas hardlyknown. But everyoneknew thatit had
travelledwestward; and soon any church that possessed a portraitof
Christpaintedon canvas and could not claim it to be the Veronica-the
icon at St Peter'sby now had papal approvalin usurpingthatposition-
claimed it to be the Image of Edessa. The Persian authorXavier, who
wroteabout the year i 6oo and took an interestin the Abgar legend,said
thattheImage was to be seen at Genoa39. Othersplaced it "in titulosancti
Silvestri"at Rome40.Actuallyitwas lyingat Paris barelynoticedsave by
officialsthatperiodicallymade an inventoryof the chapel treasury.
37 Their lists are given in De Riant, ExucviaeSacrae Constantinopolitanae, II, 211 ff.
Nicholas ofThingeyrar'smaettullis clearlythesame as Williamof Malmesbury'smanatile;
but the latter adds "quod visui Domini applicatum imaginem vultus eius retinuit,"
whereasNicholas does not apparentlypossess this information.
38 The bull is quoted in fullin De Riant, op.cit. II, 135 ff.De Riant (Exuviae, I, clxxxi)
is certainlyrightin identifyingthis toellaas the Image. Robert de Clari calls it a touaile
(ibid.loc. cit.) in his inventoryof relicstakenat the timeof the captureof the city; and it
occurs at roughlythe same place in the Chrysobullas in the various lists.
39 Xavier, HistoriaChristi, ed. de Dieu (Leyden, i694), p. 358.
40 Baronius,Annales Eccles. ad ann. 944, no. XVI.

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252 STEVEN RUNCIMAN
The end camein I792, whenthegodlessrevolutionaries sackedthe
SainteChapelleand destroyed or lostall itscontents.And so amidthe
birthpangsofModernEuropetheHoly Imageof Edessa passedfrom
history.
Such,briefly,wasthecareeroftheImageofEdessa,a careertowhose
activedistinctionfewotherpiecesof canvashaveattained.It had had
manyachievements toitscredit.Whenfirst itwasdiscovered bythewell-
timedingenuity ofan orthodox priest,itactedas a weaponagainstJacob-
ite heresy;and its efficiencyis provedby thereadinesswithwhichits
authenticitywaseverywhere accepted.Next,withitsdivineoriginthought
unimpeachable, it was able to act as a weaponagainstanotherand far
morepowerful heresy, theiconoclasm thattheemperors attempted toforce
and an
upon Chnrstendom, to provide unanswerable argument forthe
orthodox. Thenceforward its renownwas enormous, particularly in its
nativecitywhereevren thehereticNestorians eagerlypreserved a copyof
it,andthisrenownwasenoughto affect thecourseofa wholeByzantine
campaign, whenJohnCurcuasthrewawaytriumphs and thechanceof
greatertriumphs in thepiousandwell-praised desireto secureitforhis
imperialmaster.Andunderlying theseachievements we can watchthe
generalflowof ideas in the medievalLevant,how legendsgrewand
alteredthere,andhowgreata partwasplayedbytheChristian subjects
ofthekhalifate, whosespokesmen swayedtheopinionsof Christendom
and whoserelicscouldhave suchworld-wide glorythatthe emperors
longedforthemand eventheMoslemsfelta strange aweforthem.The
ImageofEdessa did indeedoutliveitsgreatness.Its lastactionwas to
providea littlemoneyforthedisreputable rulerofa dyingempire;and
therefollowedfivecenturies ofunworthy obscurity.But itsadmirable
entitled
activities itto rest;andtheyentitleitnowto be givensomeday
thehonourofa full-length biography.

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