More than 35 years ago, archaeologists poking about in the mouth of the Rambla Cervera river, south of Barcelona, found two large concretions of old iron, badly corroded, clogged with sand and fused solid with calcareous depositions. The lumps turned out to be stacks of helmets, of rather generic types, but which were tentatively identified, on the basis of the large number of broken pottery amphorae and other vessels round about, to have come from a Roman shipwreck, bringing wine, grain, salted fish and assorted kitchenware to a couple of prominent local settlements that declined towards the end of the first century BC.1
Since then, a more detailed study of the helmets has raised doubts about their date. Although most are, on stylistic grounds, not easy to pin down, some characteristics of the rims and ridges have suggested that a late medieval attribution is more probable.2
Astonishingly, in few cases, shreds of textile linings to these helmets have been preserved, and although on contamination grounds possibly the worst possible subjects for radiocarbon dating, having spent hundreds of years underwater, embedded in sand between corroding iron and lime deposition, nevertheless fragments were carefully surgically removed and sent to Beta Analytic, Miami, and Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie (CEZA), Mannheim. The linings were made of bast fibres, probably either flax or hemp, Z-spun and tabby-woven, about 17 threads per centimetre.
And here are the results:
Four of the samples are well matched, and one anomalous one has raised doubts about unremoved contamination, in spite of it having the same cleaning treatment as the others. A possible explanation is that all the helmets were all from around 1300-1400, but that the anomalous one had been given a replacement lining in 1500-1600, after which the ship carrying them had sunk. Another is that four of the helmets were in a position to have been buried quite quickly, while the anomalous one, projecting above the sand, had been subject to more intrusive contamination.
Remarkably, it seems, the extensive first century BC Roman context turns out to be completely unrelated.
‘Twere tedious to rehearse comparisons between these helmets and the Shroud, so I won’t, but leave it to the reader to make of it what he/she will. To make it easier, though, here are the Shroud’s dates made into a diagram in the same style as that above.
Suddenly (in my opinion, of course), the radiocarbon dates don’t look so different after all. Here they are, using the same graphics (from OxCal) as a model, but without the post-1350 dates, superimposed.
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1). ‘El Yacimiento Submarino de “Piedras de la Barbada” (Benicarlo-Castellon). Campaña 1989,’ Asuncion Fernandez Izquierdo, Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología Castellonenses, 1990-1991
2). ‘Radiocarbon Dating and Characterisation of Textiles Preserved in Late Medieval Helmets from Benicarló,’ Manuel Frallicciardi et al., Antiquity, 2026
This is all such good stuff, John, so well done. I should say thank you, but since you’re gently knocking all my balls into the gully I shall forbear. Still, undeterred, I’m now trying to plough through the comprehensive “Der Christliche Altar in Seiner Geschtlichen Entwicklung,” (Joseph Braun, 1924) with the rather dubious aid of Google translate. Therein, we’re informed (start at page 249, the book is on archive.org) that Magdeburg cathedral has an altar of 4.40m, Cologne: 4.54m, Huesca: 4.00m, Limerick: 4.47m, Notre-Dame de Brou: 4.67m, Avignon: 4.00m, Amiens: 4.54m. We also learn that “Sehr bedeutsam wurde für die Zunahme der Maßverhältnisse des Altares und damit auch der Mensa derselben die Zeit der Hoch – und Spätgotik, die zweite Hälfte des 13., das 14. und das 15 Jahrhundert.” “The era of High and Late Gothic — comprising the second half of the 13th century, as well as the 14th and 15th centuries —w as of great significance for the increase in the dimensions of the altar and, consequently, its mensa.” Just the sort of time someone might want an Easter Sunday Quem Quaritis shroud to hang in front of their altar.
Joseph Braun lists dozens of altars from just about everywhere, but there may be some he’s missed.
On with the search!
Incidentally, somewhat relevant but you may have missed them, you may want to have a look at my earlier posts “iiij elles & qt,” and “The Side Strip.”
Best wishes,
Hugh
Hi Hugh,
Following up on the medieval altar size question, I’ve now checked and found some useful information about your two other cited altars, namely, in the church of St. Patrick’s in London and the cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels.
If I’ve read things right (but please double check), it seems that St. Patrick’s Church, Cannon St., London, was in the east suburb of Wapping and was built in the 19th century. Apparently not medieval. There is also mention of another St. Patrick’s church in London – in Soho Square to be exact. Built 1792 or 1891? An online photo by a Patrick Comerford from 2025 shows its high altar, but it looks to me only some 8 to 10 feet long (wide). If so, not the Turin Shroud length of 14 feet.
As for St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels, it is certainly medieval. Here’s a link to a photo of its altar, captioned “an ornate gilded altar,” on the website havecamerawilltravel.com. https://havecamerawilltravel.com/field-notes/cathedral-michael-gudula-brussels/ .
But with all its decoration and opulence, it looks very possibly of later date than 1355. If so, it would also not be a match for your theory of the Lirey/Turin Shroud as a Gothic altar antependium/frontal cloth. But please correct me if you know more.
By the way, in your previous short list of large cathedral altars you did not include some information which you were probably aware of: 1) that the altar of St. Mary’s in Limerick is the largest in the entire British Isles, or so it is described in every online reference I have read. None of your readers living outside the British Isles would ever have known that highly relevant fact. Likewise with regard to Cologne Cathedral and its very large altar. None of your readers living outside Europe would probably ever have known that the cathedral is the largest in all of Germany, thus deserving of an extremely large and perhaps even uniquely long altar.
You also mentioned the destruction of medieval churches and their furnishings during various revolutions and wars. You may have done so to account for a lack of many 14-foot / 4 meter long altars that might fit a “Turin Shroud as originally an altar frontal cloth” scenario. Sort of a “Shroud of the Gaps” argument, it seems, once again. But I’m not sure how solid your case is for such destructions. Most French cathedrals and churches, for example, were apparently not heavily bombed during the Second World War, and in the case of Germany, most of its cathedrals escaped destruction or much damage because the U.S. Army Air Corps bombers were instructed by Eisenhower and other top officers not to target them (See Herner’s “Cathedrals Built by the Masons,” Chapter 11). (The USAF was not founded until 1947.)
Speaking of France, have you found any documentation yet of a 14-foot or 4-meter long altar in a pre-1355 French church or cathedral? Or even 13-foot? If so, how many? It’s difficult to find any online info about specific medieval church or cathedral altar sizes. A gap to be filled by someone, someday, surely. Any BSTS member out there willing?
Of course, a 10-, 11-, or 12-foot Gothic altar would have been a natural length and would not support a case that the Lirey/Turin Shroud was originally an antependium for a just slightly longer altar. Altars grew in size over the course of the Middle Ages, starting out as mere tables or simple stone supports, squarish in shape, and were gradually elongated to enable candlesticks or other such items to stand on their sides. As such, they were shaped a lot like regular dining room tables, but probably very rarely ever reached 4 meters long. The vast majority of those that I have seen depicted in books or online appear to have dimensions of about 1 meter in height to about 2 to 3 meters in length. But please do cite (with book titles and page nos.) any longer altars that you know of (pre-1355, of course). Thanks.
John L.
Hugh,
Thanks very much for digging out that information on medieval altar sizes. I had a hunch that you, with your background, location, and resources, might be able to find out more than I could from afar.
I’ve had time to check on three of those few cases you mentioned: St. Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick, Hereford Cathedral, and Cologne Cathedral.
St. Mary’s: A few websites (e.g. The Irish Aesthete) relate the size of its original 12th c. high altar, but with slight ambiguities, calling it “4 metres long (13 ft.).” Now, 4 meters is apparently closer to 13.33 feet. And the Turin Shroud is apparently 4.4 meters or 14 feet 3 inches. If so, the Shroud would still be a tad bit longer (“wider,” if you wish) than that St. Mary’s altar, which is also, as they all write, “the largest of its kind in Ireland and Britain.” Very rare for its size, it seems. Or rather, if they are correct, actually unique in the British Isles.
Hereford Cathedral: An “AI Overview” (not my choice, but I’ll take it for now) says, “The high altar and … backdrop (reredos) in Hereford Cathedral date back to the 1890s.” Another AI Overview says, “The present high altar … installed … between 1841 and 1850.” I’m assuming that is the one you saw there and whose length you measured at about 4 meters. But if not, please say so.
Cologne Cathedral: Yes, its original altar, installed in 1322, is indeed 4.6 meters long/wide. That’s 15 feet. Well! However, Cologne/Koeln Cathedral is the largest cathedral in all of Germany, naturally deserving of the largest altar. Another unique case, it may be.
It’s good to finally get some real stats in this matter, after several years of vague wondering and speculating.
I must go now, but will try later to pin down additional info on those other two cases you mentioned.
Yes, please see what else you can find regarding this question. Happy hunting in Belgium. Maybe you have some contacts there who can help out.
John L.
Well, I have to say I agree that specific evidence for huge altars is lamentably missing. I was basing my statement on various photos of huge-looking altars, and my own measurement of an altar in Hereford Cathedral. I discover, however, that Cologne cathedral has a 4.6m wide altar, and St Mary’s cathedral, Limerick, St Patrick’s church, Canon St, London, and I think St Michael & St Gudula cathedral, Brussels, all have altars of around 4m. I dare to assume that there are still, or were in the past, others. The Reformation, in England, the Revolution, in France, and the Royal Air Force, in Germany, put paid to numerous churches in their entirety, let alone just the altars.
However, you inspire me to try to find out. If the Shroud was actually designed to fit an altar, as my hypothesis suggests, and there were only a handful of such altars around in 1350, then that narrows the field considerably. It may assist in finding out exactly where the Shroud was made for, and my money at the moment is on Belgium….
Best wishes,
Hugh
Hi Hugh,
That’s a fine and fascinating little blogpost you wrote, “Spanish Helmets,” noting the correct conclusion coming decades after the earlier, 1st c. BC misdating of those helmets. And yes, the case does seem relevant to the Turin Shroud and its dating controversy.
It also got me to wondering about any cases where the reverse might have occurred, that is, an original false dating to more recent times, or else a judgment of “fake,” eventually corrected years or decades later by an authoritative redating to much earlier times, or else an elevation to the status of authentic masterwork.
So I googled “painting masterpieces long thought fakes” and got several excellent examples of that very mistake. They included works by Rembrandt, Botticelli, da Vinci and other greats, long thought fake. The process seems to work both ways.
Of course, the Spanish helmets case involved hi-tech C-14 dating, whereas the other cases did not. Still, both types of mistakes involved cultural creations or objects, with appraisals by experts.
Since you may not get many comments on this current and probably uncontroversial blogpost, I might now return to your recent, June 9 “Res Ipsa Loquitur” blogpost. On June 30 you commented there about an earlier comment of my own. You stated, “Many of the Gothic cathedrals and abbeys of Europe have vast altars, easily capable of housing the Shroud hanging in front as an antependium.” The comments box timed out automatically that same day, so I didn’t get a chance to reply.
We’ve discussed this question before in another forum, Hugh, and I’ve continued to have doubts about your sometime scenario of the Lirey/Turin Shroud as mere antependium, for several reasons. (See, for example, my short BSTS article of Summer 2023, No. 97, “The Back of Jesus in Medieval Painting….”; shroud.com.) So I’ve been wondering about your June 30 statement, and would like to ask you to cite a book or an article, including page number/s, proving or supporting it. You see, I’ve since searched online for “medieval church or cathedral altar lengths” and the only references I’ve found so far are to altars from about 7 feet to 10 feet in length, or at most 11 feet. No mention of any that were 13 or 14 feet long.
A search I’ve just done of your own medievalshroud.com blog yields, as of today, July 23, 2026, apparently only a single blogpost containing the words “altar frontal” and/or “antependium.” It is dated September 2, 2020, is titled “Shroudstory Adventures – 4…,” and is basically a reprint of an earlier debate involving you and others on shroudstory.com. The words in question appear several times in the various comments, but only one reference occurs to the length of any such cloth – a certain “Antependium of Othon de Grandson” from the late 13th century. It is extant today in the Berne Historical Museum and its length is “328” centimeters according to the comment on your blogpost by “MPH” (Max …) which includes a depiction of it in red and gold colors. That length apparently equals about 131 inches or 10.9 feet, still much shorter than the Turin Shroud’s 14+ feet.
A few online articles present a relevant and fascinating discovery in Jerusalem. The original 1149 Crusader high altar there, gone “missing” after an 1808 fire in the Holy Sepulcher, was only just rediscovered or identified in 2024. One article from July 2024 is titled “Crusader treasure unveiled” (EWTN News). The two or three articles I’ve read all say it is the “widest” (meaning longest) medieval altar “ever found,” at “3.5” meters (less than 12 feet). And let’s also consider: that was in Jerusalem, the holiest city in all Christendom, and in the Holy Sepulcher there, the holiest of all sites. I’d guess that any altars in medieval France or England were shorter than that one. Or so the article seems to read. But please do correct me if I’m mistaken. I’ve also searched Google Images for photos of numerous Gothic altars, but they all seem shorter than 14 feet in length, even those in cathedrals. No antependium that I’ve seen has been of a wrap-around style that might also cover the two ends of an altar. Some altars do have backdrops or canopies that are very tall, in soaring Gothic style, but the altar’s horizontal length is not so exaggerated. And after all, medieval altars were merely meant as places to consecrate the Eucharist, a ritual not requiring much space.
If you know more about this matter of medieval altar dimensions, Hugh, and can cite a few specific books and their page numbers (for at least 3 altars, which would still be rare, but maybe you know of more), I’d be very grateful. Other readers probably would be too. And it goes without saying that any newer, larger altars later substituted for older, smaller altars in original Gothic churches or cathedrals would not count here. We are concerned with the Turin Shroud, which made its indisputable historical appearance as the Lirey Shroud circa 1355. So that date stands as the latest for any possibly relevant altar or altar frontal cloth. No Renaissance- or Baroque-era altars, please.
Several other questions come to mind about your rather bold June 30 comments, but the question above seems enough here.
Thanks!
John L.
P.S. By the way, that “missing high altar of the Holy Sepulcher,” seemingly lost for more than 200 years, 1808-2024, could also be relevant to the Turin Shroud (if authentic) in another way – as a parallel of sorts to its own “missing years,” 1204-1355. It would show the possibility of a true treasure, and a major Christian one, completely disappearing from history only to be rediscovered much later in time.