Holy Nail

Relics that are claimed to be theHoly Nails with which Jesus was crucified are objects ofveneration among someChristians, particularlyRoman Catholics and theEastern Orthodox. InChristian symbolism andart, they figure among theArma Christi or Instruments of the Passion, the objects associated with thePassion of Jesus. Like the other Instruments, the Holy Nails have become an object of veneration among many Christians and have been pictured in paintings.

The authenticity of these relics is doubtful. TheCatholic Encyclopedia wrote:^[1]

Very little reliance can be placed upon the authenticity of the thirty or more holy nails which are still venerated, or which have been venerated until recent times, in such treasuries as that of Santa Croce in Rome, or those of Venice, Aachen, the Escurial, Nuremberg, Prague, etc. Probably the majority began by professing to be facsimiles which had touched or contained filings from some other nail whose claim was more ancient. Without conscious fraud on the part of anyone, it is very easy for imitations in this way to come in a very brief space of time to be reputed originals.

It is not clear whether Jesus was crucified with three or with four nails, and the question has been long debated.^[1] The belief that three nails were used is calledTriclavianism.

The bridle and helmet of Constantine

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Sozomen andTheodoret reported that whenHelena, the mother of Constantine the Great, discovered theTrue Cross inJerusalem in the fourth century AD, the Holy Nails were recovered too. Helena left all but a few fragments of the cross in theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, but returned with the nails toConstantinople. As Theodoret tells it in hisEcclesiastical History, chapter xvii:

The mother of the emperor, on learning the accomplishment of her desire, gave orders that a portion of the nails should be inserted in the royal helmet, in order that the head of her son might be preserved from the darts of his enemies. The other portion of the nails she ordered to be formed into the bridle of his horse, not only to ensure the safety of the emperor, but also to fulfil an ancient prophecy; for long before Zechariah, the prophet, had predicted that 'There shall be upon the bridles of the horses Holiness unto the Lord Almighty.

The fifth-century Church historianSocrates of Constantinople wrote in hisEcclesiastical History, which was finished shortly after 439,^[2] that afterConstantine was proclaimedCaesar and then Emperor, he ordered that all honor be paid to his mother Helena, to make up for the neglect paid her by her former husband,Constantius Chlorus. After her conversion to Christianity, Constantine sent her on a quest to find the cross and nails used to crucifyJesus. A Jew calledJudas (in later retellings further called Judas Cyriacus) led her to the place where they were buried. Severalmiracles were claimed to prove the authenticity of these items, and Helena returned with a piece of the cross and the nails. Socrates wrote that one nail was used to make abridle and one was used to make theHelmet of Constantine. Two relics exist that have the form of a bridle and are claimed to be the bridle of Constantine: one in the apse of theCathedral of Milan, and the other in the cathedral treasury ofCarpentras Cathedral.

TheIron Crown of Lombardy has been said to contain one of the nails; however, scientific analysis has shown that the crown contains no iron.^[3] The band that was supposed to have been formed from a nail is actually 99% silver.