An Ethiopian Monk Says Christ Left Nothing Behind — And Describes What Europe Actually Had

Relics of Jesus filled medieval Europe, from splinters of the True Cross to a crown of thorns kept in a royal chapel. An Ethiopian monk, steeped in the manuscripts of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, says Christ left nothing physical behind. So what was Europe actually venerating? We follow the relic trade that grew out of the Crusades: the Shroud of Turin, the Holy Lance sold as the Spear of Destiny, the Holy Grail, the Holy Nails, and the Holy Prepuce that several churches claimed at once. We look at why Louis IX built Sainte-Chapelle around a single thorny wreath, and why John Calvin mocked fake relics by saying there was enough cross wood to fill a ship. Then the monk turns to his own tradition: the cross fragment said to rest at Gishen Mariam, the Meskel festival, and the Ark of the Covenant at Axum. This is church history told from outside the Latin West, using Ethiopian Christianity and its Bible to ask what holiness requires. The Ethiopian Channel brings these voices and manuscripts to viewers who want Christian history beyond the familiar story. If this changed how you see medieval relics, like the video and subscribe for the monk's next reading from the Ethiopian manuscripts.