Catacomb saints

A relic from the Holy Catacombs of Pancratius. Image taken at an exhibition at the Historical Museum St. Gallen in Wil, Switzerland

Catacomb saints are ancient Roman corpses that were taken from the catacombs of Rome, given fictitious names and sold abroad as relics of saints from the 16th century to the 19th century. They were typically lavishly decorated with gold and precious stones.

History

During the Beeldenstorm of the 16th century and continued iconoclasm of the 17th century, Catholic churches throughout Europe were systematically stripped of their religious symbols, iconography and relics. In response, the Vatican ordered that thousands of skeletons be exhumed from the catacombs beneath the city and "installed" in towns throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Few, if any, of the corpses belonged to people of any religious significance though given their burial, some may have been early Christian martyrs. Each was nonetheless "painstakingly" dressed and decorated as one of the various Catholic saints. One church spent 75 gulden dressing their "saint".

By the 19th century, many of the fakes had been discovered. Some were stripped of their finery and destroyed while others were placed in storage.

See also

• Protestant Reformation

Further reading

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