Holy Coat of Treves

A relic preserved with great reverence in the cathedral of Treves, in the southern part of France, and esteemed as one of the greatest treasures of that city. The priests claim that it was the seamless coat of our Savior, and that it was discovered in the 4th century by the empress Helena on her visit to Palestine, and by her deposited at Treves. The Treves relics were concealed from the Normans in the 9th century in crypts, but the holy coat was rediscovered in 1196. It was solemnly exhibited again to the public in 1512. Multitudes flocked to see and venerate it, and Leo X appointed an exhibition of it every seven years. The Reformation and wars prevented the regular observance of this great religious festival, but it was celebrated in 1810 and was attended by a concourse of more than 225,000 persons, and in 1844 by still greater multitudes. Miraculous cures were confidently asserted to be performed by the precious relic. The exhibition of the holy coat in 1844 is otherwise memorable for the reaction, which it produced, leading to the secession of Rongé and the German Catholics from the Church of Rome. See Gildemeister and Sybel, Der heil. Rock zu Trier (1845).