Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 11: Feast of the Crown of Thorns

In 1239, French king Louis IX brought what he believed to the Crown of Thorns, worn by Jesus during his crucifixion, to Paris. A royal chapel was constructed to house it and other relics, and feast day was instituted in August. Originally specific to the chapel, the feast would later be celebrated across northern France.

Additional feast days for the crown were adopted over time, specific to other locations, with Rome settling on the Friday after Ash Wednesday as the feast day. But it's not a universal feast, so it does still crop up at other times in other places, such as Heiligenkreuz in Austria, which celebrates the feast in August. There are a couple of crown relics in town, between one granted in the 12th century by Leopold V (given to him by Baldwin IV, king of Jerusalem), and a thorn that Louis IX took from his crown and gave to the Austrian duke Frederick II (also known as Frederick the Quarrelsome). Not sure why they chose August - as far as I can tell neither gift was made in that month - but August it is.