THE PRESTIGE CONFERRED by relics was used in the Middle Ages by both lay and clerical powers. This shared interest is an indication of the importance of religious ideology at this time, given that the same material resources—relics—served to cement the legitimacy, weight, and authority of abbots and bishops as well as kings, emperors, and aristocrats. This chapter analyses a case study involving the relics of the cathedral of Oviedo.

The worship of relics in Oviedo was consolidated between the eleventh and twelfth centuries and played a very important role in both the memorial construction of the see and the organization of its apparatus of propaganda. The process was not homogenous, but rather divided into various phases that responded to different interests.

In the initial phase it was Alfonso VI, King of Leon and Castile who directed the inventio of the relics contained in the Holy Ark. Later, Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo promoted a deep transformation that benefited the bishops of the see, who were seen from this moment onwards as directors, controllers, and organizers of the cult of relics. The same religious elements served, therefore, various interests.

Relics and Power

Christianity in Late Antiquity developed an intimate relation between power and relics, the latter used by lay and episcopal élites as an element of prestige and legitimation. Individuals who participated in the finding, transfer, and exhibition of holy remains attributed this to their own merita, consequently considering themselves responsible for the protection of the sacra pignora exercised over the populations they protected. The association between relics and rulers had already appeared in the De obitu Theodosi, by Ambrose of Milan (340–397), which narrated the legendary finding of the True Cross to the initiative of St. Helena and the consequent despatch of the nails from the crown and her horse's stirrup to her son, the Emperor Constantine. The same prelate con sidered the relics guarantors of the safety of the communities that housed them. This was undoubtedly the reason for the progressive accumulation of the remains of saints in the city of Constantinople, promoted by the emperors starting with Constantius II (317–361), and their use in certain solemn court ceremonies.