[MR] History Blog: 14-15th C. Reliquary Figurines

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble friends,

Yesterday's History Blog discussed the discovery of 188 clay reliquary
figurines in Berlin's Molkenmarkt.

The statuettes depict various female saints. Such figures were popular
devotional items during the 14th and 15th centuries. A number of the Berlin
statuettes have an indent where a purported "relic" of saint was enshrined.
Some of the figures have traces of bone in these cavities (keep in mind
that there was an illegal but very lucrative trade in phoney relics at this
time). The History Blog story does not discuss the context of these figures.

The Molkenmarkt, or "Whey Market" was a public square in the earliest known
part of Berlin. Excavations there have yielded some 600,000 artefacts over
the past five years.

The story is at https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/71977 .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.