How the Holy Cross was Found: From Event to Medieval Legend

Abstract

Studies the origin of the Inventio Crucis legend: the historical events behind it as well as its textual sources and antecedents. A literary interpretation of the text is then attempted, showing that the legend is influenced by Jewish traditions and adversus Iudaeos treatises. Finally, the liturgical texts used to celebrate Inventio Crucis in the Middle Ages are surveyed. Three versions of the Latin Inventio Crucis legend are edited in an appendix, two of them for the first time.