The Shroud of Oviedo: ancient and modern history

In the Middle Ages, there was a great variety of shrouds venerated in different parts of the Christian world. The Sudarium of Oviedo, woven around the eighth century AD, is recorded in the sources as from the last quarter of the eleventh century and is one of the relics preserved in the cathedral of the city. Its existence can be considered one of the effects of the joint efforts that the clergy and the political power made to provide a historical and propagandistic legitimation to the supremacy of Oviedo's bishopric. In the last fifty years, as a result of the powerful propaganda carried out by some exponents of a pseudo-science known as "syndonology", the Sudarium of Oviedo enjoys a growing fame, especially in the media, and it is presented as if it were an authentic relic, that is, as the true shroud that wrapped the head of Jesus of Nazareth.