Pierre d'Arcis, the French Bishop's Memorandum in 1389
A French bishop, Pierre d'Arcis,
was trying to stop and exhibit of the Shroud. He drafted a letter to the
pope claiming that an artist had confessed to painting it. Not many
people took him seriously then. Not many historians do not take him
seriously today.
Several documents have been discovered that challenge both his honesty
as well as his motives. Pilgrims were the problem. Rather than visiting
his cathedral in the city of Troyes, France, they were visiting the
small church in Lirey to see the purported burial shroud of Christ. And
that is where they were spending their money. Money was needed for
ongoing construction on the cathedral. There were shrines for four
saints, although, admittedly, no one seemed to know who two of them
were. Troyes was famous as the founding city of the by then outlawed
Knights Templar.
Though Pierre was possibly not the first to challenge the authenticity
of the Shroud, he certainly wasn't the last. The document is still
referenced by skeptics even though its contents are suspect; even though
it has now been scientifically proved that the Shroud was not painted.