The Macro-History: Symbol, Relic, and Material Cross

Among miraculous images, why did crosses and crucifixes become so predominant? Each wonderworking cross or crucifix had its own legend of origin and miracle stories attached to it. At the same time, each particular object was part of the larger narrative of the prototype, the True Cross, and the legends surrounding it. These “macro-histories” were not only attached to the prototype but were also relevant for shaping and consolidating the understandings, experiences, and functions of each particular wonderworking object. The prototype and its legends were, in other words, linked together with each particular depiction and its narrative. In this chapter, we will examine the relationship between legends and religious texts and the monumental crosses and crucifixes placed inside medieval churches. We will see how not only the True Cross and its relics, but any depiction of a cross or a crucifix, had the potential of being a wonderworking or miraculous object.