Tissus et culte des reliques

Whether we know them from texts or from actual remains, those textiles that were connected to the cult of relics may be classified in three categories: relics in the strict sense of the word – remains of dresses worn by biblical figures, martyrs and other saints –, textiles in which relics were wrapped, and pieces of textile that had been in contact with relics and had therefore acquired a talismanic value : brandea or “contact relics”.