Conquis par feu Another Shroud Mystery Solved?
Well-known to many students of
the Shroud is that Margaret de Charny, grand-daughter of the
Geoffrey
de Charny
of Lirey with whom the Shroud first historically surfaces
in Europe, stated on oath that the Shroud had been
conquis par feu
messire Geofroy de Charny
.
There has been a great deal of uncertainty
regarding the meaning of these words, but now Patrick Farrell of
Ross shire has come up with a highly convincing explanation. According
to him feu refers to Geoffrey, and is the same as in the well-known
feu le roi, vive le roi, i.e. the king is dead, long live the
king. In other words this is not the feu derived from focum,
meaning fire, but a feu from fatutus, meaning deceased.
You can check this with any French dictionary. In this context conquis
means no more than obtained. The bad news is that it sheds absolutely
no light on the circumstances in which Geoffrey gained possession of this
relic.
Patrick Farrell's argument can indeed be checked with any French dictionary, and seems to settle this previous mystery once and for all.
An ambitious new resource for Shroud Research: STURP photographer Barrie Schwortz's CD-ROM project
As mentioned in the Editorial,
Barrie Schwortz (seen at right, with Cardinal Saldarini), the STURP photographer
whose Internet site on the Shroud represents the subjects finest standard-bearer
for the outside world, has been working on a Shroud CD-ROM.
For anyone unfamiliar with CD-ROM technology,
discs the size of ordinary music CDs can be imprinted with a vast amount
of data which anyone with a home computer that is fitted with a CD-ROM
player can access with ease. For instance the London National Gallery's
entire collection of paintings has been put on CD-ROM, and discs can be
purchased relatively inexpensively for such home use for anyone to study
details from these paintings at their leisure. The entire Encyclopaedia
Britannica is likewise available in this same format.
On his Internet site Barrie explains
his plans for a Shroud CD-ROM as follows:
please click
here
.
How You can Help Barrie
Barrie
has been working on the development and production of the Shroud of Turin
CD-ROM for more than two years. The project is now more than 50% complete,
and Barrie could have the final version ready for release by mid-1999 with
sufficient backing. However so far he has been unable to find a publisher
willing to provide the funding necessary to finish the production, although
many have shown an interest in distributing the disc once it is completed.
Accordingly, in an effort to raise
funds to complete production, Barrie
has produced a limited edition fine
art print from one of his Shroud photographs, "The Man In Sepia", seen
at right, the proceeds from which will go towards completion of the
CD-ROM project. As described by Barrie, this is the first fine art print
ever made from any of the photographs in his collection. For details please
visit the Website Store on Barrie's site.
Dr.Alan Whanger: New improved Website
To enable world-wide study of Dr. Alan Whangers controversial arguments, a very major upgrade has recently been made of the website of CSST, the American Council for Study of the Shroud of Turin of which Alan and his wife Mary are directors. This now includes videotape movies of Alan's polarized image overlay comparison. Barrie Schwortz has described the results of the improvements as dramatic and enlightening, not to mention downright fun. The site can be accessed at: http://dmi-www.mc.duke.edu/shroud/default.htm, but can also be easily accessed via Barrie's www.shroud.com.
Further information can also be obtained
by writing to CSST News P.O.Box 52427, Durham, NC 27717 U.S.A, tel./fax
919 489-3279, e-mail ADW2@acpub.Duke.edu