Editing True Cross (section)

==Provenance==
{{see also|Legend of the Rood}}
[[File:Piero della Francesca 011.jpg|thumb|The [[Queen of Sheba]] venerates the wood from which the Cross will be made (mid 15th-century [[fresco]] by [[Piero della Francesca]] in [[Basilica of San Francesco, Arezzo|San Francesco, Arezzo]]).]]

===''The Golden Legend''===
In the Latin-speaking traditions of Western Europe, the story of the pre-Christian origins of the True Cross was well established by the 13th century when, in 1260, it was recorded by [[Jacobus de Voragine]], [[Bishop of Genoa]], in the ''[[Golden Legend]]''.{{efn|This sense of the word "{{linktext|legend}}" is the less common one{{mdash}}borrowed directly from its [[Latin language|Latin]] [[etymon]] "{{linktext|legenda}}"{{mdash}}of anything which should be read, rather than a historically based myth. Compare its use for historic accounts of early leaders of the church such as [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory]], [[Jerome]], and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] as well as the [[hagiographies]] which produced its more usual modern sense.}}

''The Golden Legend'' contains several versions of the origin of the True Cross. In ''The Life of Adam'', Voragine writes that the True Cross came from three trees which grew from three seeds from the "Tree of Mercy" which [[Seth]] collected and planted in the mouth of [[Adam]]'s corpse.{{sfnp|Ellis & al., Vol. I|1900}}

In another account contained in "Of the Invention of the Holy Cross", Voragine writes that the True Cross came from a tree that grew from part of the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil|Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil]], "the tree that Adam ate of", that Seth planted on Adam's grave where it "endured there unto the time of [[King Solomon|Solomon]]".{{sfnp|Ellis & al., Vol. III|1900}}{{sfnp|Herzog|1969|p=68}} Alternatively, it reached Solomon via [[Moses]], who used it as the [[staff of Moses]], and [[David]], who planted it at Jerusalem. It was felled by Solomon to be a beam in [[Temple of Solomon|his temple]] but not found suitable in the end.{{sfnp|Herzog|1969|p=68}}

After many centuries, the tree was cut down and the wood used to build a bridge over which the [[Queen of Sheba]] passed on her journey to meet Solomon. So struck was she by the [[omen|portent]] contained in the timber of the bridge that she fell on her knees and revered it. On her visit to Solomon, she told him that a piece of wood from the bridge would bring about the replacement of [[Mosaic covenant|God's covenant]] with the Jewish people by a new order. Solomon, fearing the eventual destruction of his people, had the timber buried.{{sfnp|Ellis & al., Vol. III|1900}}{{sfnp|Herzog|1969|p=68}}

After fourteen generations, the wood taken from the bridge was fashioned into the Cross used to [[Crucifixion|crucify]] Jesus Christ.{{sfnp|Ellis & al., Vol. III|1900}}{{sfnp|Herzog|1969|p=68}} Voragine then goes on to describe its rediscovery by Helena, mother of the [[Constantine the Great|Emperor Constantine]].{{sfnp|Ellis & al., Vol. III|1900}}

In the [[Late Middle Ages]] and [[Early Renaissance]], there was wide general acceptance of the account of the cross's history as presented by Voragine. This general acceptance is displayed in numerous artworks on the subject, culminating in one of the most famous [[fresco]] cycles of the Renaissance, the ''[[Legend of the True Cross]]'' by [[Piero della Francesca]], which he painted on the walls of the [[chancel]] of the [[Basilica of San Francesco, Arezzo|Church of San Francesco]] in [[Arezzo]] between 1452 and 1466, faithfully reproducing the episodes of ''The Golden Legend''.

===Eastern Christianity===
According to the [[Sacred Tradition|sacred tradition]] of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] the True Cross was made from three different types of wood: [[Cedrus|cedar]], [[pine]] and [[cypress]].<ref name = "Roman">{{cite web |last=Roman |first=Alexander |url=http://www.ukrainian-orthodoxy.org/articles/2005/elevation.htm |title=Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303012320/http://www.ukrainian-orthodoxy.org/articles/2005/elevation.htm |archive-date=2016-03-03 |publisher=Ukrainian Orthodoxy |access-date=2012-10-27 }}</ref> This is an allusion to {{Bibleverse||Isaiah|60:13|HE}}: "The glory of [[Lebanon]] shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box [cypress] together to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious." The link between this verse and the crucifixion lies in the words "the place of my feet", which is interpreted as referring to the footrest ({{langx|la|suppedāneum}}) on which Jesus' feet were nailed{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} and which appears on the [[Orthodox cross]]. (Compare with the Jewish concepts of the [[Ark of the Covenant]] or the [[Jerusalem Temple]] as being God's footstool,{{sfnp|Kittel & al.|1969|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eEITN4tLxtoC&pg=PA627 627]}} and the prescribed [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals]], in Hebrew ''aliya la-regel'', lit. ''ascending to the foot'').<ref>{{cite web |publisher= Science 2.0 |url= https://www.science20.com/news_releases/enormous_footshaped_enclosure_discovered_jordan_valley |title= Enormous 'foot-shaped' enclosure discovered in Jordan Valley |date= 6 April 2009 |access-date= 19 November 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181119214419/https://www.science20.com/news_releases/enormous_footshaped_enclosure_discovered_jordan_valley |archive-date= 19 November 2018 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

===Tradition of Lot's triple tree===
A further tradition holds that these three trees from which the True Cross was constructed grew together in one spot. A traditional Orthodox [[icon]] in the [[Monastery of the Cross]] depicts [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]], the nephew of [[Abraham]], watering the trees.<ref name="Roman"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Monastery of the Cross |url=https://www.biblewalks.com/monastery-of-the-cross/ |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=BibleWalks 500+ sites |language=en-US}}</ref> According to tradition, these trees were used to construct the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] ("to beautify the place of my sanctuary"). Later, during [[Herod the Great|Herod's]] [[Temple of Herod|reconstruction of the Temple]], the wood from these trees was removed from the Temple and discarded, eventually being used to construct the cross on which Jesus was crucified ("and I will make the place of my feet glorious").{{citation needed |date=November 2018}}