Editing True Cross (section)

===''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''.