course of christian history. but could what she found have been the actual cross jesus died on? now the modern-day investigation into the true cross is gathering pace. the city of waterford is the oldest city in ireland. it boasts a long history of christianity. and a museum that holds an important relic of the true cross. what s fascinating is that it is said to have been given directly by the pope to the king of ireland and rome as we know had access to relics from jerusalem. archaeologist georges kazan is joined by scientist tom higham. he is also from oxford university in england, and he will put the relic to the test. for the first time in history, we re able to place these relics in their proper time and proper date.
and a museum that holds an important relic of the true cross. what s fascinating is that it is said to have been given directly by the pope to the king of ireland and rome as we know had access to relics from jerusalem. archaeologist georges kazan is joined by scientist tom higham. he is also from oxford university in england, and he will put the relic to the test. for the first time in history, we re able to place these relics in their proper time and proper date. the waterford cross is on loan to the medieval museum from the roman catholic archdiocese. and museum curator eamon has their permission to test it. and the relic is just inside this? it s just inside this. is that a modern script or an ancient script? no, it s a 12th century script. it says a piece of the wood of the true cross, and it was given to the king by the pope in 1110. so we can date it at least back to 1110.
in 337 a.d., constantine the great, as he will come to be known, dies. with constantine and helena, what we re seeing is christianity moving out of the shadows into the mainstream but now into the dominant position. it s not just a religion. it s the religion. now the roman empire s going to be christian. the known world s going to be christian. but the question remains, did helena actually discover the cross jesus was crucified on? at the oxford university radiocarbon accelerator lab, archaeologist dr. georges kazan and professor tom higham are about to take a step closer to solving this mystery. by carbon dating a fragment of the true cross given to the king
it s home to the largest and most revered piece of helena s discovery. dr. georges kazan is an archaeologist here to investigate the mystery of the true cross. what s at stake here is the truth about the origins of this relic. is it something that dates back from the time of christ? this relic is said to have been brought in the fifth century from jerusalem by a monk called toribio. and this relic is enormous bystanders of relics of the cross. there s not many relics that are anything like this size. there s a little window here where you can actually touch the wood itself. unfortunately, we can t open up this relic and take this wood with us or subject it to any sort of exampling. however, what i d really like to do is to get something like it
one man, jesus, was able to carry it on his shoulders. there were a lot of people who were speaking out about the devotion of relics as something which is absurd and disgusting. and that really thought that people had lost touch with the true faith. the true cross had the power to divide christianity. and the question remained, could the legend be real? high in the cantabrian mountains of spain lays the monastery. santo toribio de liebana. it s home to the largest and most revered piece of helena s discovery. dr. georges kazan is an archaeologist here to investigate the mystery of the true cross. what s at stake here is the truth about the origins of this relic. is it something that dates back