page_title: Titulus Crucis
section_title: Helena's relic
hierarchical_section_title: Titulus Crucis / Helena's relic
caption_attribution_description: Українська: Напис_на_розп'ятті_Ісуса: Релікварій у Церкві Святого Хреста в Єрусалимі English: Titulus Crucis relic kept at the Cappella delle Reliquieat in Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome, Italy
context_page_description: Titulus Crucis is a piece of wood kept in the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome which is claimed to be the titulus of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. It is venerated by some Catholics as a relic associated with Jesus. It is generally either ignored by scholars or considered to be a medieval forgery.
  The board is made of walnut wood, 25 × 14 × 2.6 cm and has a weight of 687 grams. It is inscribed on one side with three lines, of which the first is mostly destroyed. The second line is written in Greek letters and reversed script, the third in Latin letters, also with reversed script. The Latin reads Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, corresponding to John 19:19 and the initials INRI familiar to pious Catholics.
context_section_description: Saint Helena, Roman Empress and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and reportedly discovered the True Cross and many other relics which were donated to the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme ("Holy Cross in Jerusalem") which she had built in Rome about AD 325. Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso was made cardinal priest of the church in 1124 and some time before he became Pope Lucius II in 1144 he renovated the church and had the relic deposited in a box that bears his seal as a cardinal. The box was apparently forgotten until 1 February 1492, when workers restoring a mosaic discovered it hidden behind a brick that was inscribed Titulus Crucis. It was the same day that news reached Rome of the downfall of the Moors in Spain. Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal priest of Santa Croce at the time, encouraged veneration of the rediscovered relic.
caption: Titulus Crucis relic kept at Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome.svg  A part of this sign, relic known as the “Title” or "Titulus Crucis", kept in the Cappella delle Reliquie in Rome, Italy.
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