We are joined by Dr Emily Guerry, from the University of Oxford to talk about: Reinventing the Crown of Thorns: Art, Power, and Display from Jerusalem to Constantinople and Paris. This talk follows the remarkable journey of one of Christianity’s most enigmatic relics, the Crown of Thorns, tracing how its meaning was reshaped as it travelled between the world’s most sacred cities. Beginning with its elusive presence at the Church of Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and its translation to the imperial palace in Constantinople, the lecture explores the evolving symbolism of the relic as it reached Paris, where the breathtaking Sainte-Chapelle was conceived to house it. Once part of the French royal collection, the Crown of Thorns survived the Revolution and the devastating 2019 fire at Notre-Dame, where it now rests in a dazzling new reliquary. Across centuries and continents, the Crown’s power has been continually reimagined - its significance encoded in the art and architecture of the churches that once enshrined it.

Originally from San Francisco, Dr Emily Guerry studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Division I Volleyball scholarship before discovering her passion for medieval history. After completing her PhD at Cambridge, a fellowship in Paris, and a JRF at Merton College, Oxford, she joined the University of Kent as Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of MEMS. In 2024, she returned to Oxford as a Tutor and Lecturer in Medieval History at St Peter's College.