IV.

As the embodiment of the crusades and the associated doctrine of expectation and redemption, Heraclius was an important political exemplum in the high Middle Ages.

The murals in the south transept of the Braunschweig Dom presenting the Helena and Heraclius legend were conceived and begun (1172) under the patronage of the Welf duke Henry the Lion (1129/31-1195) but completed between 1240 and 1250 by Otto the Child, the nephew of Henry’s son Otto IV (1177-1218). The Chronoca Slavorum (after 1210) of Arnold von Lübeck (d. 1212) tells how Henry the Lion visited the Holy Land as a pilgrim. ^[41] The pilgrimage of Henry the Lion took on a mythical quality, becoming the stuff of popular sagas and romances. The treasures from distant Palestine and the stories that went the rounds must have kept the memory of the duke’s pilgrimage very much alive. Crusading is more closely associated with Otto the Child than with his uncle. In 1293, together with the Teutonic Order, Otto mounted an expedition to Prussia to protect the Baltic from heathenism. When Europe was alarmed by Mongol invasions (in 1240 they took Kiev and the following year Cracow) Otto deployed all possible means. The fear created by the Mongols is reflected in the Heraclius cycle, more specifically in the duel on the bridge over the Danube. Brenske points out that in Braunschweig that battle is expressly depicted as Heraclius and Chosroes in single combat (fig. 3). ^[42]

In the seventh-century anonymous Syriac Alexander legend, Heraclius is involved, in an eschatological sense, in the battle against Gog and Magog. In Alexander of Bremen’s Apocalypse, Heraclius is also the Last Emperor who defeats the Antichrist, Chosroes. However, it is noteworthy that Bela, the Hungarian king, himself compared the battle at the Danube with that particular duel. ^[43] The actual battle against the Mongols was perceived as having the dimensions of the battle between Christendom and the Persians. ^[44]

In the cycle, a striking amount of attention is devoted to Chosroes too (four scenes: the looting of the Cross, the veneration of Chosroes, the duel and the decapitation of Chosroes. Brenske does not exclude the possibility that the emphasis on Chosroes alludes to Frederick II (1212-1254), arch-enemy of the Welfs, who was excommunicated by the pope (successively Gregory IX and Innocent IV). Cardinal Rainer of Viterbo even likens Frederick to Lucifer: "sitting on his throne as if he was God himself" (1245), a description that could apply equally well to Chosroes. ^[45]

The legend of Heraclius and Chosroes became re-invented according to the contemporary history, and was in text and image embraced by crusade-ideology and –propaganda. The Byzantine emperor and his opposite pole, Chosroes, offered a suitable model – elaborated before in apocalyptic literature and iconography - to deal with the conflicts and traumas of that time.

V.

The legend of the True Cross became widespread by the legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine (ca 1260). It needs no further comment that this compilation was of immense influence on iconography too. ^[46] With Jacobus de Voragine, we can begin to speak about the synthetic "Legend of the Cross." This means three separate traditions fused: the finding of the True Cross by queen Helena (4th-century patristics, liturgy 3 may), ^[47] the Exultation by Heraclius, and thirdly Seth receiving a branch from the tree of life that will become the wood of the True Cross (12th-century biblical histories). ^[48]

From the 14^th century, the complete story finds its response in monumental cycles in the Italian Franciscan churches.

Between 1388 and 1393, the Alberti family financed a monumental cycle in the choir of the Santa Croce in Florence where, since 1374, they alone received the privilege of being buried there. ^[49] Agnolo Gaddi provides a cycle on the right and left walls with a total of eight registers on the Legend of the Cross. The commission would become a key moment in the iconography of the Legend of the Cross, for never before was the legend represented in its tripartite cyclical relevance. The choir demonstrates the story of the wood of the cross that begins with Seth and ends with Heraclius. The completeness and the compact quality of the cycle in Florence served the function of an exemplar. The emulation of Gaddi meant the spreading of the legend in nearby Volterra (Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni, 1410) ^[50] and Arezzo (Piero della Francesca, before 1466).

The Legend of the Cross has a Franciscan patronage to thank for its dissemination in monumental art. They used the power of the medium of fresco to its fullest. Florence, Volterra, Montegiorgio, Arezzo - these cycles were all conceived within the ideology of this mendicant order. Why did the Franciscans have a predilection for the subject matter of the Legend of the Cross?

In the Legenda major (1260-62), Bonaventure situates the stigmatization of St. Francis around the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. ^[51] In a vision, he saw the crucified Christ as a seraph. On 14 September, the Byzantine liturgy commemorates not only Heraclius but also the Discovery of the Cross by Helena. Besides the chronological evidence to group the legends together in one cycle, the two important feasts of the cross of East and West are reunited. This certainly points to an ecumenical institution familiar to the Franciscans ^[52] but also to their empathy for all aspects of the cult of the cross.

Historical circumstances have also contributed to the "Franciscan Legend of the Cross." Since the beginning of the 14^th century, the Franciscans were the "guardians" (Custodes) of the holy sites in Jerusalem, namely the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the tomb of Mary in the valley of Josephat. ^[53] Besides poverty and humility, the importance attached to missionary work is a focus of Francis’ biographies. Where this missionary branch was felt most strongly was where Saracens and Islam were concerned, but the mission was intended for all heresy in general. This branch was to be paired with the necessary tolerance, martyrdom, and humility, ^[54] qualities, which could be recognized in Constantine, Helena, and Heraclius and their service to the cross. In their devotional focus on the cross and their religious engagement with other religions, the Franciscans also took an apologetic and social standpoint toward the Jews. The Franciscans organized refuges in the area - so-called monti di pietà - for victims of Jewish lending practices. ^[55]

In the scene of Piero’s cycle, we see the battle of Heraclius under crusade flag against the Islam flag (fig. 4). ^[56] In the right corner, we see a rather simple, empty throne. One notices the cock and the cross. A man is kneeling to be decapitated. It is possible that the three witnesses behind are members of the Bacci-family who financed this commission. ^[57] Carlo Ginzberg discussed the possible intervention or intellectual influence of cardinal Bessarion (°1403 -+1472). ^[58] He was crucial in the diplomacy between Rome and Constantinople, and he also signed the agreements made during the Ferrara-Firenze council on July 6th 1439. ^[59] In 1459, the Cardinal becomes the official protector of the Franciscans. In 1459, Bessarion receives an important cross relic of the patriarch of Constantinople Gregorius Melisseno. ^[60] It is known that he corresponded with Francesco and Giovanni Bacci of the Arezzo elite. This all occurred within the period of the execution of the cycle.

Due to the fact that the Piero-cycle is maybe one of the most discussed topics in art history, the research in the legend of the cross coincided almost with Arezzo-Tuscany and remained on this small and narrow basis for many generations. Several less known or even unpublished Heraclius-cycles await us in small and forgotten churches in Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and also the south of Italy. I was able to unlock some of them in case studies. ^[61] For this occasion, I would like to end with what is – as far as I know - also the last representation of the Chosroes throne, the cycle in Wiesendangen of Hans Haggenberg.

(1496). ^[62] At the south wall of the main choir, several scenes of the episode are depicted.

The throne of Chosroes is beautifully evocated (fig. 5). The dome is supported by seven columns. Behind, one can see the cross relic, on the right the cock. The landscape continues on the following scene where the two armies are confronted. The duel beneath is placed in a panorama inspired by the Danube Valley. The helmet Heraclius wears is identical with a commissioner represented in the south window. The story follows where the same throne is depicted now for the decapitation. The family Hohenlandenberg was responsible for this cycle. Hugo of Hohenlandenberg became bishop of Konstanz in 1496. The cathedral of Konstanz since 1260 contained a round Holy Sepulchre chapel with twelve columns and twelve images of the apostles. The ceiling of the choir in Wiesendangen was covered with a credo of the apostles too. In Konstanz, a cross relic was venerated since 1342. ^[63] These are all factors that contributed to the choice for our theme in the church.

VI

With the coming of modernity, not Heraclius, but Chosroes’ throne will disappear. From the episode, only the triumph of Heraclius, now the image of the power of Contra-Reformatory Church, is kept alive. ^[64] The image of the Sassanian Court, the lens for the medieval West to look at the East and the Muslim world, fades away: furthermore, the cross legend looses its radiance due to a mentality and culture that desires to focus on the historical emperor and not on the legends that were twined around him.