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In 1606 Henry Garnet, provincial of the English Jesuits and purported co-conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot against James I, was executed at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Following his death, accounts of miracles occurring at his execution began to spread throughout England, including an account of a relic bearing his miraculous image. While Catholic writers promoted these accounts as evidence of Garnet's innocence, Protestant contemporaries argued that Garnet was an illegitimate martyr and that his commemoration was evidence of Catholic support for regicide. This article demonstrates how London Protestant writers and publishers utilized anti-hagiographical arguments to intervene in attempts to promote Garnet's sainthood, counter claims about the veracity of his relic, and shape his legacy in the decades following his execution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cathedral of Valencia, Spain, has preserved the so-called Holy Chalice of the Last Supper since 1437. It consists of a foot, a gold stem, and an upper cup carved in agate stone. Based on a pious tradition, this cup is supposed to be the one used by Jesus of Nazareth to institute the Eucharist. According to an archeological study published in 1960, this agate bowl was crafted around the 2nd–1st centuries BC, but people visiting this famous relic often wonder about its authenticity and about the evidence supporting it as a Hellenistic–Roman cup. Attempting to clarify this concern, a photographical characterization of the agate cup is presented and discussed. The main conclusions are the following: (i) The typology of the bowl is common to classical tableware, but the wall thickness, shape of the rim, and foot are typical of gemstone cups from the Hellenistic–Roman period. (ii) This cup would have been extremely valuable, which agrees with the location of the Cenacle in the aristocratic neighborhood of Jerusalem. This case study highlights the importance of further investigating the dating of historical objects as a key issue to support their authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]