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Egeria, Monuments of faith in the Medieval Mediterranean, Greek Ministry of Culture, Sinai Icons, Greek Ministry of Culture, Athens , 2008
Religious objects, God Trodden Mount Sinai Holy Monastery of saint Catherine, Egypt

(page 244) there is an engraved coat of arms where the insignia of Saint
Catherine are repeated twice, the palm tree and the wheel.
40. CHALICE, DONATION OF KING This coat of arms is related to the order of knights of Cour
CHARLES VI OF FRANCE amoureuse which was founded in 1400 by Charles VI (1380-
1422), as well
Dating: 1411
Dimensions: 21.3 cm.
Place of keeping: God Trodden Mount Sinai Holy Monastery,
Saint Catherine’s

Silver gilt with translucent small-sized enamels. Paris

1411. It is preserved in good condition. Latin and Greek
inscription on the lower part of the base of the chalice:
KAROL(us) FRANCOR(UM) REX IV DEDIT IST(um)
CALICE(m) ECCL(es)IE S(an)C(t)E KATERINE / DE
MONTE SYNAY ANNO D(omi)NY / MΊ CCCΊXIΊ ORATE
PRO EO / ΚΑΡΟΛΟ΢ Ο Σ(ων) ΦΡΑΓΓ(ων) ΡΗΞ CTος /
ΕΔΩΚ(ε) ΣΟΤ-Σο ΣΟ Ποτ(ηρι )ο ΣΗ ΕΚΚΛΗ(σια ) ΣΗC /
Αγι(ας) ΚΑΣΕ-ΡΙν(ης) ΣΟΤ ΟΡΟΤC CΙΝΑ ΕΣ(ει) / TOY
K(σριο )Y AYIA EYXE(σθε ) Τ(περ ) ΑΤ(τοσ ).
The chalice is decorated on the whole surface with
engraved fleur-de-lis, the characteristic emblem of the royal
house of France already from the period of its first king,
Clovis I (466-27 November 511). The type of the specific
chalice, with small variations, is quite popular in the end of
the 14th-beginning of the 15th century in the areas of
present-day Flanders, France and Spain. Scattered fleur-de-lis
decorate the exterior side of the chalice. At the handle of the
chalice there are, with the enamel technique, rosettes having
on them in half portrait eight figures, of Christ and the seven
apostles. We can discern Apostles Peter, Paul, John and
James. Fleur de lis in frames decorate the eight-sided base of
the chalice combined with other themes. The seal of
(page 245) 40
the city of Paris appears twice as it was modified in the era of (page 246)
Charles V (1364-1380), with the royal fleur-de-lis and the as with the coat of arms used by Pierre Bonenfant, the then
crown. Three fleur-de-lis on a royal bleu enameled abbot of the Monastery of Saint Catherine du-Val-des-Ecoliers
background represent the seal of Charles VI. In a miniature (died in 1417). As we are informed by the Greek and Latin
representation with enamel technique we see Christ sitting inscription at the base of the chalice, it is a dedication by the
between the Virgin and Saint Ioannis Theologos. Finally, king of France Charles VI to the Holy Monastery of Sinai. as
 Egeria, Monuments of faith in the Medieval Mediterranean, Greek Ministry of Culture, Sinai Icons, Greek Ministry of Culture, Athens , 2008
Religious objects, God Trodden Mount Sinai Holy Monastery of saint Catherine, Egypt

with the coat of arms used by Pierre Bonenfant, the then abbot
of the Monastery of Saint Catherine du-Val-des-Ecoliers (died
in 1417).
As we are informed by the Greek and Latin inscription
at the base of the chalice, it is a dedication by the king of
France Charles VI to the Holy Monastery of Sinai. Saint
Catherine was the patron saint of the royal house of the
Valois. The Monastery of Saint Catherine du-Val-des-Ecoliers
was founded in the 13th century in Paris. In the 14th century
near the monastery of the saint, Charles V (1364-1380), father
of Charles VI, built Hotel Saint Paul as his main residence and
used the nearby church of the saint as royal chapel. He had
taken care to have a priest at the church and in 1375 he
dedicated to it a valuable reliquary where they kept the saint’s
hand. Charles VI continued honouring the saint naming his
daughter after her, Catherine de Valois, later Queen of
England (1420-1422) and wife of Henri VI (1421-1471).
Perhaps the fact that the chalice was sent to the Holy
Monastery of Sinai is a royal reciprocation to the remains of
the saint which was dedicated in 1375 to the royal chapel by
Charles V, and perhaps the abbot of the monastery, Pierre
Bonenfant, played some part in this donation. The presence of
the chalice of Charles VI in the Monastery of Sinai is
indicative of the great honor received by the monastery, not
just by simple pilgrims, but also by the leaders of small and
big countries of the Christian world, irrespective of their
denomination.
[D.K.]

Bibliography
Y.Ikonomaki-Papadopoulos , Church Metalwork, in Sinai Treasures
of the Monastery, K.Manaphes (ed.) Ekdotike Athinon,
Athens 1990, 263-307. 1990, 267, 284, fig. 8.
H.C.Evans, in Pilgrimage to Sinai, A Drandaki, (ed.), Pilgrimage to
Sinai: Treasures from the Holy Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Catalogue of the Exhibition, Benaki Museum,
thens, 20 July-26 September 2004, Athens 2004.. 198-
201.
J.Durand 2004a. Le calice offert en 1411 par Charles VI au
Monastere de Sainte-Catherine du Sinai, in Objets d’art.
Melanges en l’honneur de Daniel Alcouffe, Dijon 2004,
56-65.