The Tau Cross of Saint Anthony

[RENSHAW]

After serving as Hospitalero at ruins of the Monestario San Anton I thought I would do a little homework on the relevance of the Tau Cross. Someone had told it was mentioned in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel and that ' Unspeakable wrath would befall any soul who harmed a pilgrim wearing one '?..... But , the Old Testament?
The Symbol is mentioned in Ezekiel as a mark made on the forehead but I did not see any reference to the protection of pilgrims.
I have seen that Saint Francis adopted the cross in his coat of arms and there is a reference to Pope Inoccent III.
Was the line I heard crusade related?

I really did not intend making this a 'Master Mind' Quiz.

Lastly , does Pope Francis wear a Tau Cross?

 

[SYates]

The bit with the OT is a bit puzzling, I agree, but it is correct, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taw

As far as I know the "pilgrim protection" bit is more (new) age ;-)

Hope that helps a little, SY

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

in this picture (from Slate.com) at least, no...it looks like one with Christ as a Shepherd of His flock to me

 

[jirit]

The symbol of the tau is found in a number of places and cultures dating back to ancient Greece. It is found along the camino in Spain and including sections along the Via Francigena in Italy also.

http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/site/en/highlights/Knights-of-the-Tau-di-Altopascio/

From wikipedia: Tau is usually considered as the symbol of Franciscan orders due to St. Francis' love for it, symbol of the redemption and of the Cross. Almost all Franciscan churches have painted a tau with two crossing arms, both with stigmata, the one of Jesus and the other of Francis; usually members of the Secular Franciscan Order wear a wooden τ in a string with three knots around the neck.

 

[Arn]

The Pectoral Cross worn by Pope Francis is called the Good Shepherd Cross. It depicts Our Lord carrying the lost sheep and leading the ninety-nine. Overhead is the dove of peace.

 

[David]

Interesting thing about Christian use of the cross symbol. The Romans, who have left us with countless documents, never once described how to do a crucifixion.
Note to moderators - this isn't to do with religion it is to do with history.

There is not one historic record (apart from the Gospels, of course, though technically they aren't 'history') so no one knows how they configured the cross.
It could have been just an upright pole with hands and feet crossed. It could have been Tau shaped - a beam across the top of the upright, it could have been two poles lashed together diagonally to form a cross, it could have been as it is portrayed in fourth century onwards Christian imagery .. but we don't know.

I have always wondered - consider this scenario. You have a squad of Legionaries arriving at a village with their officer. They capture the rebel they are searching for and the officer says "alright lads, crucify him". So, they have their swords, the only tools. What do they do? They certainly haven't brought a carpenter made slot together cross with them .. so ... how do you make a support that allows you to crucify someone? I think that I would take two poles and tie them together diagonally to form the cross shape and then lean it against a house wall or nearby tree.
We don't know, we just don't know - and the Tau cross is just as likely as any other I guess.

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

They capture the rebel they are searching for and the officer says "alright lads, crucify him". So, they have their swords, the only tools. What do they do? They certainly haven't brought a carpenter made slot together cross with them .. so ... how do you make a support that allows you to crucify someone? I think that I would take two poles and tie them together diagonally to form the cross shape and then lean it against a house wall or nearby tree.

that could be...or they (or other town folk pressed into service) could construct a cross and dig a hole pretty quickly (I have no opinion or preference either way). I've seen some pretty fast work done by soldiers, especially if there is a point to be made of it.

 

[David]

that could be...or they (or other town folk pressed into service) could construct a cross and dig a hole pretty quickly (I have no opinion or preference either way). I've seen some pretty fast work done by soldiers, especially if there is a point to be made of it.

True, if you had some spades and a pick axe you could do a hole but, to keep an upright upright with a heavy cross beam on it and also a moving man on it it would have to be really deep and really narrow or it wouldn't work - think of the practicalities of it - how do you make the upright and the cross beam? how do you connect the upright and the cross beam? - out of the materials to hand, and you might be out at a crossroads - what would you make?

I think that the answer is the simplest device possible - Occams razor here - so they would all be different.

 

[SYates]

Some Bible translations state "and he was nailed on a tree" - Not a pretty picture, a living tree a ready made torture/killing device ... SY

 

[David]

Some Bible translations state "and he was nailed on a tree" - Not a pretty picture, a living tree a ready made torture/killing device ... SY

Yes, some others a 'pole' - oh for a time machine!

 

[Pepin]

It is amazing how, the letter Tau, TÅ as well as number 99 are repeated in Various religions and beliefs.
Tau as a symbol was related to Templars as well, and up to certain point one of many accusation causes to their Gnostic practices!
For example, 99 are the names of "Allah" in Islam, طاهر , is one of the names.. Taher or Tahir meaning Pure in action and thoughts, the Gnostic movement, such as Darvish's of Sufism use the First letter TÃ, ط , T, of Taher as one of their meditation voices to get into the selflessness state!
Strange enough some Similarities in Budism, further more in Early Egyptian writing letter Taw was a Cross shaped figure!!
With all my Respects to all beliefs.
I am thinking to myself now , Aren't we all going round the same circle?

 

[me123]

I found a Tau cross wiith a metal detector, its a dress hook dating to the late 1400s, the silver twisted wire is i believe meant to represent ST Anthony's robe cord. From my reaserch the precious metal Tau crosses belong to elite confraternities, the order it turned into some aristocratic order in
Europe, the well to do would pay into the hospitals treating diseases like ergot and in return got special favours, i think the MIDDLEHAM jewel and Winteringham Tau cross could of belonged to these rich aristocrats. Heres a picture of what i dug out of the ground.

 

[mspath]

I found a Tau cross wiith a metal detector, its a dress hook dating to the late 1400s, the silver twisted wire is i believe meant to represent ST Anthony's robe cord. From my reaserch the precious metal Tau crosses belong to elite confraternities, the order it turned into some aristocratic order in
Europe, the well to do would pay into the hospitals treating diseases like ergot and in return got special favours, i think the MIDDLEHAM jewel and Winteringham Tau cross could of belonged to these rich aristocrats. Heres a picture of what i dug out of the ground.

me123,
Welcome to the forum!
Wow! That is quite a photo with which to start your first post!
Enjoy your browsing here as perhaps you plan for a future camino.
Wherever/whenever you do go Carpe diem!

 

[Stephan the Painter]

I didn’t know what a tau cross was, but after reading the comments I did a little research. Very interesting. I still don’t think I really understand what it is or symbolizes. But I found an interesting reference to the Saint Anthony panel on the Isenheim altar piece, where the saint is showing holding one. About 15 years ago I made a special trip to see it when I was traveling in France.

The Isenheim altarpiece - Musée Unterlinden

Between 1512 and 1516, the artists Niclaus of Haguenau (for the sculpted portion) and […]

www.musee-unterlinden.com

 

[naplesdon]

It is amazing how, the letter Tau, TÅ as well as number 99 are repeated in Various religions and beliefs.
Tau as a symbol was related to Templars as well, and up to certain point one of many accusation causes to their Gnostic practices!
For example, 99 are the names of "Allah" in Islam, طاهر , is one of the names.. Taher or Tahir meaning Pure in action and thoughts, the Gnostic movement, such as Darvish's of Sufism use the First letter TÃ, ط , T, of Taher as one of their meditation voices to get into the selflessness state!
Strange enough some Similarities in Budism, further more in Early Egyptian writing letter Taw was a Cross shaped figure!!
With all my Respects to all beliefs.
I am thinking to myself now , Aren't we all going round the same circle?

Yes, we are definitely walking around in circles. There are 11 saints named Anthony. The "T" is the symbol for San Anton Abad (The Great) born in Egypt around 251 AD. The Knights Templar adopted the sign of the Tau for their protection from evil. The stone clerestory window at the monastery feature the "T" in it motif.

 

[me123]

The stone clerestory window at the monastery feature the "T" in it motif. at San Anton at Castrojeriz looks like the Tau crosses are encircled with imitation hermits girdles with the ends of the girdles hanging down to form the pattern of the window. This looks like the insignia of the (knights) order of St Anthony with a bell above or below. It looks like it derives from the Egyptian Ankh