During the 15th century, western Europe was shaken by the Beeldenstorm – the statue fury – a term used for outbreaks of destruction of religious image. During these spates of iconoclasm, Catholic art and many forms of church fittings and decoration were destroyed in unofficial or mob actions. As the Catholic churches were systematically stripped of their icons, the Vatican came up with a rather strange solution. They ordered that thousands of skeletons be exhumed from the catacombs beneath Rome and installed in towns throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Few, if any, of the corpses belonged to people of any religious significance, but they were decorated like saints.

    by Pretend_Tower_2516

    5 Comments

    1. Joshua-Norton-I on

      Imagine my boy Quintus just chill’ in his grave, and suddenly he’s crossing the Elbe River

    2. Bro if I came across this in a catacomb I would for real put that shit on like I just found a new armor in dark souls

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