摘要：This article presents the political function of the Holy Face of Edessa. one of the most important relics in the Christian world: how it was exploited for imperial legitimacy. In August 944 the Image of Edessa was brought into Constantinople as the fruits of Romanus I's campaign against the Muslims in Syria. The adventus ceremony of the holy image was performed solemnly so that it might miraculously heal the old Emperor of his illness. Romanus I, a usurper, also hoped that the relics would purify his usurpation of the crown from Constantine VII ofthe Macedonian dynasty. In December 944, however, Romanus was forced to abdicate and brought into a monastery. Returning to the throne, Constantine VII also used the holy image as a demonstration of his legitimacy. Under his direction the court intellectuals rewrote the history of the acquisition and the adventus ceremony of the holy image: they insisted that the image celebrated Constantine VII. The most important point to be noted in this article is that the Narratio de imagine Edessena , a history of the Image of Edessa composed at the court of Constantine VII, repeatedly emphasized the image's protection of the city of Constantinople. The special emphasis on the Capital City formed a part of the Macedonian dynastic propaganda that the dynasty was related to Constantine the Great, the founder of Constantinople. The Image o f Edessa was hence closely involved in the dynastic politics o f the Byzantine Empire as a palladium of Constantinople.
关键词：Constantinople;relics;imperial legitimacy;the Image of Edessa;Constantine VII
