# Church treasury

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[[File:2018 Trier, Domschatzkammer 1.jpg|thumb| [Trier Cathedral Treasury](/source/Trier_Cathedral_Treasury)]]
[[File:Agraffe Essener Domschatz.JPG|thumb|upright|[Burgundian](/source/Burgundy) [ronde-bosse enamel](/source/ronde-bosse_enamel) brooch in the Essen treasury. The Essen treasure contains sixteen of these rare pieces of jewelry from the 14th century.]]
A '''church treasury''' or '''church treasure''' is the collection of historical art treasures belonging to a [church](/source/church_(building)), usually a [cathedral](/source/cathedral) or [monastery](/source/monastery) ('''monastery treasure'''). Such "treasure" is usually held and displayed in the church's [treasury](/source/treasury) or in a [diocesan museum](/source/diocesan_museum). Historically the highlight of church treasures was often a collection of [reliquaries](/source/reliquaries).

As a result of gifts and the desire to acquire sacred artifacts, many churches over the centuries gathered valuable and historic collections of altar plates, [illuminated manuscript](/source/illuminated_manuscript)s of liturgical or religious books, as well as [vestments](/source/vestments), and other works of art or items of historical interest. Despite [iconoclasm](/source/iconoclasm), [secularism](/source/secularism), looting, fire, the enforced sale of treasure in times of financial difficulty, theft and other losses, much of this treasure has survived or has even been repurchased.  Many large churches have been displaying their riches to visitors in some form for centuries.

== Examples and museums of important church and cathedral treasures ==

Austria:
* [Salzburg Cathedral](/source/Salzburg_Cathedral) Museum
* [Imperial Treasury](/source/Imperial_Treasury%2C_Vienna) in the [Hofburg Palace](/source/Hofburg_Palace), [Vienna](/source/Vienna) 
* [Cathedral museum](/source/St._Stephen's_Cathedral%2C_Vienna) in the [cathedral church](/source/cathedral_church) of St. Stephen of Vienna, also called St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Belgium:
* [Basilica of Our Lady](/source/Basilica_of_Our_Lady%2C_Tongeren), archeological site and religious art museum ("Teseum"), [Tongeren](/source/Tongeren)

Czech Republic:
* [Treasury of St. Vitus Cathedral](/source/Treasury_of_St._Vitus_Cathedral), Prague

England:
*Most cathedrals have treasuries, though these generally lack the medieval metalwork of continental treasuries, which did not survive the Reformation. The exceptions to this include:
*[Canterbury Cathedral](/source/Canterbury_Cathedral)
*[Lincoln Cathedral](/source/Lincoln_Cathedral)
*[Durham Cathedral](/source/Durham_Cathedral)

France:
* Cathedral [Notre-Dame de Paris](/source/Notre-Dame_de_Paris)
* Cathedral-[Basilica of Saint-Denis](/source/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis)
* [Cathedral of Reims](/source/Cathedral_of_Reims), in [Palace of Tau](/source/Palace_of_Tau)

Germany:
thumb|upright|Reliquary from the abandoned altars of the East Choir in Essen Minster, dating from 1054
* [Aachen Cathedral Treasure](/source/Aachen_Cathedral_Treasury)
* Diocesan Museum, [Bamberg](/source/Bamberg), formerly the cathedral treasure of [Bamberg Cathedral](/source/Bamberg_Cathedral)
* Treasure of [Brunswick Cathedral](/source/Brunswick_Cathedral), very much later called the [Welf Treasure](/source/Welf_Treasure), since 1928 largely sold
* [Essen Cathedral Treasure](/source/Essen_Cathedral_Treasury)
* [Halberstadt Cathedral Treasure](/source/Halberstadt_Cathedral)
* [Hildesheim Cathedral Museum](/source/Hildesheim_Cathedral_Museum) (Cathedral treasure and diocesan museum)
* Cathedral Treasury, [Cologne](/source/Cologne)
* Cathedral and Diocesan Museum, [Mainz](/source/Mainz) with treasury in St. Nicholas' Chapel
* Diocesan Museum, [Osnabrück](/source/Osnabr%C3%BCck) with the cathedral treasure
* Archepiscopal Diocesan Museum and Treasury, [Paderborn](/source/Paderborn)
* Cathedral Treasury and Diocesan Museum, [Passau](/source/Passau)
* [Speyer](/source/Speyer) Cathedral Treasure in the [Historical Museum of the Palatinate](/source/Historical_Museum_of_the_Palatinate) 
* [Quedlinburg Cathedral Treasure](/source/Quedlinburg_Cathedral_Treasury)
* Bishopric Museums, [Regensburg](/source/Regensburg)
* [Trier Cathedral Treasury](/source/Trier_Cathedral_Treasury)
* [Würzburg Cathedral](/source/W%C3%BCrzburg_Cathedral) Treasure
* Stift Museum, [Xanten](/source/Xanten), previously the Xanten Cathedral Treasury (''Domschatzkammer Xanten'')
:- also the cathedrals of [Bautzen](/source/Bautzen), [Eibingen](/source/Eibingen), [Merseburg](/source/Merseburg), [Minden](/source/Minden), [Naumburg](/source/Naumburg) etc

Italy:
* [Bozen](/source/Bozen) Cathedral Treasure
* [Brixen](/source/Brixen) Cathedral Treasure
* [Monza Cathedral](/source/Monza_Cathedral), with the  [Iron Crown of Lombardy](/source/Iron_Crown_of_Lombardy), the [Late Antique](/source/Late_Antique) ivory [Poet and Muse diptych](/source/Poet_and_Muse_diptych), of about 500, as well as several of the small metal 6th century [Monza ampullae](/source/Monza_ampullae) 
* [Troia Cathedral](/source/Troia_Cathedral) Treasure (planned to be transferred to the diocesan museum)
* [Monreale Cathedral](/source/Monreale_Cathedral), important church treasure
* [Palermo Cathedral](/source/Palermo_Cathedral), treasure includes the crown of Empress Constance of Aragon
* [Treasury of St Mark's Basilica](/source/Treasury_of_St_Mark's_Basilica), Venice, famous for its collection of Byzantine loot
* [St Peter's, Rome](/source/St_Peter's%2C_Rome), and many other Roman churches 

Netherlands:
* [Church treasure of Saint Servatius Basilica, Maastricht](/source/Treasury_of_the_Basilica_of_Saint_Servatius)

Portugal:
* [Braga Cathedral Treasure](/source/Braga_Cathedral_Treasure)

Spain:
* [El Escorial](/source/El_Escorial)

Switzerland:
* [Treasure of the Basel Minster](/source/Treasure_of_the_Basel_Minster)

== See also ==
* [Reliquary](/source/Reliquary)

== Literature ==

* Lucas Burkart: ''Das Blut der Märtyrer. Genese, Bedeutung und Funktion mittelalterlicher Schätze.'' Böhlau, Cologne, 2009, {{ISBN|978-3-412-20104-3}}

Category:Museology
Category:Art collections
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Church treasury](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_treasury) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_treasury?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.