La Vraie-Croix
Encyclopedia
La Vraie-Croix is a commune
in the Morbihan
department in Brittany in north-western France
. Its inhabitants are called Langroëziens after the Breton name for the commune.
of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem
who, returning from a crusade, carried with a fragment of the True Cross
. He stopped in the town during this journey. He returned the next day and saw that the fragment had disappeared. The piece was subsequently found in a crow's nest on top of a hawthorn bush.
The townspeople removed it, but the next day the fragment was back in the crow's nest. They saw it was a sign, and the people decided to build a chapel at the site of the tree to house the relic.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Morbihan
Morbihan
Morbihan is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan , the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline.-History:...
department in Brittany in north-western France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Its inhabitants are called Langroëziens after the Breton name for the commune.
Geography
Located in the countryside at the edge of the Lanvaux heathland, La Vraie-Croix is a hilly area with many footpaths which offer attractive views.History
The name La Vraie-Croix comes from a knightKnight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
who, returning from a crusade, carried with a fragment of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
. He stopped in the town during this journey. He returned the next day and saw that the fragment had disappeared. The piece was subsequently found in a crow's nest on top of a hawthorn bush.
The townspeople removed it, but the next day the fragment was back in the crow's nest. They saw it was a sign, and the people decided to build a chapel at the site of the tree to house the relic.