Relic inventory from 1622

The first surviving relic inventory from 1622 lists 40 reliquaries. They contain more than 280 relics. These originate from over 120 different saints. The open page lists the relics of the small statue of Paul.

The description begins in line 6: In statua S Pauli apostoli continentur.

The description goes on to list: *De columna, in qua Dominus nr Jesus flagellatus* [On the column at which the Lord Jesus was scourged], *De Sacro monumento* [On the Holy Sepulchre], *De lapide, ubi ascendit Dominus* [On the stone from which the Lord ascended], *De ligno, super quo decollatus est S Paulus* [On the wood over which St. Paul was beheaded], *De catena S Pauli annulli duo* [Two rings from the chains of St. Paul], *De S Bartholomaeo Apostolo* [On the Apostle Bartholomew], *De S Maria Magdalena* [On St. Mary Magdalene], *De S Stephano protomartyre* [On St. Stephen the Protomartyr], *De S Cornelio martyre* [On St. Cornelius the Martyr], *De S Margareta* [On St. Margaret]. [The statue of St. Paul contains holy relics from: the column at which the Lord Jesus was scourged, the Holy Sepulchre, the stone from which the Lord ascended, the wood over which St. Paul was beheaded, two rings from the chains of St. Paul, the Apostle Bartholomew, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Stephen the Protomartyr, St. Cornelius the Martyr, and St. Margaret.]

With the exception of four, all the reliquaries mentioned in 1622 can be matched to ones known today. Most of the containers hold relics of several saints; the number ranges from two or three to an astonishing 62 relics housed in a Madonna figure whose current whereabouts are unknown. Only one in three relics is described in detail. Often, the scribe simply noted that the items were relics of a particular saint, without specifying whether they were teeth, bones, hair, or fabric. The majority of the relics (over 200) originate from early Christian saints, dating from the time of Jesus and the Apostles through the 4th century.