The young emperor, now eleven years old, began to differ with the clergy among his court advisers, and so to make sure that the bishops continued to get their way, Archbishop Anno of Koln kidnapped Heinrich IV in 1062 and ruled in his name.

Heinrich IV now growing into a strong-headed young emperor, was freed in 1066 and ruled his empire in harmony with the church in Rome for nearly a decade. But in 1076, the German bishops who held so much sway in Heinrich’s court disagreed once again with Rome. They refused to approve the election of Gregory VII as Pope, and, in the Imperial Synod at Worms, declared him deposed.

In reaction, Gregory VII excommunicated Heinrich IV and all the German bishops. Deprived of his holy warrant to rule, Heinrich IV faced civil war, a revolt by the peasantry, and the loss of his kingdom. The chastened young emperor repented and in 1077 was forgiven by Gregory VII, who also restored his power.

But Heinrich’s confession had been a false one, constructed in league with his bishops to buy time. Later that year, Heinrich IV and the bishops again declared Gregory VII deposed and elected instead Clement HI as their own Pope.

Enraged, Gregory VII again excommunicated Heinrich and his bishops, and took the additional step of awarding the mantle of emperor of the Holy Roman Empire to Heinrich’s rival, Rudolf of Swabia.

In 1079, Heinrich IV’s forces killed Rudolf of SwaWa, crushed the forces loyal to him, and invaded Italy. Four years later, Heinrich IV invaded Rome and drove Gregory VII into exile.

Once in Rome, Heinrich installed Clement III as Pope and left, taking with him a gem-studded gold box as part of the booty from his victorious battles.

The American pushed himself away from the desk and stood up. He had had enough reading for the night, and enough to think about for the rest of his life. He walked over to the bed, where the contents of his suitcase were spread from headboard to foot. But his mind wouldn’t let go of the shroud.

The whereabouts of Sophia’s Passion and her burial shroud in the nine centuries since Heinrich IV took it from the Vatican were mostly unknown. From the skimpy records kept by Heinrich IV and his successors, it was apparent that none of them knew the true value of the box. It received neither special mention in the royal records nor any special treatment. It was, for all practical purposes, forgotten, along with booty from other raids and spoils from previous wars. Nothing more was heard of the gold box and its priceless religious relics until they turned up in Bavaria in 1935.

As the American stripped down and pulled on his pajamas, he thought of the educated guesses made by church historians on the probable history of the box. It was likely, according to the Vatican historians, that the box was given as a gift to a valued member of the royal court. The box was probably passed from one family member to another across the centuries. But someone in the long line of heirs to whom the box was bequeathed saw fit to sell it. Perhaps this person needed money, or perhaps had simply no use for a gaudy bejeweled gold box from the distant past.