The Three Holy Kings

The story of the Three Kings is an integral and popular part of the modern celebration of Christmas, but devotion to the Magi, or Wise Men of the East, can be traced back to the beginnings of the Christian church - in Rome to the second century, and in England at least to Saxon times. The bones of the Three Kings, discovered in the fourth century were first brought to Constantinople, then in 1164 the relics were given to the Archbishop of Cologne and since that time they have been venerated in a shrine behind the high altar of Cologne Cathedral. Hugh Mountney explores this wonderful and fascinating story and the devotion to the Three Kings across the centuries. The book also includes the full text of the chronicle of the Three Holy Kings written by John of Hildesheim, a fourteenth-century Carmelite friar. Hugh Mountney read theology at St Chad’s College, Durham. After ordination he served parishes in Northumberland and Tyneside, and was for twenty years vicar of All Saints, Hereford. He has filled chaplaincies in Bonn, Montreux, Pau, San Remo and Vienna. He now lives in retirement in Norfolk.

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