The Procession of the Holy Blood seems to have emerged as a civic ceremony by the late thirteenth century. By 1303, if not earlier, the ceremonial procession carried the holy blood relic around the perimeter of the city walls, completed in 1297. The procession commemorates the deliverance of the city, by the national heroes
Jan Breydel and
Pieter de Coninck, from French tyranny in May of the previous year. It takes place on
Ascension Day, as one of the great religious celebrations in
Belgium. Residents of the area perform an
historical reenactment of the phial's arrival together with similar dramatizations of
Biblical events. The
passion play Jeu du Saint Sang takes place every five years. Sixty to one hundred thousand spectators watch the procession, a parade of historical scenes and biblical stories. Choirs, dance groups (e.g., dance theatre
Aglaja), animals (ranging from geese to camels), horse-drawn floats and small plays with many actors pass by within a couple of hours. The centerpiece is the
Relic with the Precious Blood of Jesus. The traditional account holds that
Joseph of Arimathea wiped the blood-stained face of the dead Christ and carefully preserved the cloth, which was later, after the 12th century
Second Crusade supposedly brought to the city by
Thierry, Count of Flanders, who had received it from
Baldwin III of Jerusalem in recognition of his bravery. However, an alternative view says after the
Sack of Constantinople in 1204, during the
Fourth Crusade,
Baldwin, Count of Flanders was chosen emperor and sent looted relics to Flanders. His two daughters lived at Bruges. The earliest documentation of the Holy blood relic dates from 1256. In 2020 it was cancelled from health concerns due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. ==Pilgrimage==