Plaque commemorating Perez de Malvenda.
During the Calvinist turmoil of Sept. 1578, iconoclasts from Ghent invaded Bruges and sacked every church and chapel in the city.
The City Council decided to gather all of the ecclesiastical treasures and store them in the Stadhuis (Town Hall).
The Brotherhood of the Holy Blood gave the relic to Guild member Perez de Malvenda, who placed it in a lead coffin and buried that in a wooden coffin in his garden for six years, until in November 1584 the city came under control of the Spanish Authorities again, and Perez de Malvenda gave the relic to the Bishop of Bruges.