Preponderance of the evidence, and scholarship that traces the Shroud journey through History and geography. Turin was not its first stop in modern history, just its final and current location. It turned up in Lirey, France in 1350 in the hands of a Geoffrey De Charney, a country knight. He was not just any knight, but the standard bearer of the King of France and the author of the French Code of Chivalry. It is thought that his Great Grand Father had been a Knight Templar and a member of the fourth Crusade that a sacked Constantinople. A Geoffrey de Charny (spelling was a matter of opinion in them thar times) was burned at the stake with Jaques De Molay, the head of the Knight Templar when King Philip the Good and the anti-Pope got greedy and wanted the Templar's treasury and arrested, tortured, and eventually executed every member of the religious order of Templar Knights.
The inventory of the relics of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral at the time of the sacking listed the Holy Shroud of our Savior among its treasures. . . but not afterwards. That relic was added to the inventory in 944AD when the Image of Edessa was brought to Constantinople from Edessa. On the occasion Gregory Referendarius, the Arch Deacon of the Hagia Sophia gave a sermon which was found in the records. He described what had been thought to have been only a facial image of Jesus not made by hands, as a full image, showing where origin of the living waters of life had flowed from (the spear wound in the side) and the hinted at the double image.
Another knight of the 11th Century crusades, Sir Robert du Clary, reported in letters he wrote home,that every Sunday the Shroud of Jesus was raised up so that the congregation could see "the crucified and resurrected figure of our Lord standing before us".
These references establish the Image of Edessa as most likely the Shroud of Turin as being hidden in a frame, folded in side, as a "tetra diplong" or double folded in four, which is something that was used to describe the Image of Edessa. Making that leap of logic, takes the Shroud back 400 years to where it was found after an earthquake where it had been walled up in the city gates of Edessa to protect it from a period of Arab iconoclasts for 200 years. Prior to that there are legends it was carried to King Akbar by the Apostle Thomas (or another apostle depending on the legend) and cured him of a strange malady when he requested to see Jesus. . . which takes it back to Jerusalem and the apostles. . . and then to the Biblical mention in the Tomb.
Scientifically we have found Travertine Aragonite dust where the feet, knees, buttocks, shoulders, and head rested on limestone. That dust is an exact spectrographic match for the Travertine Aragonite found only in the area to the east of Jerusalem. It may be someday found somewhere else in the world, but he odds are not good.
Many of the pollens on the Shroud match flowers and plants found growing only in a 100 mile radius around the israel area. . . including one that went extinct in about 500-600 AD. . . and would be impossible for any forger to know to put on the Shroud in ancient or even modern times.
There are dim images of herbs and plants on the Shroud that match plants that would have been selected for a burial in the Spring in Jerusalem and match the pollens found. . . and none that would not. These have been confirmed by Professor of Biology and Botany at the Jerusalem University Dr. Avinoam Danin and Dr. Uri Baruch Floristic Indicators for the Origins of the Shroud of Turin.
The above reply was for you. I have no clue why your name got truncated in the To: column