[Wombat101]

Hmm..Let's see, "King" Arthur, according to what little is known of him, appears to have lived in the 5th century AD, and been Welsh, and here we have a sword that has been dated to the 12th century, embedding in a rock in Italy.

By the 12th century, the tales of the Knights of the Round Table were already popular throughout Europe, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that anyone claiming any sort of authority might "borrow" some of these legends in order to achieve legitimacy.

P.S. The Welsh name of Arthur's sword was "Caledfwlch" (Caled-FOLK) which means "Forked Lightning".

[Just mythoughts]

["If the sword really dates to 1180, decades before the first literary reference to the "sword in the stone," it would support the theory that the Celtic myth of King Arthur and his sword Excalibur developed in Italy after the death of Galgano."]

["Hmm..Let's see, "King" Arthur, according to what little is known of him, appears to have lived in the 5th century AD, and been Welsh, and here we have a sword that has been dated to the 12th century, embedding in a rock in Italy."]

??????