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The Sword in the Stone at the Monte Siepi Chapel
Historic Mysteries ^ | JULY 26, 2011 | Shelly Barclay

Posted on 12/08/2015 11:55:37 AM PST by Talisker

Judging by a real artifact, the sword in the stone legend may be partially based on true events. No one pulled a sword from a stone and went on to become a king, as far as we know. In fact, the sword that exists in reality rather than legend is still stuck in its stone. However, there is no denying that such a sword exists. The stone and sword in question are located at Monte Siepi Chapel in the San Galgano Abbey in Tuscany. The abbey is in Italy and the history of it has naught to do with England. However, it may be the inspiration for this popular story. After all, how many swords in stones can there possibly be?

San (Saint) Galgano Guidotti was born in 1148 is allegedly the man behind the real sword in the stone at Siepi Chapel. Guidotti was a knight that was far removed from the knights of Arthur’s Round Table. He was a brutal and cruel knight, but he turned his life around in the end and become a saint. At the age of 32, Guidotti saw the Archangel Michael, who told him that he must end his life of sin and showed him the path to god. The year was 1180.

Galgano Guidotti did not initially abide by the angel of Heaven. He did not do as the angel suggested and commit to god. It was not until he was out riding one day that he was faced with the place of his salvation — Monte Siepi. Monte Siepi did not include the impressive abbey and chapel that grace the landscape now when Galgano found it. In fact, it was just a hill with some bedrock in it. There, something — a voice from Heaven, perhaps — told him again that he had to change. He replied that it would be as difficult as “splitting rock with a sword.” He then tried to demonstrate the hopelessness of his situation, but instead of breaking, his sword went straight into the rock. The story goes that Galgano used the rock with the sword in it as an altar for praying from that day forth. He died roughly a year after sinking his sword into the stone at Monte Siepi.

Galgano Guidotti was canonized by Pope Lucius III in 1185. That is a rather quick achievement of sainthood by today’s standards, but he is still officially a saint. Starting the year of his canonization, monks built a chapel around his sword and stone altar. Today, it overlooks the ruins of San Galgano Abbey from its site on the hill. The chapel still contains the sword in the stone, though it is now encased in plastic so people will not try to steal it, break it or become King of England with it. Legend has it that one such fellow was set upon by a pack of wolves when he tried to take the sword. There is a pair of mummified hands in the chapel. They supposedly belonged to the would be thief.


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: archangelmichael; arthurianlegend; catholic; chiusdino; excalibur; galganoguidotti; godsgravesglyphs; italy; kingarthur; middleages; montesiepi; montesiepichapel; montesiepisiena; relic; romancatholicism; roundtable; saintgalganoabbey; saints; sangalgano; sangalganoabbey; santuccio; siepichapel; swordinthestone; tuscany
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To: Kartographer

I ‘get’ both. But I’m frequently in touch with my feminine side.


21 posted on 12/08/2015 12:21:24 PM PST by SpinnerWebb (Winter is coming)
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To: Talisker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minions_(film)#Plot


22 posted on 12/08/2015 12:22:08 PM PST by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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To: Talisker

Actually, at the time Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, he WAS a minion. He was attending a tournament as the page to his step-brother, Sir Kay.

At least that’s one version of the legend.


23 posted on 12/08/2015 12:24:50 PM PST by IronJack
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To: Vendome

Don’t forget though, she was the Orisai of the Ori, the equivalent of space moslems!


24 posted on 12/08/2015 12:27:40 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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To: PlateOfShrimp

I didn’t know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.


25 posted on 12/08/2015 12:27:52 PM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Talisker

That is fascinating. Thank you for the link.


26 posted on 12/08/2015 12:31:11 PM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: PlateOfShrimp

I suppose you prefer the way Obama pulls policies out of his ass?


27 posted on 12/08/2015 12:41:26 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Talisker

Perhaps a sword was dropped in a cave where dripping water created a build up of Calcium Carbonite to form around it? A geologist might be able to confirm that. Wonder how long it took to form?


28 posted on 12/08/2015 12:46:15 PM PST by anymouse (God didn't write this sitcom we call life, he's just the critic.)
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To: PlateOfShrimp

/monty python


29 posted on 12/08/2015 12:52:30 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Talisker

Interesting that the author/editors of this article did not capitalize “god,” as they would have undoubtedly capitalized Jupiter, Zeus, or Thor.


30 posted on 12/08/2015 1:03:02 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o (One Nation Under God.)
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To: thackney

We’re an anarcho-syndicated commune.


31 posted on 12/08/2015 1:34:24 PM PST by webstersII
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To: Axenolith

With their minarets and domes and spreading their book by force... if I were running for President I'd call for banning all Ori from entering the United States.

32 posted on 12/08/2015 1:35:44 PM PST by Dr.Deth
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To: Axenolith

I would have volunteered to be Live Aboard!


33 posted on 12/08/2015 1:36:36 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy" 6Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: thackney

You’re fooling yourself. We’re living in a dictatorship. A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes—


34 posted on 12/08/2015 1:36:45 PM PST by Anitius Severinus Boethius (www.wilsonharpbooks.com - Sign up for my new release e-mail and get my first novel for free)
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

I take it your not a big Monty Python fan.


35 posted on 12/08/2015 1:53:03 PM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

You’re

Phone posting, sigh..


36 posted on 12/08/2015 1:54:12 PM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

(The next line is: Oh, there you go bringing class into it again.)


37 posted on 12/08/2015 2:13:33 PM PST by Anitius Severinus Boethius (www.wilsonharpbooks.com - Sign up for my new release e-mail and get my first novel for free)
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

Sorry, I’m tired, it has been a long day. I missed your humor.

Cheers


38 posted on 12/08/2015 2:22:17 PM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

“Help! Help! I’m being repressed!”

“Now you see the violence inherent in the system!”


39 posted on 12/08/2015 2:56:19 PM PST by Only1choice____Freedom (As long as America's tolerence of failure is not overwhelmed by a desire to succeed, we will fail.)
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To: thackney

Nobody on here is getting the Monty Python references on this thread today. lol


40 posted on 12/08/2015 2:57:56 PM PST by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
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