the sword in stone: Tuscan Excalibur

Sword in stone. The sword in the stone, in the chapel next to the Gothic Abbey of Saint Galgano at Montesiepi, Tuscany, Siena.

origins

The sword in the stone, in the chapel next to the Gothic Abbey of Saint Galgano at Montesiepi. Archaeological digging may soon unveil its origins, Italian research announced. Known as the “sword in the stone,” the Tuscan “Excalibur” is said to have been plunged into a rock in 1180 by Galgano Guidotti, a medieval knight who renounced war and worldly goods to become a hermit. Built in Galgano’s memory, the evocative Gothic abbey at Montesiepi, near the city of Siena, still preserves the sword in a little chapel. Only the hilt and a few centimeters of the blade protrude from the rock in the shape of a Cross. “The sword has been considered a fake for many years, but our metal dating research in 2001 has…