The Sword in the Stone at Montesiepi Chapel

The sword King Arthur pulled from the stone in legend was likely just that–legendary. This sword, with a story equally as unbelievable, actually exists in Tuscany’s Montesiepi Chapel.

Galgano Guidotti was born in 1148 near Chiusdino. After spending his youth as a wealthy knight, in 1180 Giudotti decided to follow the words of Jesus and retired as a hermit near his hometown. He began to experience visions of the Archangel Michael, leading him to God and the twelve apostles on the hill of Monte Siepi. In one vision, Michael told Guidotti to renounce all of his earthly possessions. He responded that this would be as difficult as splitting a stone, and to prove his point, thrust his sword into a rock. To his surprise, the sword went through the impenetrable surface as though it was water. Shortly after, an errant horse led Guidotti to the very hilltop that had appeared in his visions, where he was moved to plant a cross. Not having any wood handy, he plunged his sword into a rock, just as he had in the vision, where it was embedded for all time. One year later Guidotti died, and in 1185 Pope Lucius the 3rd declared him a saint, and the Montesiepi Chapel was built up around it.

Allegedly countless people have tried to steal the sword. On display at the chapel are the mummified hands of a thief who tried to remove the sword and was suddenly slaughtered by wild wolves. Why only the hands survived is unexplained, but they serve as a warning to would-be sword snatchers. These days the sword is protected by a Perspex shield as well as the disembodied hands.

While the sword was considered a fake for years, recent studies examined the sword and the hands, and the dating results, as well as the metal and style of the sword, all are consistent with the late 1100s–early 1200s. While it’s impossible to verify the sword’s legendary history, it does match up with Saint Galgano Giudotti’s timeline.