Sainte Lance

The Holy Lance (or "spear Longinus ") is one of the relics of the Passion of Christ. It is regarded as the weapon that pierced the right side of Jesus during his crucifixion.

Summary 1 Overview 2 The legend of the Holy Lance 3 The Holy Lance of Jerusalem 3.1 The fragment Paris 3.2 The lance of Saint Peter's 4 The Holy Lance of Antioch 4.1 A miracle in 1098 4.2 A dispute then forgotten relic 4.3 An Armenian hypothesis: the Spear of Beirut 5 The Geghard Etchmiadzin (Armenia) 6 The Holy Lance of Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey) 7 The Holy Lance of the Holy Roman Empire 8 The Holy Lance of Krakow (Poland) 9 A ritual instrument of the Christian Orient 10 The Holy Lance in the literature 11 Notes and references 12 Annexes 12.1 Related Articles 2.12 External Links 12.3 Bibliography

/ / Introduction

The veneration of the relic is mentioned for the first time in the ^sixth century in Jerusalem. She was transferred to Constantinople in the early ^seventh century and, from the ^tenth century , was part of the Passion relics kept by Byzantine emperors in its Palatine Chapel, the church of the Virgin Theotokos of the Pharos. The holding of this collection of relics made of Constantinople the new Jerusalem and Emperor the legitimate head of Christendom.

This relic took a particular importance from the First Crusade , which led to its multiplication in the ^thirteenth century after the sack of Constantinople and the decline of the Byzantine Empire. In 1098 , the Crusaders who have challenged the rights of the Emperor on the Holy Land to another discovered in Antioch , but she disappeared soon after. This made the Holy Lance, however famous in the West: Turold mentions in the Song of Roland , and Chretien de Troyes combines a "bloody spear" in the Holy Grail in Parzival. In 1244 , King of France Louis IX bought the Relics of the Passion of Constantinople , the Holy Lance, and transfers to Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Shortly before the Roman Emperor was considered "Holy Lance" the spear of St. Maurice , stored at Magdeburg , which was part since the ^tenth century imperial attributes. At the same time, Armenians have declared the Holy Spear Monastery Geghardavank near Yerevan. At Constantinople , the last Byzantine emperors on their side always claim to possess the Holy Lance.

In the ^sixteenth century , that of Constantinople was given by the Ottomans in the pope. That of Paris had disappeared during the French Revolution. Those of the Vatican and Armenia are now preserved respectively St. Peter's and the museum Manougian of Echmiadzin. After many adventures, one of the Germanic emperors is now kept at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. The latter has become since the Second World War , a subject of fascination in popular culture Anglo-Saxon.

The legend of the Holy Lance

Christian tradition has it that a Roman soldier named Longinus (French Longinus ) has pierced the side of Christ on the Cross with his spear, hence the Latin name of the relic : Lancea Longini. Tradition has it that the spear never stops bleeding at its peak. The holder of the spear is the same as the Grail in the Arthurian legends.

This nozzle is not mentioned in the synoptic Gospels ( Matthew , Mark and Luke ). Only the Gospel of John (19, 33-35) states "came to Jesus, and seeing dead already, they brake not his legs, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth, so you also may believe. "(Trans. Louis Segond ).

The name of Longinus appears with the Gospel of Nicodemus , an apocryphal ^fourth century. An illumination of the Rabula Gospels (in Syriac ) copied in 586 , and stored at the Laurentian Library in Florence , is the Roman soldier pierced the side of Christ with the legend (in Greek) OINOC (Loginos). Thereafter, thus traditionally called the soldier, and he rose in rank, since in fact often the centurion who commanded the guard at the foot of the Cross and who, according to Matthew (27, 54) would converted just after the death of Christ. Tradition also states that in piercing the breast of Christ, Longinus, half blind, have received a drop of blood and water from the pierced heart, and has regained his sight instantly. This name, written C (Longinos) in Greek, is perhaps the very word which means "spear": (LONGK).

According to local tradition, the Catalan city of Llana ("Lance"), which features three spears in his arms, claims that Longinus was from this place.

The Holy Lance of Jerusalem

There is no record this relic before the ^sixth century. The pilgrim Antoninus of Piacenza, which describes the holy sites in 570 reported seeing the basilica of Mount Zion in Jerusalem, "the crown of thorns which Our Lord was crowned and the lance with which he was hit in the side. " Another document from the same period mentions the presence of Lance in the Church of the Resurrection ( Holy Sepulchre ). Other writers such as Cassiodorus ^{The fragment of Paris}

According to the Chronicon Paschal in 615 , the year of taking Jerusalem by the Persians , the tip of the Holy Lance was broken and given to Patrick Nicetas , which brought together the Holy Sponge to Constantinople and deposited it in the Hagia Sophia on 26 October 615 .

According to historian Walter Emil Kaegi, who is also based on the Chronicon Paschal , but using a different timing, the Holy Lance was brought to Constantinople by another Niketas, son of the Persian general Schahr-Baraz in 629 , when the Byzantines and Schahr-Baraz were allies .

Having escaped the sack of Constantinople in 1204 , it was sold in 1244 by Baldwin II , Latin emperor of Constantinople to Louis IX and transported to Paris. The king put him in the Holy Chapel next to the Crown of Thorns. She would have remained until the Revolution and was a brief filed with the National Library in Paris before disappearing.

The lance of Saint Peter's

In 1357 , Jean de Mandeville assured he had seen the Holy Lance in Paris and Constantinople, the latter larger than the fragment of Paris: it was the bottom of the relic.

Indeed, if, as we have seen, the Persians had given the tip of the spear patrice Nicetas in 615 , they had won the main relics (including the True Cross ) in Iran, and that the emperor Heraclius which recovered at a cons-victorious offensive. He brought it to Jerusalem. But later the lower part of the Holy Lance of Jerusalem had to be transferred to Constantinople , perhaps the ^eighth century. Thus it is always reported to the ^fourteenth century.

After taking the town in 1453 , it fell to the Turks. In 1489 , the Pope Innocent VIII made an agreement with the Sultan Beyazid II : it would keep the brother (and rival) of Sultan prisoner in exchange for a ransom and the annual Holy Lance. Thus the relic came to Rome in 1492. In the early ^seventeenth century , Urban VIII was designed by Bernini four loggias in the four pillars supporting the dome of the basilica, to place the four most important relics of St. Peter's :

• fragments of the True Cross , from the Roman churches of Jerusalem Holy Cross and St. Anastasia in the Pillar of St. Helena ;
• the Volto Santo ( Holy Face ), cloth bearing the image of a bearded man (from Jerusalem ) in the Pillar of St. Veronica ;
• the skull of St. Andrew reported Constantinople to Venice in 1460 by Thomas Palaeologus and offered to Pius II , in the Pillar of St. Andrew ;
• Finally, the fragment of the Spear in the Pillar of St. Longinus.

Two statues are visible in the church this Holy Lance: the bronze statue of the tomb of Innocent VIII , by Antonio Pollaiuolo , representing the Pope holding the iron of the Holy Lance, and a marble statue of St. Longinus by Bernini.

In the eighteenth ^century , Pope Benedict XIV stated that he did make an accurate drawing of the spear Paris , whose shape perfectly complemented the fragment of St. Peter's in Rome. The three relics Christic ( True Cross , Holy Face and Holy Lance) are now gathered in the chapel of the Pillar of St. Veronica , and are exposed to the faithful the fifth Sunday of Lent. However, the Catholic Church does not claim in any way the authenticity of such relics.

The Holy Lance of Rome (drawing of 1898 , according to F. de Mely).

The Emperor of Constantinople holding the Holy Lance (illumination of Travel John Mandeville ).

Colossal statue of St. Longinus holding the Holy Lance, by Bernini ( Rome , St. Peter's Basilica ).

The Holy Lance of Antioch

A Miracle in 1098

She was discovered at Antioch by a monk named Provence Pierre Barthelemy , which was part of the army of Raymond de Saint Gilles , Count of Toulouse. In 1098 , after the Crusaders were themselves seized the city of Antioch , they found themselves in turn besieged by the Turks Seljuks of Kerbogha. During the siege, while the troops were exhausted, hungry and unmotivated, Peter Bartholomew claimed to have seen a vision in the Street: St Andrew would have revealed that the Holy Lance was buried in the Cathedral of St. Peter of Antioch. 12 navvies dug under the pavement of the cathedral for a whole day and night, Peter went down in the search and discovered the Holy Lance. After this discovery, St. Andrew promised Pierre Barthelemy victory for the Crusaders if they fasted for five days.

The miraculous discovery, and if appropriate, yet did not unanimity among the Crusaders. Several lords and prelates, including Bohemond of Taranto and Adhemar de Monteil , Bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay and papal legate , had in fact seen the Holy Lance (that of Jerusalem ) to Constantinople , and remained skeptical to say the least. The possibility of a hoax on the part of Peter Bartholomew is not ruled out. However, it gave the heart from troops whose morale was low, even though the divisions earned the ranks of the Muslim army besieging the city. While Bohemond sent Peter the Hermit in talks with the Atabey Kerbogha , the Frankish forces were organized and the Crusaders, with Raymond of Aguilers bearing the Holy Lance, succeeded after a difficult battle to rout the Muslim army and to raise the siege of Antioch. This victory is also due to the departure of some emirs of the army following the above arguments, which left only little resistance to the attack against the Crusaders.

Adhemar de Monteil holding the Holy Lance of Antioch during outing against the Turks. Illumination medieval.

Discovery of the Holy Lance in the Church of St. Peter. Illumination of the XV century.

Pierre Barthelemy passing the test of fire with the Holy Lance. Etching of Gustave Dor.

A dispute then forgotten relic

Despite this resounding victory, which assured itself the success of the expedition, the so-called Holy Lance of Antioch had not convinced all the crusaders, because of rivalries between the major conductors such as Raymond de Saint Gilles and Bohemond of Taranto. Suspected Pierre Barthelemy to be untouched by Raymond inspired by St. Andrew, and having visions that promoted a little too much interest the Count of Toulouse. To convince everyone, Pierre Barthelemy agreed to undergo the ordeal : for the Holy Lance, it would cross a blaze before the whole army assembled. This was done on Friday 8 April 1099. Peter came out alive despite serious burns, and nearly died choking and butchered alive by the crowd who looked like a holy and fell on him to collect relics. A few days later, Peter died of his burns: for most of the Franks issue of the spear was resolved, it was not the Holy Lance of the Lord.

Only now there were still believed the Provence of Raymond de Saint-Gilles , while the chroniclers of the crusade relic evoke more about making Jerusalem on Friday 17 July 1099 or later. If Westerners do not talk about most is in the Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa found what came of it: Raymond de Saint-Gilles had swept Europe after the capture of Jerusalem , the great scandal of all, and would have reported in the East when he returned in 1101 to Constantinople with the intention of attacking Tripoli . But he was defeated by the Turks near Nicaea and, as the Genoese chronicler Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone , the relic was lost. We do not know, now, what has become the Holy Lance of Antioch : preserved at Constantinople , or taken by the Turks, even recovered later by the Crusaders since, according to Anselm of Gembloux, the Holy Lance would have been paid by Pons Melgueil Abbot of Cluny in the Battle of Ascalon on 18 April 1124.

Armenian A hypothesis: the Spear of Beirut

Since it is absolutely certain that the Holy Lance of Antioch was not that of Jerusalem , venerated since the ^sixth century , what could it be? It is traditionally assumed that this was the first piece of scrap sharp found by digging in the cathedral of Antioch , or even a pure hoax. But this is probably not the case. Aguilers of Raymond , chaplain of the Count of Toulouse and present in the church during excavations, describes the discovery in eyewitness: "I Raimond, who write this, when you could see only the tip of the spear appear above the ground, I kissed it " . Anselm of Ribemont, another witness, wrote to the archbishop of Reims as the spear was found "under the pavement of the church Saint-Pierre, at a depth twice the height of a man" . That is between 3 and 4 m deep. Even assuming that the Crusaders have been exhausted and anxious ready to believe anything, it is clear that this launch would stand for excavators in a context that clearly shows it was a relic. This is precisely what it says Theofried Abbot of Echternach (or Epternach), contemporary facts but speaking from hearsay: "This lance, so precious, the year of the incarnation of one thousand ninety- eight, with a divine revelation, was discovered at Antioch in a safe and marble attached to a standard ... " .

These scanty information to understand what Pierre Barthelemy uncovered. The Antioch in the ^eleventh century was built on already at least more than ten meters of debris accumulated by the numerous earthquakes that leveled the city in the antiquity and early Middle Ages. Between 3 and 4 m, the excavators of the ^eleventh century were certainly at the church who had protobyzantine necessarily preceded the one in which they were. In these churches the Syrian ^fifth century or ^sixth century , were buried relics of stone under the choir. No one can tell, it is tempting to think that the arca marmorea (chest marble) speaks Theofried Echternach is such a reliquary, typically Syrian, containing a backbone once revered as a relic.

• Example Syrian marble reliquary in ^the fifth century

In XIII ^century the Armenian chronicler Vartan the Great , without citing its source, understands what this spear. He writes: "The Franks found on the right, in the church of St. Peter, with the spear which pierced Jews derisively image of the Savior, from which it came out blood and water, as the side Christ's true. This nozzle was venerated as equal to that which entered the body of God and that Armenians have. Fortified by this weapon, the Franks defeated their enemies and later they sent him to the Emperor Alexius ' . Vartan alluded to the Lance of Beirut ( Beirut ), and an incident which, according to Athanasius of Alexandria , would have produced Berytus under Constantine in ^the fourth century .

There is nothing to know where Vartan takes this explanation. It has the merit of perfect harmony with the facts, because such a lance whose history is a repetition of that of the spear of Longinus has well have been venerated in Syria from the ^fourth century , and have found at Antioch where the destruction of the ^sixth century have made the inaccessible, while the local tradition preserved the memory.