Holy Lance

The Sainte Lance (or “Longin ( Longinus ) launches”) is one of the Relique S of the Passion of Christ. She is regarded as being the weapon which bored the side of Jesus at the time of his Crucifixion.

Presentation

The veneration of this Relique is mentioned for the first time at the 6th century, with Jerusalem. It was transferred to Constantinople at the beginning of the 7th century and, as from the 10th century, belonged to the Reliques of the Passion preserved by the Byzantine Empereurs in their palatine vault, the church of the Théotokos Virgin of the Headlight. The detention of this collection of relics made Constantinople the news Jerusalem and of the emperor the legitimate chief of Christendom.

This Relique took an particular importance starting from the First Crusade, which involved its multiplication at the 13th century after the Sac of Constantinople and the decline of the Byzantine Empire. In 1098, the Croisés which disputed already the rights of the emperor on the Holy Land discovered another with Antioche of them, but it disappeared shortly after. This discovery made however the Holy Lance famous to Occident: Turold mentions it in the Chanson of Roland , and Chrétien of Troyes associates a “bloody lance” with the Saint Graal in Perceval . In 1244, the king of France Louis IX buys the Relics of the Passion of Constantinople, from which the Holy Lance, and transfers them to the Sainte Vault, with Paris. Little before the Germanic emperor made regard as “Holy Lance” the lance of Saint Maurice, preserved at Magdeburg, which formed part since the century of the imperial attributes. At the same time, the Armenians state to have the Holy Lance with the monastery Geghardavank close to Erevan. With Constantinople, the last Byzantine emperors state on their side always to have the Holy Lance.

To the 16th century, that of Constantinople was given by the Othoman to the Pope. That of Paris disappeared during the French revolution. Those of the the Vatican and Arménie are preserved today respectively at Saint-Pierre of Rome and the Musée Manougian of Etchmiadzin. Afterwards many adventures, that of the Germanic emperors is preserved today at the Palais of Hofburg, with Vienna. The latter became, since the Second world war, a subject of fascination in the Anglo-Saxon popular culture.

The legend of the Holy Lance

A Christian tradition wants that a Roman soldier of the name of Longinus (in French Longin) bored the side of the Christ on the Cross using his lance, from where the Latin name of the Relique: Lancea Longini .

This lance is not mentioned in the synoptic Gospels (Matthieu, Marc and Luc). only the Gospel according to Jean (19, 33-35) precise: “Having approached Jesus, and seeing it already died, they did not break the legs to him; but one of the soldiers bored the side with a lance to him, and at once it left blood and water. That which saw it of returned testimony, and its testimony is true; and it knows that it tells truth, so that you believe too. ” (transl. Louis Segond)

The name of Longin appears only with the Évangile of Nicodème, an apocryphal book of the 4th century. A Illumination of the Gospels of Rabula (in Syriaque) copied in 586, and preserved at the Library Laurentienne of Florence, represents the Roman soldier boring the side of the Christ, with legend (in Greek) ΛOΓINOC ( Loginos ). Thereafter, thus this soldier traditionally is named, and it goes up in rank since one often makes of it the Centurion which ordered the guard with the foot of the Cross and which, according to Matthieu (27, 54) would have converted just after the death of Christ. The tradition states also the fact that by boring the chest of Christ, Longin, with blind half, received a drop of blood and water of the bored heart, and recovered the sight instantaneously of it. Perhaps this name, which is written ΛΟΓΓΙΝΟC ( Longinos ) in Greek, comes from the word even which wants to say “lance”: ΛΟΓΧΗ ( longké ).

The Holy Lance of Jerusalem

No document mentions this Relique before the 6th century.

The pilgrim Antonin de Plaisance who describes the holy places in 570 pays to have seen with the basilica of the Mont Sion “the crown of spines whose Our Lord was crowned and launches it with which it was struck at the side”. Another document of the same time mentions the presence of the Lance in the Basilica of Resurrection (the Holy Sepulchre). Other authors like Cassiodore or Gregoire de Tours evoke the presence with Jerusalem of this Lance, but without to have seen it to them-even.

The fragment of Paris

According to the Chronicon Paschale , in 615, year of the catch of Jerusalem by the Persian , the point of the Holy Lance was broken and given to the Patrice Nicetas, who reported it at the same time as the Sainte Sponge to Constantinople and deposited it in the church Holy-Sophie on October 26th

After having escaped with the bag of Constantinople in 1204, it was resold in 1244 by Baudouin II, Latin emperor of Constantinople, to Louis IX and was transported to Paris. The king deposited it in the Sainte Vault beside the Couronne of Spines. It would have remained there until the Révolution and would have been briefly deposited with the National library of Paris before disappearing.

The lance of Saint-Pierre of Rome

In 1357, Jean de Mandeville ensured to have seen the Holy Lance in Paris and in Constantinople, the latter larger than the fragment of Paris: it was about the lower part of the Relique.

Indeed, if, as one saw, Persians had given the point of the lance to the Patrice Nicetas in 615, they had carried principal the Relique S (of which the Vraie Cross) in Iran, and it is the emperor Héraclius who recovered them at the time of a victorious counter-offensive. It brought them back to Jerusalem. But later, this lower part of the Holy Lance of Jerusalem had to be transferred to Constantinople, perhaps at the 8th century. Thus it is always announced there to the 14th century.

After the catch of the city in 1453, it fell to the hands from the Turks. In 1489 the pope Innocent VIII made an agreement with the sultan Beyazid II: it would keep the brother (and rival) of the captive sultan, in exchange of an annual ransom and Holy Lance. Thus the Relique arrived to Rome in 1492. At the beginning of the 17th century Urbain VIII made arrange by Bernin four loggias in the four pillars supporting the dome of the basilica, to place the four there more important Relique S of Saint-Pierre of Rome:

of the fragments of the True Cross, coming from the Roman churches Holy-Cross of Jerusalem and Holy-Anastasie, in the Pillar of Holy Helene;
the Volto Santo (the Holy Face), linen carrying the image of a bearded man (coming from Jerusalem) in the Pillar of Holy Veronique;
the cranium of Holy Andre brought back Constantinople to Venice in 1460 by Thomas Paleologist and offered to Black and white II, in the Pillar of Holy Andre;
finally, the fragment of the Lance in the Pillar of Holy Longin.

Two visible statues in the basilica represent this Holy Lance: the bronze statue of the Innocent tomb of VIII, by Antonio Pollaiuolo, representative this pope holding the iron of the Holy Lance, and a colossal marble statue of Longin Saint by Bernin.

At the 18th century, the pope Benoît XIV stated to have made carry out a precise drawing of the point of Parisian lance, whose form supplemented perfectly the fragment of Saint-Pierre of Rome. The three christic relics (True Cross, the Holy Face and Sainte Lance) are today gathered in the vault of the Pillar of Sainte Veronique, and are exposed to faithful fifth Sunday of Lent. However, the Catholic church does not assert in any way the authenticity of these Relique S.

. But it was demolishes by the Turks close to Nicée and, according to Caffaro, the relic was then lost. One does not know any more, from now on, which became the Holy Lance of Antioche: preserved at Constantinople, or taken by the Turks, even recovered later by the crusaders since, according to Anselme of Gembloux, the Holy Lance would have been carried by Pons abbot of Cluny to the battle of Ascalon on April 18th 1124?

A Armenian assumption: the Lance of Beirut

Since it is absolutely certain that the Holy Lance of Antioche was not that of Jerusalem, venerated since the 6th century, that could it be? The assumption that it was about the first pointed end of scrap found while digging under the cathedral of Antioche, even of a pure trickery is traditionally made. But it is undoubtedly not the case. Raymond d' Aguilers, chaplain of the count de Toulouse and present in the church during the excavations, reports the discovery as an eyewitness: “Me Raimond, which write this, at the time when one saw yet only the point lance to appear it above the ground, I kissed it”. Anselme de Ribemont, another witness, wrote with the archbishop Rheims that the lance was found “under the paving stone of the Saint-Pierre church, with a depth doubles height of a man”. That made between 3 and 4 m of depth. Even by admitting that the exhausted and distressed crusaders were ready to believe anything, it is obvious that this lance was to be presented to the diggers in a context which shows clearly that it was about a Relique. However it is precisely what says Theofried Abbé of Echternach (or Epternach), contemporary of the facts but speaking by hearsay: “This framée so invaluable, the year of the incarnation of the Verb thousand ninety eights, thanks to a divine revelation, was discovered in Antioche in a marble trunk and was fixed on a standard…”.

These thin indications make it possible to include/understand what Pierre Barthélémy put at the day. The Antioche of the 11th century was built on already at least more than ten meters of debris accumulated by the many seisms which shaved the city in the Antiquity and at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Between 3 and 4 m, the diggers of the 11th century were certainly on the level of the church protobyzantine which had inevitably preceded that in which they were. In these Syrian churches of, one buried reliquaries hones some under the chorus. Without one being able to affirm it, it is trying to think that the arca marmorea (marble trunk) about which speaks Theofried d' Echternach is such a reliquary, typically Syrian, containing a spearhead formerly venerated like a Relique.

Syrian Example of marble reliquary of the {{S|V|E}}

At the 13th century the Armenian chronicler Vartan Large the, without quoting its source, it believes what was this lance. He writes: “The Francs found on the line, in the church of Saint Pierre, the lance with which the Jews bored by derision the image of the Saver, from where it left blood and water, like true side of Christ. This lance was venerated with equal that which penetrated in the body of God and which the Armenians have. Strengthened by this weapon, the Francs overcame their enemies; later they sent it to the Alexis emperor”. Vartan refers to the Lance of Béryte (Beirut), and to an incident which, according to Athanase of Alexandria, would have occurred in Béryte under Constantin II at the 4th century.

Nothing makes it possible to know from where Vartan draws this explanation. It has the merit to agree perfectly with the facts, because such a lance whose history is a repetition of that of the lance of Longin extremely well could be venerated in Syria as from the 4th century, and be found with Antioche where the destruction of the 6th century will have made it inaccessible, whereas the local tradition preserved the memory of it.

The Geghard of Etchmiadzin (Arménie)

A Holy Lance (in Armenian Geghard ) is exposed today to Etchmiadzin, capital nun of the Arménie. The first source which mentions it is a text of the 13th century reproduces in a Armenian manuscript, text entitled the holy relics of Our Lord Jesus Christ . According to this text, the lance whose Jesus was transpierced would have been brought in Arménie by the apostle Thadée. The manuscript does not specify where precisely it is preserved, but gives Holy Lance a description which corresponds exactly to Geghard of the monastery which carries, since the 13th century precisely, the name of Geghardavank (monastery of the Holy Lance).

It is there that in 1655 the French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier makes a rather approximate sketch of them. In 1805 the Russians took the monastery and prince Tchitchanov transferred the Geghard to Tbilissi (Georgia). It returned later in Arménie to Etchmiadzin, where it is always, visible with the museum Manougian , enchased in a reliquary of the 17th century.

This Lance of Etchmiadzin forever be a weapon. It is rather the point of a sign, perhaps Byzantine, with an iron in the shape of openwork rhombus of a Greek cross. Is it about the Holy Lance of Antioche discovered by Pierre Barthélemy? They is for certain an assumption: the Relique of the crusaders disappears from the chronicles one century before the Geghard appears in the Armenian sources.

The Holy Lance of Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey)

A Holy Lance, almost identical to that of Etchmiadzin, was brought in 1718 by the fathers Dominicains of Arménie to Izmir, where had come to take refuge the Armenian catholics fleeing the Persian occupation. It is always preserved by the Dominicains of Izmir.

the Holy Lance (Geghard) of Etschmiadzin
the Holy Lance of Izmir

The Holy Lance of the Saint Worsens Romain Germanique

The first description of this lance is in the Antapodosis of Liutprand de Crémone at the 10th century. Luitprand does not present it like a relic, and the history recalls some: in 921 or 922 the count Samson, with other Italian lords, called upon Rodolphe II of Burgundy so that it takes the kingdom of Italy and drives out some the emperor Bérenger Ier of the Friuli. To this occasion Samson gives to Rodolphe the Lance. According to Liutprand, the German king Henri the Bird-catcher wished to have it and threatened Rodolphe II to invade his States. Rodolphe yielded and Henri made him rich person present, inter alia most of Souabe.

It then passed to the various emperors Saint Empire Romain Germanique who make it transfer to the Cathédrale from Magdeburg, foundation of Otton Large the and not of support symbolic system to be able to them. It was integrated into the ritual of their sacring. It was considered at the time this lance had been forged with a nail of Passion. The emperor Conrad (1024-1039) made make a gold reliquary in the shape of cross gemmated there to place the Lance and a piece of the wood of the True Cross (this reliquary is always in Vienna). The emperor Henri IV (1084-1105) made place on the lance the silver foil which indicates this relic like nail of Passion fixed at the " Launch of Maurice" Saint;. It is not yet question, at the time, of Holy Lance.

It is in the first third of the 13th century that a pontifical document indicates this lance like a double relic (Lance of Longin + nail of Passion), and this identification is allowed in all the Empire at the 14th century. In 1350 the emperor Charles IV transfers it to Prague, and obtains from the pope Innocent VI the right to make celebrate in all its empire a Festival of the Holy Lance. It is Charles IV which makes place the gold sheet identifying the relic like " Launch and Nail of Seigneur". The lance was then transferred to Nuremberg starting from 1424, by order of the emperor Sigismond who declared: “It is the will of God that the crown, the sphere, the sceptre, the cross, the sword and the lance of the Saint Worsen Romain never do not leave the ground of the Fatherland”. This collection is called Reichskleinodien or " regalia impériaux".

In 1796, with the approach of the French troops which threatened Nuremberg, the Council of the city made put the Reichskleinodien at the shelter with Ratisbon, then in 1800 with Vienna (it was feared that Bonaparte, seizing the Holy Lance, cannot thus reign on the world?). The French threat approaching Vienna, one entrusted them to a certain baron von Hügel until them safety could be assured. After the dissolution of the Saint Worsens in 1806, von Hügel benefitted from the legal blur to resell Reichskleinodien with the emperor of Austria, which refused to restore them later at the town of Nuremberg. They thus remained with Vienna like property of the Habsbourg then, after the revolution of 1918, of the Austrian State. After the Anschluss in 1938, Adolf Hitler brought them back to Nuremberg. Seized in a bunker by the Americans in 1945, Reichskleinodien including/understanding the Holy Lance were restored at the Austrian State and are preserved today at the palate of the Hofburg to Vienna, where the unit is visible in the Schatzkammer.

The Holy Lance is covered with a silver foil and a gold sheet. One can read on the silver foil the datable inscription of 1084: “CLAVVUS + HEINRICVS D (I.E.(INTERNAL EXCITATION)) GR. (ATI) HAS TERCIVS ROMANO (RUM) IMPERATOR AVG (USTUS) HOC ARGENTUM IVSSIT FABRICARI AD CONFIRMATIONE (M) CLAVI LAUNCHED SANCTI MAVRICII + SANCTVS MAVRICIVS”: " Clou + Henri by the Grace of God Third emperor of the Romans Auguste ordered that this money band is made to firmly attach the Nail and the Lance of Maurice Saint + Saint Maurice ". In 1350, Charles IV made put a gold sheet over the silver foil with following inscription “LANCEA AND CLAVUS DOMINI” - " Lance and Clou of the Lord ".

A valuation made at the beginning of the 20th century concluded that it is about a lance lombarde of the 9th century, which agrees well with what said Liutprand de Crémone. It is supposed that it acted in the beginning of a royal badge burgonde, related to the worship of holy Maurice, from where the late legend which wanted that Maurice, soldier Roman of the Légion thebaine, under the Tétrarchie, used the Holy Lance of Longin to fight.

The Holy Lance of Cracow (Poland)

Another Holy Lance is attested with Cracow since the 13th century: it is a copy carried out under the emperor Henri II, in which one incorporated a fragment of the original. A similar copy was carried out for the king of Hungary, but disappeared with the Middle Ages.

Photography of the Holy Lance
Examination of the Holy Lance (university of Vienna, in German)

The Holy Lance in the literature

In the Song of Roland, it is known as that the point of the Holy Lance is enchased in the pommel of Joyeuse, the sword of Charlemagne. One draws argument from this passage to go back this poem to 1100, at the moment when the discovery of Pierre Barthélémy with Antioche made great noise in Europe.

In the current of the 12th century appears a “bloody lance” in the mystical novel of Chrétien of Troyes Perceval or the Tale of Graal . Of course one thinks of the lance of Longin (and Chrétien of Troyes could not be unaware of it), but nowhere it is known as only it is that one. This lance, element secondary at Christian of Troyes, takes a larger importance in the German version, the Parzival of Wolfram of Eschenbach. At the 19th century, it becomes an central element of the lyric version of Richard Wagner, Parsifal.

As for the Holy Lance of the Holy roman Empire, it caused a whole more or less fantastic Anglo-Saxon literature. The General George Patton (who perhaps saw the Lance in 1945) had written a poem ( Through has knell, darkly ) in which it said to have been Longin in a former life. But it is Trevor Ravenscroft which, in The Spear off Destiny ( the Lance of the Destiny , 1973), made EC Lance of Vienna a quasi-magic object to which the Nazis allotted supernatural capacities. The influence of this book was large in the United States: many of other novels, tests or films developed this topic of the Nazis hunters of relics, which one finds the echo in the series of the Indiana Jones of Steven Spielberg. Thus the popular culture, American in the beginning, seized the Lance of the Holy roman Empire, generally under the name of " Launch of Destin" borrowed from Trevor Ravenscroft and more acceptable by the public of Protestant culture. One does not count any more films, telefilms, cartoons, mangas, cartoons, roleplays, even Gothic rock groups which refer there. One of the most frequent topics is that the Nazis had left in Nuremberg only one copy, and in their escape hid true some share in South America or Antarctic, or that the Americans recovered the true one well but returned only one copy from there to the Austrians, keeping true some share in the United States.

An Eastern ritual instrument

The " term; holy lance" indicated in the primitive Christianisme (and today still at the orthodoxe Christians ) the liturgical knife which made it possible to break the bread during the Eucharistie, symbolically renewing on the bread become body of the Christ the wound inflicted by Longin at the time of the Crucifixion.

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