Originally published at Churchpop
You saw the Disney movie as a kid. You may have read the book. But did you know some of it was based on real history?
While the story of King Arthur, Merlin, and all the rest may not be true, there really is a centuries-old sword stuck in a stone.
In the small Italian town of Chiusdino, there’s a small chapel near Saint Galgano Abbey known as Montesiepi Chapel. Inside, you’ll find a big slab of stone in the floor with the handle of a sword sticking out of it.
How did it get there? Well, the story goes that in the 12th century, there was a knight named Galgano Guidotti who, toward the end of his life, decided to retire as a hermit.
He then had two mystical visions: in the first, the Archangel Michael said he would personally protect him; and in the second, he met the 12 Apostles and God himself.
When the second vision ended, he decided to commemorate the place with a cross.
Since he had no other materials, he stuck his sword into the ground as a cross. Immediately, the ground hardened up around it, and it’s been stuck there ever since.
Just four years after his death, Pope Lucius III started a formal canonization process that ended with
