Sword of Saint Peter
Encyclopedia
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
with which the Apostle Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
cut off the ear of the high priest's servant
Malchus
In the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Bible, Malchus is the servant of the Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, who participated in the arrest of Jesus...
at the time of Jesus' arrest
Arrest of Jesus
The arrest of Jesus is a pivotal event recorded in the Canonical gospels. The event ultimately leads, in the Gospel accounts, to Jesus' crucifixion...
in Gethsemane
Gethsemane
Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where, according to Biblical texts, Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.- Etymology :...
.
The sword is wide-tipped, similar in shape to a dussack
Dussack
A Dussack is a type of short, single-edged sword from Central and Eastern Europe ....
or machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
. It currently resides in the Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
Archdiocesan Museum.
An exact copy of the sword, made by Bogdan Puchalski, is displayed on the wall of the Poznań Archcathedral Basilica.
History
The sword is mentioned for the first time in the 1609 Vitae Episcoporum Posnaniensium of Jan Długosz as being the original Roman sword (GladiusGladius
Gladius was the Latin word for sword, and is used to represent the primary sword of Ancient Roman soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BC, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the early...
) used by Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
in the Gospels, or a direct copy made for Pope Stephen VII
Pope Stephen VII
Pope Stephen VII . Stephen was a Roman by birth, the son of Theodemundus, and perhaps a member of the Gabrielli family. He was elected—probably handpicked—by Marozia from the Tusculani family, as a stop-gap measure until her own son John was ready to assume the throne of Peter...
. However, at this time Stephen was already dead, and the current pope was John XIII
Pope John XIII
Pope John XIII of Crescenzi family served as Pope from October 1, 965, until his death.Born in Rome, he spent his career in the papal court...
.
The sword arrived in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
in 968 as a gift from John XIII for either Bishop Jordan or Duke Mieszko I. The Archdeacon
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
of Poznań Cathedral in 1699 writes about the sword, describing it as a part of St. Peter's sword brought to Poznań by Bishop Jordan, where it is usually kept in the cathedral treasury, except for the few times a year when it is shown to the people. The 1721 Decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
of Poznań Cathedral Chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
refers to having the sword moved to the chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
as a more proper placement for this noble artifact.
Folklore
According to British folkloreBritish folklore
British folklore refers to the folklore of any of the home countries of the United Kingdom. For more information see :*English folklore*Scottish folklore*Welsh mythology*Irish mythologyOr :...
, St. Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea was, according to the Gospels, the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after Jesus' Crucifixion. He is mentioned in all four Gospels.-Gospel references:...
brought the sword to Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
and it was kept at Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....
for many years until the Abbot gave it to Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
.
Authenticity
For many years, historians treated the sword as a copy, probably made in the 10th century, but research by scientists from the Polish Army MuseumPolish Army Museum
-Newest Exhibition:The Polish Army Museum was not too long ago given the equipment of the lost soldiers from the Presidential Smolensk aircraft crash. The equipment includes the ID Passes, Portable radios, torches, holsters and much more and all in their original state.Museum of the Polish Army is...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
suggests that the weapon could have been made in the 1st century in the eastern borderlands of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
However, scientists from the Greater Poland Army Museum in Poznań strongly consider it to be a medieval copy. Other experts, like Marian Głosek and Leszek Kajzer, suggest that the sword was made in the first quarter of the 14th century.
Regardless of when the sword was made, it has the longest documented history in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, along with the Szczerbiec
Szczerbiec
Szczerbiec is the coronation sword that was used in crowning ceremonies of most kings of Poland from 1320 to 1764. It is currently on display in the treasure vault of the Royal Wawel Castle in Kraków as the only preserved piece of Polish Crown Jewels...
.
Description
- The blade was made from a single piece of ironIronIron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
with an added small cross-guard - Total length: 70.2 centimetres (27.6 in), it was probably 1 centimetre (0.393700787401575 in) or 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in) longer, but the tip of the sword was destroyed by corrosionCorrosionCorrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...
- Maximal width, at the tip: 9.4 centimetres (3.7 in)
- There is a hole 10.3 centimetres (4.1 in) from the end of the hilt, which is 0.4 centimetre (0.15748031496063 in) in diameter