OBJECT FILE
The Holy Lance of Vienna (the 'Spear of Destiny')
FOLLOWImperial Treasury (Weltliche Schatzkammer), Hofburg, Vienna, Austria
THE OBJECT
An iron lance-head with a gold cuff, part of the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, displayed in the Imperial Treasury (Weltliche Schatzkammer) in the Hofburg, Vienna. A nail said to be from the Cross is set into the blade. X-ray and other analysis in Vienna dated the lance to around the 8th to early 9th century, ruling out the 1st century AD.
REPORTED ACTIVITY
Venerated as the Lance of Longinus. Twentieth-century lore — the 'Spear of Destiny' — 're-imagined [it] in popular culture as a magical talisman whose powers may be used for good or evil' (Wikipedia), a story now in novels, comics and games. The dating rules out the relic tradition; the talisman story has no historical source.
WHERE IT IS NOW
On public display — kept by Kunsthistorisches Museum (the Imperial Treasury is affiliated with it). Imperial Treasury (Weltliche Schatzkammer), Hofburg, Vienna, Austria.
PROVENANCE · 1 ENTRY
TRACE ON THE MAP →1800 — CURRENT LOCATION
The imperial regalia, Vienna
Imperial Treasury, Hofburg, Vienna, Austria
Year-level. Baron von Hügel had first moved the regalia to Ratisbon; the 1805 removal to Hungary and the return to Vienna are not dated in the source. Earlier centuries are not recorded here.
Source: Wikipedia, Holy Lance ('by 1800 that city was also under threat of invasion, so he relocated them again to Passau, Linz, and Vienna … When the French entered Vienna in 1805, the collection was moved again to Hungary, before ultimately returning to Vienna')
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS · 0
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