Page 10 - Italian-American Herald - April 2024

10 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | APRIL2024 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD HISTORY
The Montesiepi Chapel was built after the death of San Galgano between 1182 and 1185 in the foothills of Chiusdino in the province of Siena. The Rotonda or circular chapel that houses the sword in the stone of San Galgano is easily visible. | ISTOCK PHOTO
Could Italian knight Galgano Guidotti be the real King Arthur?
By Marc Chiacchio
About 20 miles southwest of the town of Siena in the magical land of Tuscany lies a town called Chiusdino, where a true tale of a knight and his sword in the stone is strikingly similar to the Arthurian tale of King Arthur.
A valiant knight born in 1148 by the name of Galgano Guidotti renounced his life as a knight and became a hermit and saint. According to legend, after Guidotti received
a vision from Archangel Gabriel at the age
of 20 to build a chapel at Montesiepi and spend his last days there, his horse would not take any orders from him the next day so he ended up going to the Montesiepi mountain top. To renounce his current life of fighting as a knight, he struck his sword into a stone up until the hilt or handle. The sword took the shape of a cross whereby the knight used it to
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pray for the rest of his life. It is believed that he died of starvation in 1181 at the age of 33. He was canonized just four years later as a saint by Pope Lucius III.
In the four years after his death, from 1182-1185, the Hermitage of Montesiepi was built with a round chapel enclosing the sword in the stone. The construction of the chapel was also the wish of the knight but he wasn’t able to do so because of his health at the time. To honor the knight the Abbey of San Galgano was built nearby between 1218 and 1288 by Cistercian monks. By the 18th century, the roof had caved in leaving it in ruins which we see today.
With the story of San Galgano and his sword in the stone, one can make similar and strong connections to the legend of King Arthur as first told by Geoffrey Monmouth in 1136, Wace in 1155, Chretien de Troyes in
1170, and Thomas Mallory around 1470. Geoffrey Monmouth laid the groundwork
for the Arthurian legend including Arthur becoming front and center as a true hero and legendary king along with the developed characters of Guinevere, Merlin, Sir Gawain, Uther Pendragon, Mordred, and the birth of Arthur at Tintagel.
Monmouth is known as the Father of
the Arthurian Legend. Wace, an Anglo- Norman poet, brought about the idea of
the Round Table and the sword Excalibur, further popularizing the legend. Chretien
de Troyes added the concepts of Camelot and the Holy Grail as well as the character of Lancelot. Thomas Malory compiled all
of the Arthurian tales before him and wrote them in non-poetic language or prose for the first time called “Le Morte D’Arthur,” which
Continued on page 13
Galgano renounced his life as a knight to become a hermit. But legend says he was visited by Archangel Gabriel.
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