A knight of extraordinary virtue, the Holy Grail and a sword stuck in a rock: we are not in mythical Camelot, but in Tuscany, in a real place that has managed to preserve and convey the charm of the legend. Amidst natural landscapes of extraordinary beauty stands the Hermitage of Montesiepi where, according to tradition, a saint named Galgano thrust a miraculous sword into the rock as a sign of his conversion. A few decades later, the Cistercian monks built the majestic Abbey of San Galgano close by. In this sacred space, now roofless, the heavens and the earth truly meet, not only in the minds and hearts of visitors, but also in the imagined vaults and pillars that reach out towards infinity.
The Story of Saint Galgano Guidotti
It is said that Galgano Guidotti, a knight of noble birth born in Chiusdino between 1148 and 1150, had led a dissolute youth. But one day, unexpectedly, a mystical vision turned his life upside down. According to the Inquisitio in partibus, the text containing the records of the 1185 canonisation process1, Galgano, in a dream, saw Saint Michael the Archangel asking his mother, Dionigia, to make him a soldier. Upon awakening from this ecstatic rapture, Galgano immediately ran to his mother and told her what he had seen.
“After reflecting in silence, the mother, filled with great joy, said, ‘This vision is a good one, my son, and it brings you a message of immense joy. We in fact, I a widow and you an orphan, will be entrusted to Saint Michael, to whom your father was deeply devoted’”.
Inquisitio in partibus, 1185.
Galgano’s family clearly showed strong devotion to the Archangel Michael. After all, his father Guidotto, who died in 11782, had been a knight, as had his ancestors3: it is natural that the noble family would seek the protection of the commander of the heavenly host. Furthermore, the origins of Galgano’s birthplace, Chiusdino, are linked to the Lombards, a warrior people known for their veneration of Saint Michael the Archangel.
Saint Galgano’s second mystical vision
Neither Galgano nor his mother, however, had fully grasped the nature of the divine request. Saint Michael, in fact, was not asking him to take up arms, but to commit himself entirely to the militia Christi and the detachment from material goods. After years of doubt and uncertainty, Galgano received a second vision of the Archangel. This time Michael urged him to follow him. In the dream, the young man found himself riding a horse, which led him along a long path. He crossed a bridge over a river, not without difficulty, and saw a mill. At that moment, he became aware of the passage of time and the transience of all things.
Beyond the bridge lay a meadow “covered with beautiful flowers, which gave off a wonderful scent”. Shortly afterwards, Galgano entered an underground cave and finally reached the heights of Monte Siepi, where a round house stood. There he recognised the twelve apostles, who gave him a book, but he could not read. Thus, Galgano raised his eyes to the sky and caught a glimpse of the divine majesty. The apostles then commanded him:
“Build here a house in honour of God, Holy Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel and the twelve Apostles. And you shall stay here, for many years”.
Inquisitio in partibus, 1185.
The symbolic interpretation of the vision
We can interpret Galgano’s vision as an archetype of medieval legend, unfolding through a system of symbolic images. The saint, in fact, undertakes a difficult initiatory journey, through which he attains a higher level of consciousness. The long and treacherous bridge is a metaphor for man’s earthly passage. The river symbolises the passing of time and the transience of material things. The mill, which alludes to the concept of the Wheel of Fortune, is an allegory of the world’s transience. Galgano then arrives at a flower-filled meadow. However, this is not yet the final destination, but rather an intermediate state of consciousness that follows conversion. The final step before encountering the divine is death: Galgano passes through a cave, a symbolic space that is dark and unknown.
The saint finally arrives among the apostles and is unable to read the sacred book handed to him. This is a powerful and striking image. Galgano’s gesture signifies the rejection of any intermediary to reach the divine, in favour of a contemplative, direct and hermitic experience.
Saint Galgano’s conversion
Before long, Galgano began to consider how he might fulfil the divine request. Monte Siepi was, in fact, an inaccessible place, and it was hard to imagine it as a possible dwelling. The Inquisitio in partibus recounts that no one seemed to take him seriously. His friends, misjudging his plan, retorted sharply: “You want to raise money and swindle people. Go away overseas”. This reflects contemporary attitudes toward the Crusades. Even Galgano’s mother began to make excuses, saying “The cold is excessive, the hunger intense, the place almost inaccessible: how shall we get there?”. The hagiographies written from the 16th century onwards add yet another detail, namely that Galgano had a betrothed, the noblewoman Polissena of Civitella. Dionigia therefore tried in every way to persuade him to marry and abandon his plans for the hermitage.
Galgano tried to obey his parents’ wishes and, in December 1180, set off on the road to Civitella. However, at a certain point the horse bolted and there was no way to continue. The saint therefore let go of the reins and surrendered himself to God’s will. The horse led him to Monte Siepi, the site of his mystical vision. Here Galgano clothed himself in a habit, fashioned by tearing his own cloak, and withdrew to pray. Then, suddenly:
“And having drawn his sword, not being able to make a cross from the wood, he immediately planted the same sword in the ground as a cross. And it, by divine virtue, was welded together in such a way that neither he nor anyone else, by any effort whatsoever, was ever able to pull it out”.
Inquisitio in partibus, 1185.
In that moment the sword changed its meaning: from the sign of death it took on the features of the saving Cross of Christ.
The fight against the devil
Galgano established a small community of friars (fratres religiosi sancti Galgani) at Montesiepi, probably guided by the observance of an oral rule. In the spring of 1181, while he was going to Pope Alexander III, perhaps to ask for approval of his coenoby, three people, moved by envy, attempted to pull the sword out of the rock. Failing in any way, they broke it into two parts.
Tradition has it that God severely punished the sinners. One of them was struck dead by lightning and another drowned in a river. The last of the three was attacked by wolves but, having implored divine forgiveness, was spared. However, the beasts managed to tear off his arms, and legend has it that those limbs were preserved in a display case, as a warning for years to come.
The Lord commanded Galgano Guidotti to reassemble the sword-cross, which immediately fell back into place. From that time onwards no one ever dared to try to pull it out again5 and even the devil began to fear Galgano’s holiness:
“[…] one night, while he was in the woods and taking shelter between two hornbeams, he heard the devil coming against him. Wanting that he did not oppress him there, he went out to face him bravely. And the devil, seeing the man’s tenacity, departed from him with a howl”.
Inquisitio in partibus, 1185.
Death and burial of Saint Galgano
After his conversion, Galgano followed a simple life of meditation, in contrast to the violence and political clashes that raged in the region, performing numerous miracles6. The hermit saint adopted a freer form of prayer, without taking the habit of one of the existing religious orders. The Inquisitio in partibus, the source temporally closest to the events narrated, makes no mention of this. On November 30, 1181, a strong light announced Galgano’s death. The brethren buried him next to his sword, as befitted a knight, a knight of Christ.
“[…] immediately he saw the cell illuminated with such splendour that it seemed that a ray of sunlight and light shone through a thousand holes like fire, and entered the cell where he was. And out of this light came a clear voice that said: “My Galgano, you are what you sowed”… Once this prayer was said, his soul departed from his body and deserved to reach the celestial homeland”.
Leggenda di Santo Galgano Confessore, anonymous in the vernacular (14th century).
However, Galgano’s remains did not stay there for long: during the canonization process they were moved to an unknown location. The saint’s head was placed in a reliquary and taken to Siena. It is now located in the church of San Michele in Chiusdino.
The Hermitage of Montesiepi
Galgano Guidotti’s remains soon became greatly venerated, especially because of the miracles attributed to him by the people of Chiusdino. The growing pilgrimage to Montesiepi aroused the curiosity of the bishop of Volterra, Ugo Saladini. Hence, he decided to conduct an initial investigation into the events. He then ordered the construction of a circular chapel in order to guard Galgano’s sword and his burial. By 1185 the original core of the building was complete, and in the 14th century a side chapel7, frescoed by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, was added. Finally, a small bell gable tower arose in the 15th century.
The Chapel of Montesiepi
The Chapel of the Montesiepi Hermitage is easily reached via a charming woodland path. The walk evokes the spiritual journey of the hermit Galgano. The chapel, built in the Romanesque-Sienese style, is known as the “Rotunda di Montesiepi” due to its cylindrical shape. The lower part of the building is of travertine, whilst the upper section and the dome feature a two-tone façade with light-coloured bands and darker brickwork. A pronaos with a round arch precedes the Rotunda. Above it stands the coat of arms of the Florentine Medici family.
The sword of Saint Galgano
Inside the Rotunda of Montesiepi is located the sword in the rock of Galgano. The relic is protected by a glass case that was added in the 20th century, after some vandals in 1960 and 1991 recklessly attempted to pull it out. Indeed, even the warning of divine retribution was not enough!
In 2001, a team led by Professor Luigi Garlaschelli of CICAP carried out a scientific test to determine the age of the sword8. The researchers confirmed that the weapon is indeed embedded in the stone and, as tradition holds, appears to be broken in two. A small hole drilled into the rock revealed the front part of the blade. Samples of iron were extracted from this and analysed by the University of Pavia using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and by the LENA Centre using Neutron Activation Analysis. The studies of the metal composition confirmed the artefact’s medieval origin. The sword can be dated to the late 12th century, according to Ewart Oakeshott’s classification9. The scientific investigation has therefore confirmed that the relic, documented in Montesiepi through pictorial evidence dating back to the 13th century, including Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s fresco in the side chapel, dates from the time of Saint Galgano.
Traces of the Knights Templar
Through his revolutionary act, Galgano Guidotti embodied the monastic and chivalric ideals of his time. He personified the archetype of the medieval righteous man, the noble warrior who places his sword in God’s service. His figure enjoyed great popularity amongst the Hierosolymitan orders engaged in the Crusades, including the Knights Templar. These provided assistance to pilgrims along the Via Francigena in the Siena area. The Order of the Temple is well documented in the territory of Chiusdino, where it owned the Mansio Templi de Fruosina10. Indeed, in the Rotunda di Montesiepi, one can discern traces of its presence, such as a Cross Pattée carved on a reused marble slab, possibly originating from the nearby Abbey of San Galgano.
Over time, the presence of the Knights Templar in Chiusdino inspired many tales blending truth and legend. It is said, for example, that they found a priceless relic in Jerusalem. Thus, to preserve it, they hid it in Montesiepi. What did this extraordinary treasure consist of? The hermitage of San Galgano is said to house the Holy Grail, the chalice from which Christ drank during the Last Supper, as described by Robert de Boron in Le livre du Graal (1191–1212)11. According to this tradition, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, had the relic handed over to him by Pilate, becoming its supreme guardian. Joseph then travelled to Britain, to Avalon. Here his family guarded the Grail until Arthur became king, drawing a sword from the stone…
The Abbey of Saint Galgano
Since Galgano Guidotti lived as a simple hermit and did not follow any monastic rule, after his death the Cistercians and the Augustinians disputed his legacy12. Both orders, in the 13th and 14th centuries, promoted his sanctity: there is an Augustinian hagiography from this period (Vita beati Galgani13) and another written by an anonymous Cistercian (Vita Sancti Galgani de Senis14). Emperor Henry VI fostered white monks from Cîteaux that went to Chiusdino in 1191. Who could have been better suited to settle at Montesiepi than the Cistercians of Bernard of Clairvaux, who had advocated the use of the sword during the Crusades (De laude novae militiae, 1128)?
However, the friars who had shared the first coenoby with Galgano, and who had lived a more free spirituality, did not like the imposition of the strict Cistercian rule. Hence, they decided to move away. This is attested by the rise of different hermitic settlements, named after the saint, in other places in Tuscany15. These fraternities – San Galgano di Catasta, San Galgano di Fidentio in Funticellis, San Galgano di Vallebuona, Santi Giorgio e Galgano della Spelonca – had eventually merged precisely into the Ordo Eremitarum Sancti Augustini (1256), at the express request of Pope Alexander IV.
A new abbey
When Bishop Ugo perished in 1185, he was succeeded by Ildebrando, who belonged to the powerful pro-imperial Pannocchieschi family. Now, if there had been a figure of a paladin, noble knight and free from the influence of ecclesiastical orders, that was certainly Galgano Guidotti. Ildebrando, therefore, decided to support his cult, both to affirm the model of a “Ghibelline saint”16 and to give prestige to the church of Volterra against the rising bourgeoisie. As early as August 1185, he requested Pope Lucius III to open the canonization process for Galgano.
In addition, since the pilgrims coming to Montesiepi had become too numerous, at the Merse plain below the Hermitage, the construction site for the building of an imposing Cistercian abbey was prepared17. By 1262 the work was almost completed, and a few years later the abbey church could already be consecrated (1288). The community of Cistercian monks residing here, a daughter of Casamari, became a real economic power. Thus, Montesiepi is the first monastery in Tuscany in terms of political and cultural importance.
Even the powerful city of Siena had to admit the mastery of the Cistercian workers. In 1257 the monk Ugo became head of the Biccherna, the Revenue Office of the Tuscan city. Moreover, it was precisely the Cistercian monks of Saint Galgano who built part of Siena Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.
The period of decline
From the second decade of the 14th century, a period of decline began for the Abbey and Hermitage of Montesiepi. A violent famine, the plague of 1348 and finally some looting put the monastic community in difficulty. This process culminated in 1474, when the Cistercians of Saint Galgano completely abandoned the monastery and moved to Siena. From 1503 the complex was entrusted to a series of commendatory abbots, whose management was disastrous. To give an idea, Abbot Giovanni Andrea Vitelli Ghiandaroni (1538 to 1576) let the lead roofing of the Montesiepi Rotunda (and not of the abbey church as mistakenly believed) to be dismantled; the metal was probably used to make bullets18.
From this time the Abbey began to rapidly fall into disrepair. In 1786 the bell tower was felled by lightning and caused the wooden roof of the church to collapse19. For centuries the Abbey of Saint Galgano was left to neglect. Thus, no trace remains today of the splendid stained glass windows of yesteryear. Only in the early 20th century, it was finally decided to carry out a conservative restoration of the remaining structures.
The Cistercian architecture of the Abbey of Saint Galgano
The Abbey of Saint Galgano reflects the sobriety established by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux20. In accordance with the plan-types of Cistercian architecture, it consists of an abbey church, with a Latin cross plan over a nave and two aisles, a cloister and a chapter house. The church has a very special charm and conveys a feeling of nostalgia. One can still perceive the monastery’s former glory, but the architecture now lies in ruins. The lack of the roof reveals the formal linearity of Gothic verticalism. It allows one to cast the gaze far beyond the dimension of space, toward infinity.
The façade, devoid of decoration, features three portals with pointed arches and two-coloured archivolts. At the top, there are two large single-lancet windows. Only the central portal has a lintel decorated with an acanthus-leaf frieze. Four half-columns are also set against the façade. It is likely that these were intended to support an entrance portico, which, however, was never built.
Of particular interest are the remains of the cloister, partially reconstructed in the 20th century using original materials. Today, only a few arches remain, yet they are enough to give a sense of the architectural beauty of days gone by.
The chapter house is a large room, divided into sections by six columns supporting cross vaults. It is accessible from the cloister through a portal with a pointed arch.
Symbology
Near the church entrance, on the vertical wall of an external niche in the cloister, there is a painted reproduction of the Merels Board. The symbol became widespread in the Middle Ages partly thanks to the Knights Templar. It was linked to the representation of Solomon’s Temple.
In the scriptorium we can see the remnants of the original decorations, which include some knots, a Flower of Life and the Sacred Center symbol:
Saint Galgano and King Arthur
The life of Galgano Guidotti, and of the sword stuck in the rock, remind us of another story, mythical and literary, with which it shares unmistakable similarities. This is the matière de Bretagne, which developed since the early Middle Ages. However, historians recognise the Historia Regum Britanniae (1135-1137) of Geoffrey of Monmouth as its first comprehensive version.
The Arthurian cycle reached Italy through the vast strand of literature that developed in France. Crucially contributing to the success of the Matter of Britain were the novels of Chrétien de Troyes. He first introduced the characters of Lancelot (Lancelot ou le Chevalier à la charrette, 1170-1180) and Parsifal, but above all the term of the Grail (Le Roman de Perceval ou le conte du Graal, 1175-1190). The Christian dimension of the Holy Grail appears, however, in the later work of Robert de Boron (Joseph of Arimathea) and the sword that Arthur drew from the stone to become king (Merlin) too.
A boundary between legend and reality
The similarities between the hagiographies of Galgano and the Matter of Britain cannot be accidental. Beginning with the evocative gesture of the Knight Galgano Guidotti, an inverted Arthur, who instead of drawing his sword from the stone, stuck it there. The name “Galgano” then recalls that of “Galvanus “(Gawain), one of the Knights of the Round Table, Arthur’s nephew. A bishop of Volterra had already borne the same name before him (1150-1171). The twelve apostles in the Saint’s vision at the Rotunda of Montesiepi evoke the twelve Knights of the Round Table. And again, some scholars have drawn comparisons between Galgano’s mother and Parsifal’s mother, both widows. One could go on and on…
A tradition that goes way back
Certainly there was a contamination between Arthurian sources and Galgano’s hagiographies. However, it is by no means easy to reconstruct the dynamics. The problem is, first of all, time-related. Indeed, the spread of the matière de Bretagne in Italy took place decades after the saint’s death. Thus, it could therefore be imagined that it was inspired by it. However, some of the themes evoked both in Montesiepi and in the Arthurian cycle are certainly older and were most likely part of a common cultural substratum21.
In Italy there are some artistic records that attest to the existence of oral accounts even earlier than the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth. In Modena, for example, a very skilled master sculpted the Porta della Pescheria at the cathedral between 1110 and 1120. The archivolt hosts a number of chivalric scenes, masterfully depicted. The protagonists have Latinized Breton names (Galvaginus, Conrad, Isdernus, Winlogee, Burmaltus, and Artus de Bretania). These are the names of the protagonists of the Breton cycle: the reliefs on the door depict the rescue of Princess Winlogee (Genevieve), who was being held captive in a castle.
Saint Galgano, the perfect knight
It is evident that an oral narrative tradition already existed in Italy. Most likely, this had spread along the routes of the Via Francigena between Rome and Canterbury. Here pilgrims and crusaders, aided by numerous storytellers, told the mythical events of King Arthur.
From this oral tradition Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his famous work, Chrétien de Troyes initiated the French novel, and the knight Galgano Guidotti fulfilled his hermit mission. Galgano’s life can be observed as the tangible realization of a myth, of a narrative that had laid its cultural groundwork. Galgano embodied the essence of the chivalric tale. He was the personification of the Medieval Christian hero, who makes one of the cross and the sword, virtue and sacrifice, reality and legend. In any case, only one thing is certain: the sword in the stone, the only truly real one, is not in Britain but in Tuscany.
Samuele Corrente Naso
Notes
- Inquisitio in partibus, from the canonization process of Galgano Guidotti, 1185, as transcribed by Sigismondo Tizio in Historiae Senenses, Cod. Chigi G. I. 31; F. Schneider, Analecta toscana, IV, Der Einsiedler Galgan von Chiusdino und die Anfaenge von S. Galgano, in Quelle und Forschungen aus Italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken, XVII, 1914-1924. ↩︎
- Giuseppe S. Costantini, Vita di san Galgano, Compagnia di San Galgano, Chiusdino, 1904. ↩︎
- Rolando Pisano, Legenda Beati Galgani. Da Mario Moiraghi, L’enigma di san Galgano. La spada nella roccia tra storia e mito, Milano, Ancora, 2003. ↩︎
- Di Sailko – Opera propria, CC BY 3.0, image. ↩︎
- Ibidem note 1. ↩︎
- Ibidem note 1. ↩︎
- Massimo Marini, Chiusdino. Il suo territorio e l’abbazia di San Galgano, Siena, Nuova Immagine editrice, 1995. ↩︎
- L. Garlaschelli, M. Calì, La Spada nella Roccia. San Galgano e Montesiepi, Atti del convegno 12 Settembre 2001, Abbazia di San Galgano, 2020. ↩︎
- E. Oakeshott, The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry, 1960. ↩︎
- M. Frati, Gli Ospedali Medievali in Toscana: Osservazioni Preliminari, in S. Beltramo e P. Cozzo (a cura di), L’Accoglienza Religiosa Tra Medioevo Ed Età Moderna. Luoghi, Architetture, Percorsi, Viella, Roma, 2013. ↩︎
- Robert de Boron, Roman dou l’Estoire de Graal ou Joseph d’Arimathie, XIII secolo. Ms. E.39, Biblioteca Estense di Modena; ms. nouv. Acq. Fr. 4166, Biblioteca nazionale di Parigi. ↩︎
- A. Gianni, La fortuna di san Galgano: l’iconografia e il culto dal XII al XIX secolo. ↩︎
- Codice Laurenziano,XV secolo; E. Susi, La memoria contesa: il dossier agiografico di san Galgano, in La spada nella roccia. San Galgano e l’epopea eremitica di Montesiepi, a cura di A. Benvenuti, Firenze 2004. ↩︎
- Codice di Veroli, XV secolo. ↩︎
- A. Conti, La diaspora dei Consocii beati Galgani e le memorie galganiane in Val di Chiana, in Garfagnana e in Maremma, Accademia di San Galgano, 2004. ↩︎
- Ibidem E. Susi in note 10. ↩︎
- E. Repetti, Dizionario geografico, fisico, storico del Granducato di Toscana, Firenze, 1833-1846. ↩︎
- V. Passeri, Documenti per la storia delle località della provincia di Siena, Cantagalli, Siena 2002. ↩︎
- A. Canestrelli, L’abbazia di S. Galgano. Monografia storico-artistica con documenti inediti e numerose illustrazioni, Alinari, Firenze 1896. ↩︎
- Bernardo di Chiaravalle, Apologia ad Guillelmum Abbatem, 1225. ↩︎
- F. Cardini, San Galgano e la spada nella roccia, Siena 2000. ↩︎
