The Story of the Real Sword in the Stone

The story of the Sword in the Stone comes from Arthurian legend. It is a well-known tale of the child Arthur, who pulls the mythical sword from the stone and becomes the future King of England. This legend may be partially based on truth. No, a boy did not pull a sword from a stone and become King of England, as far as we know. However, there is a sword lodged in a stone at the Monte Siepi Chapel in the San Galgano Abbey in Tuscany. That is Italy, not England, but it is close enough. After all, how many swords in stones can there possibly be?

The story of how the sword came to be in the stone at Monte Siepi is the story of San (Saint) Galgano Guidotti. Galgano was born in 1148. He became a knight, but not the sort of knight you would expect to see at the round table. He was ruthless and cruel. The Archangel Michael revealed himself to Galgano Guidotti when Guidotti was 32-years-old. The year was 1180. The archangel showed Galgano the error of his ways and how he could return to God.   Read more of this article.