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The Holy Lance, also known as the Lance of Longinus (named after Saint Longinus), the Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Spear, is alleged to be the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion. As with other instruments of the Passion, the lance is only briefly mentioned in the Christian Bible, but later became the subject of extrabiblical traditions in the medieval church. Relics purported to be the lance began to appear as early as the 6th century, originally in Jerusalem. By the Late Middle Ages, relics identified as the spearhead of the Holy Lance (or fragments thereof) had been described throughout Europe. Several of these artifacts are still preserved to this day. Holy Lance relics have typically been used for religious ceremonies, but at times some of them have been considered to be guarantees of victory in battle. For example, Henry the Fowler's lance was credited for winning the Battle of Riade, and the Crusaders believed their discovery of a Holy Lance brought them a favorable end to the Siege of Antioch. However, in many conflicts the army or government that possessed a lance relic was instead defeated, as in the Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem, the sack of Constantinople, the Battle of Mühldorf, and the French Revolution. In the modern era, at least four major relics are claimed to be the Holy Lance or parts of it. They are located in Rome, Vienna, Vagharshapat and Antioch. The most prominent Holy Lance relic has been the one in Vienna, adorned with a distinctive gold cuff. This version of the lance is on public display with the rest of the Imperial Regalia at the Hofburg. Biblical references The lance (Greek: λόγχη, lonkhē) is mentioned in the Gospel of John, but not the Synoptic Gospels. The gospel states that the Romans planned to break Jesus' legs, a practice known as crurifragium, which was a method of hastening death during a crucifixion. Because it was the eve of the Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown), the followers of Jesus needed to "entomb" him because of Sabbath laws. Just before they did so, they noticed that Jesus was already dead and that there was no reason to break his legs ("and no bone will be broken"). To make sure that he was dead, a Roman soldier (named in extra-Biblical tradition as Longinus) stabbed him in the side. One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance (λόγχη), and immediately there came out blood and water. The name of the soldier who pierced Christ's side with a lonchē is not given in the Gospel of John, but in the oldest known references to the legend, the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus appended to late manuscripts of the 4th century Acts of Pilate, the soldier is identified as a centurion and called Longinus (making the spear's Latin name Lancea Longini).: 6–8 : 73  A form of the name Longinus occurs in the Rabula Gospels in the year 586. In a miniature, the name ΛΟΓΙΝΟΣ (LOGINOS) is written above the head of the soldier who is thrusting his lance into Christ's side. This is one of the earliest records of the name, if the inscription is not a later addition. Relics Rome A Holy Lance relic is preserved at Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, in a loggia carved into the pillar above the statue of Saint Longinus. The earliest known references to Holy Lance relics date to the 6th century. The Breviary of Jerusalem (circa 530) describes the lance on display at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.: 14 : 57  In his Expositio Psalmorum (ca. 540-548),: xv, 131–136  Cassiodorus asserts the continued presence of the lance in Jerusalem. A report by the Piacenza pilgrim (ca. 570) places the lance in the Church of Zion.: 18  Gregory of Tours described the lance and other relics of the Passion in his Libri Miraculorum (ca. 574-594).: 24  In 614, Jerusalem was captured by the Sasanian general Shahrbaraz.: 156  The Chronicon Paschale says that the Holy Lance was among the relics captured, but one of Shahrbaraz's associates gave it to Nicetas who brought it to the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople later that year.: 157 : 56  However, De locis sanctis, describing the pilgrimage of Arculf in 670, places the lance in Jerusalem, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.: 12  Arculf is the last of the medieval pilgrims to report the lance in Jerusalem, as Willibald and Bernard made no mention of it.: 39  By the middle of the 10th century, a lance relic was venerated in Constantinople at the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos.: cols. 421-423 : 58 : 35  The relic was likely viewed by some of the soldiers and clergy participating in the First Crusade, adding to the confusion surrounding the emergence of another Holy Lance at Antioch in 1098.: 200  During the Siege of Tripoli, Raymond of Toulose reportedly brought the Antioch lance to Constantinople, and presented it to Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.: 185 : 59–60  Scholars disagree on how this presumably awkward situation was resolved. Steven Runciman argued that the Byzantine court regarded the Antioch relic as a nail (ἧλος), relying on Raymond's ignorance of the Greek language to avoid offending him.: 202  Alternatively, Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter believed that Alexios intended to denounce the crusaders' lance as a fraud,: 526  and that this was accomplished when Prince Bohemond I of Antioch was compelled in 1108: 58  to swear an oath to him on the other lance.: 397  Whether Alexios kept the Antioch lance or returned it to Raymond is uncertain.: 205–206  Several 12th century documents state that a single Holy Lance was among the relics at Constantinople, without any details that could identify it as either the crusaders' discovery or the Byzantine spear.: 381 : 97–98  According to Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, a fragment of the Holy Lance was set into the icon that Alexios V Doukas lost in battle with Henry of Flanders in 1204.: 302–303  The capture of this icon by Henry's forces was considered important to many contemporary sources on the Fourth Crusade.: 90, n.89  In addition to the crusaders' report to Pope Innocent III,: 103  the incident was documented by Geoffrey of Villehardouin,: 85–86  the Devastatio Constantinopolitana,: 220  Niketas Choniates,: 312  Robert de Clari,: 88–91  Ralph of Coggeshall,: 285  and Robert of Auxerre.: 270  However none of these sources mention the icon bearing any relics, whereas Alberic claimed it was adorned with the lance fragment, a portion of the Holy Shroud, one of Jesus's deciduous teeth, and other relics from thirty martyrs.: 302  Modern historians have regarded Alberic's account with some skepticism, characterizing it as "fanciful": 122, n.3  and "pure invention.": 278–279, n.128  In any case, after the battle the crusaders sent the icon to Cîteaux Abbey,: 103 : 90  but there is no record of whether it reached that destination.: 103, n.375  Following the sack of Constantinople, Robert de Clari described the spoils won by the newly-established Latin Empire, including "the iron of the lance with.... 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