On May 20 of 325 AD, the world stopped. The Council of Nicaea had begun, in one way or another this event was going to shape the future of the entire humanity.
There’s nothing wrong with affirming that the choices made in the Council of Nicaea influenced history up to the present day. Some of its decrees and dogmas affected our lives, shaping religious beliefs and political ideologies.
Icon of Christ of the Pantocrator type (Χριστός Παντοκράτωρ)
Preservation of peace
Under the patronage of Emperor Constantine, Christianity transitioned from a marginalized cult to a strong religious one. This led to the construction of the first Christian churches, within and outside city walls.
However, in only 20 years, there was so much confusion and internal conflicts in the heart of the Church itself that the emperor had to intervene to shape its future. Thus, a council was planned in the city of Nicaea, in Bithynia, on 325 AD. Christ’s nature brought together 220 bishops who intervened on that occasion, it was such a huge important topic that it could have destroyed the Empire itself.
Spread of Christianity during the 3rd Century AD
A new world, made of dogmas and heretics.
The decisions made at the Council of Nicaea gave a new structure to a state that was increasingly influenced by too many Christian values.
The council of Nicaea strongly denied the Arian interpretation of the Holy Trinity, viewing Jesus as a subordinate to God. Furthermore, the conception of Jesus from Mother Mary through the Holy Spirit was declared a miracle. Therefore, a dogma was declared, imposing a truth that would have determined faith from then onwards. Additionally, the Church’s structure was reorganized, stating the authority of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria over others. However, according to sources, the Council of Nicaea ended up being a flash in the pan. In conclusion, heretical movements became stronger, accompanying the empire into its progressive transformation.
Ario condemned from the Nicaea Council, icon hailing from the Mégalo Metéoron monastery, Greece.
“Archaeology is the search for fact, not truth. If it’s the truth you’re interested in, Dr. Tyree’s philosophy class is right down the hall.”
With these words from the movie Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, which you have to keep in mind, let’s start with an in-depth study of Hitler’s ideology: the esoteric Nazism and the research of the Holy Grail and the Spear of Longinus. According to the Nazi ideology, these objects would have given great power to the German army, leading the Aryan race to conquer the world.
However, how much the Führer and his right-hand man Himmler relied on magical powers to win the war, is actually irrelevant to what really happened. We don’t know if there’s any truth behind their beliefs and if that research was related to a true interest in finding these objects. We’ll limit ourselves in telling some facts related to the research of these mystical powerful objects without passing them off as the truth.
Indiana Jones against the Nazis of Hitler
The common thread of this in-depth study is the figure of the most famous archaeologist that the world of cinema has ever known: Professor Henry Jones Junior, but he prefers to be called Indiana Jones.
Spielberg has deceived entire generations of young students who, since their first day in class, had to accept the hard truth that real archaeology is far from the one pictured by Professor Jones. But there’s one thing that the director and his character didn’t lie about: the obsession of the Nazis (the antagonists par excellence in Indiana Jones’ movies) towards legendary objects related to religion.
The Holy Grail, the cup that would have given immense power to Hitler
In Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, the Nazis were in search of the Holy Grail, which was the cup used by Christ during the Last Supper and consequently used by Joseph of Arimathea to collect the blood of Christ from the cross. Professor Jones was able to find the holy grail before the enemies and showed his intelligence through the way he chose the right cup, which was the most modest one, hidden among other chalices covered in gold and precious gems. The Nazis instead drank from the wrong cup: they were blinded by the glory and power that hides under the yarning gold, and from that you can understand the absence of humbleness. This is what happened on the big screen.
In real life, there was an Indiana Jones, he was an historian and medieval researcher, engaged in the search of artifacts such as the Holy Grail. His name was Otto Rahn, and he didn’t fight the Nazis: he was an SS officer, Himmler tasked him with finding the Holy Grail.
Otto Rahn, seeker of the Grail
The myth of Parsifal, the only knight worthy of seeing the Holy Grail
Otto Rahn was passionate about medieval epic poems and, just like Himmler, he knew well the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. He focused on the figure of Parsifal, King Arthur’s knight who found the Holy Grail. According to the legend, the Holy Grail was kept on the top of Monsalvato, in a hermitage where the pure of heart spent their life drawing strength from sacred objects that were kept there. The Spear of Longinus was also among these objects, but we’ll talk about this later.
At this point, it’s important to clarify that, even though the beneficiary of the power of the objects would have been the Führer, the obsessive research was a work of Himmler (SS chief and second most powerful man in Germany) and Otto Rahn.
Apparition of the Grail on the Round Table in a XV century paintingParsifal wielding the Spear of Longinus in Richard Wagner’s Parsifal. Drawing made by Arnaldo Dell’Ira, about 1930
The crusade against the Cathars, the hint of the Holy Grail on Monsalvato
After having passed the scrutiny of medieval history, Rahn managed to locate Monsalvato in France. The crusade against the Cathars (1209-1229) gave a hint to the researcher.
The Cathars were persecuted by the crusaders under the pope’s command, they perched on the fortress of Mòntsegur, in order to escape from the violent rage of the knights. Montsegur is known as the place where, on the 16th of March 1244, the Cathars were burned alive by the Crusaders. The strong familiarity between the “Mòntsegur” of the Cathars and the “Monsalvato” of Parsifal made Rahn think that it was the Grail’s last time it was seen before disappearing into thin air. The research started in 1929 without any results. When Rahn returned to Germany in 1933, he wrote a report of his adventures in France, entitled “The Crusade against the Grail” which had some success right away.
Mòntsegur (France)
The Spear of Longinus, an object passed down from Constantine to Charlemagne, up to Hitler
There was another object that Hitler wanted, which has already been mentioned: The Spear of Longinus, which, according to the legend, wounded Jesus Christ’s side. In the Indiana Jones’ movies there is no reference to the Spear. Probably because, unlike the other objects such as the Holy Grail and the Ark of The Covenant, Hitler actually managed to obtain it.
SImone Martini’s Crucifixion, the Spear that wounded Jesus’ side can be seen on the left
In the Gospels of Matthew (27:49,50) and John (20:33-35), there’s an episode about the Spear: it belonged to Gaius Cassius Longinus, an almost-blind commander of a Roman century. He was the one who stabbed Jesus Christ’s side with his spear, whose blood, by dripping on the spear, arrived in Longinus’s eyes and he instantly regained his sight.
The Spear became a sacred object, and according to written sources, it was brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople to Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, alongside other relics that belonged to Jesus Christ.
Longinus depicted on a mosaic of the XV century, preserved in Chio
The Spear was kept in the Byzantine courts for many centuries up until it changed hands from Charlemagne to Otto I, and it was used as the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire, then it passed to Henry IV of Bavaria and the emperor Charles IV. On 12 March 1938, Hitler was conquering Austria, and the Spear, which was part of the Habsburg treasures was about to change its owner. Hitler, after invading Austria, brought all the royal treasury to Nuremberg.
13 October 1938: the Spear left the Austrian capital transported on an armored train and was protected by a special corps of the SS. It was put inside the church of Saint Catherine, alongside the royal treasure of the Hasburg. The legend says that the Spear was brought to Germany to manifest its amazing powers. In reality, the Spear arrived in Germany because it belonged to a country that was invaded. Hitler probably saw the Spear as the symbol of the continuity of Otto I’s Empire. When the war ended, the Spear returned to Austria and is now preserved inside the Hofborg Museum of Vienna.
Scientific Analysis of the Spear and its real origins
Obviously, according to the study of this finding, it wasn’t a miraculous spear. But we can appreciate the historic value: the item has been dated around the VIII Century AD. The manufacture is of Carolingian origins. The spear, broken into two points, has a triple wrapping in iron, silver, and gold.
The silver band dates to the II Century AD, but the engraving on it belongs to the Henry IV of Bavaria, who lived between 1084 and 1105. The golden sheath is from the XIV Century, and it was in Charles IV’s possession, who got “Lancea et Clavus Domini” engraved on it.
The Spear of Longinus, kept in the Hofburg Museum of Vienna
In conclusion, we don’t know if it is true that the Nazis relied on the power of these objects and if they believed they could have brought the Arian race on top of the world. But the facts tell us that the Nazis, ridiculed and mocked in Indiana Jones’ movies, committed crimes that left a bloody imprint on history. And they have done it without any help from divine and powerful objects, but only guided by the hate generated by the human mind.
April 1945: the last days of the Führer and his Nazi Germany
Hitler was witnessing the dissolution of his Third Reich inside his bunker (Führerbunker), aware that, in a matter of time, the country would have ended in ruins. He couldn’t accept defeat and the fact that the Germans weren’t “devoted enough”, which is why he thought that Germany should have fallen down with him.
A Russian soldier stands in Adolf Hitler’s bunker, Berlin, 1945
The last days of the Führer
On the 20th of April, Hitler came out from his bunker for the first time stepping on what was left of a Berlin in tears. He came across some injured soldiers and promised them an impossible victory: no one could defend Germany.
Some days after, he ranted against the betrayal and the incompetence of his commanders and admitted – for the first time – that the war was lost. The failure and his pride brought him to the only possible way that allowed him to walk tall until the end: death.
“I don’t want my body to be exposed, I want the Soviets to know that I stayed here until the end”, Hitler affirmed. He wished to die in Berlin where he was spending his last days. He asked to a SS Doctor, Werner Haase, which were the most reliable methods of suicide: he suggested a gun and poison.
Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun
Hitler’s death
On the 30th of April, in the final stage of the battle of Berlin, Hitler committed suicide alongside his partner Eva Braun. The woman, with her head on the legs of the Führer, crushed a vial of cyanide between her teeth. Hitler did the same, ensuring his death with a gunshot into his right temple. The corpses of Hitler and Eva Braun were brought outside the building and set on fire. The veracity of their deaths and what truly happened to their bodies is still debated.
26 April 1478, Florence. Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici were getting ready to go to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, but little did they know that someone had been scheming a plot behind their backs, and that right inside the Cathedral, the two lords of Florence were going to be victims of what is historically known as the Pazzi conspiracy.
Lorenzo De’ Medici, portrait by Sandro Botticelli
Who were the Pazzi, the historical rivals of the Medici
As skilled traders, during the 15th century, the Pazzi were able to make money and become one of the most powerful families in Florence.
Through a series of arranged marriages among other powerful families of the city, they entered the politics of Florence as the most influential members, on par with the Medici family.
The marriage policy of Jacopo de’ Pazzi involved the Medicis. Therefore, Bianca de’ Medici, sister of Lorenzo and Giuliano, married Guglielmo de’ Pazzi. The wedding should have smoothed out the historical tensions between the two families. The Pazzi were bankers just like the Medici, but they never accepted the supremacy of the rival family and their power over Florence.
There was also another thing that the Pazzis couldn’t tolerate, a privilege that they did not have; the Medici were the bankers of the Pope.
Although the Pazzis are known in history for being rivals with Medicis, they weren’t the only ones that wanted their death. From Rome, Francesco de’ Pazzi, nephew of Jacopo, managed to involve Pope Sixtus IV, nephew of Francesco Salviati (archbishop of Pisa), and the king of Naples, Ferrante d’Aragona. Each of them had their reasons for wanting to destroy the Medici’s family.
Post Mortem portrait of Giuliano De’ Medici by Sandro Botticelli, 1478-1480
The matter of Imola and the dispute with the Pope
In 1473, the Duke of Imola, Giangaleazzo Sforza, put up the city of Imola for sale. The Pope intended to purchase and give it as a wedding gift to his nephew Girolamo Riario, who married Caterina Sforza. With his nephew as the head of the city, the Papal State would have expanded its dominion as far as Romagna, but the city was in the crosshairs of Lorenzo the Magnificent. The Pope didn’t have enough money to buy it and the Medicis, since they were their bankers, knew it.
Lorenzo went to the Pazzis, asking them to not lend money to the Pope and to not reveal that he intended to purchase the city. In this way, without any support from the Florentine banks, Sixtus would have lost his chance of getting the fortress of Romagna, which would have been handed to the people of Florence. However, the Pazzis betrayed the intentions of Lorenzo and warned the Pope about his plans.
The breaking point between the Pope and the Medicis occurred when Sixtus IV decided to replace the Medicis with the Pazzis as the bankers of the pontifical funds.
The resentment of Francesco Salviati, the Archbishop of Pisa
Among the protagonists of the Conspiracy, there was a member of an important family of Florence (he was related to the Pazzis): Francesco Salviati. He was appointed by the Pope as the Archbishop of Pisa, and in 1474 Salviati strongly wanted the position of the Archbishop of Florence, but Lorenzo was able to prevent his rise. If Lorenzo had denied Florence, the Pope would have closed its door on Pisa with a power struggle.
The king of Naples Ferrante d’Aragona and Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, took part in the conspiracy, and both were motivated by a political calculation rather than resentment. They wanted Florence weak without any interruptions from the Medicis.
Francesco Salviati’self portrait, 1540-1549
The conspiracy takes shape
Francesco de’ Pazzi, the nephew of Jacopo, was the one who kicked off the project. Francesco lived in Rome, where he oversaw the apostolic treasury, after the Pope entrusted it to the Pazzis. The desire to physically eliminate Lorenzo and Giuliano pushed him to talk to Girolamo Riario and the Archbishop Salviati, who gave him their consent.
Initially, Jacopo de’ Pazzi was reluctant, because he was aware of the gravity of the situation. Thus, Riario thought that if he would have gained the consent of the Pope, then Jacopo could have not refused.
The attempt was successful: Sixtus IV advocated a change of regime in Florence, even though he recommended to do it without shedding any blood. The original plan was blown out by Giuliano de’ Medici
For the conspirators, it was fundamental that Lorenzo and Giuliano died together. According to the original plan, they should have drunk a poisoned chalice the night before the 26th of April. However, since Giuliano was sick, he didn’t participate in the feast that night. Because of that, they decided that the attack would have happened the morning after, during the mass in Santa Maria del Fiore.
The decision to commit a massacre in the church was the one that saved Lorenzo’s life. His appointed assassin, Giovanni Battista da Montesecco, pulled himself out because he didn’t want to assassinate a man in a sacred place. In his place, two priests were hired by the conspirators.
Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli was the appointed assassin of Giuliano, he was a Florentine who opposed the Medici’s and hoped that Florence would have been free from their lordship.
The Pazzi Conspiracy by Stefano Ussi
26 april 1478, the Pazzi conspiracy goes down in history
After the mass, Bandini, Francesco de’ Pazzi, and the other plotters cornered the young man until, after nineteen stab wounds, his dead body collapsed to the ground.
Lorenzo, probably because the two priests were hesitating, had enough time to react and pick up the sword. He was injured in his neck, but he still managed to defend himself and barricade inside the sacristy with his men. He had no idea of what had happened to his brother, and in spite of the wound, he kept calling Giuliano. In the meantime, according to the plan, Jacopo de’ Pazzi, was supposed to call the crowd outside the church while praising the people and their freedom. Nevertheless, the conspirators underestimated the love that the people of Florence had for the Medicis.
The failed conspiracy and the tragic ending of the conspirators
As soon as the rumor spread of what had happened in the church, an angry crowd rushed to Francesco de’ Pazzi’s residence, where he went right after to regain his strengths after being seriously injured. He was dragged to Palazzo Vecchio and hanged. Archbishop Salviati had the same fate, who, according to the plan, was meant to conquer Palazzo Vecchio and kill the gonfalonier of justice. After a fight between the two, the gonfalonier prevailed on the archbishop. He was prosecuted and executed, and, as it is said, right where Francesco de’ Pazzi had been executed.
Jacopo tried to escape but, outside Florence, he was recognized by a farmer, captured, and hanged.
Montesecco, after having explained all the details about the conspiracy, was decapitated instead of hanged because he refused to kill Lorenzo.
Hanging of Bernardo Baroncelli by Leonardo da Vinci, 1479
Lorenzo de Medici had the chance to clean Florence from all his enemies
While he was locked up in his palace for over ten days after the attack, Lorenzo did not waste any time to avenge his brother, who was the only victim in the conspiracy (except for the conspirators).
The Pazzi’s family was held accountable. Gugliemo, the husband of Bianca de’ Medici, even though he was the only one exempt, was exiled from the city. There was only a man left who did not receive justice yet, and that person was Baroncelli, the killer of Giuliano, who managed to escape. He was tracked down a year later in Constantinople and brought back to Florence.
In 1479, to his execution, there was a boy, a young apprentice of Verrocchio, who drew Baroncelli hanging from the neck: that young boy was Leonardo Da Vinci.
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Always active
L'archiviazione tecnica o l'accesso sono strettamente necessari al fine legittimo di consentire l'uso di un servizio specifico esplicitamente richiesto dall'abbonato o dall'utente, o al solo scopo di effettuare la trasmissione di una comunicazione su una rete di comunicazione elettronica.
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L'archiviazione tecnica o l'accesso sono necessari per lo scopo legittimo di memorizzare le preferenze che non sono richieste dall'abbonato o dall'utente.
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L'archiviazione tecnica o l'accesso che viene utilizzato esclusivamente per scopi statistici.L'archiviazione tecnica o l'accesso che viene utilizzato esclusivamente per scopi statistici anonimi. Senza un mandato di comparizione, una conformità volontaria da parte del vostro Fornitore di Servizi Internet, o ulteriori registrazioni da parte di terzi, le informazioni memorizzate o recuperate per questo scopo da sole non possono di solito essere utilizzate per l'identificazione.
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