[dramatic music]
- Tonight, powerful artifacts from one
of history's most significant events,
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
- Any physical remnants of this cross would be
among the most highly valued artifacts in human history.
- It could take up to four days of someone hanging there
to finally succumb, but Jesus dies in a matter of hours.
- [Dennis] From the nails that pierced Christ hands.
- Imagine the power of these nails.
They were literally embedded in the body of Christ,
soaked in his blood.
- [Dennis] To the crown of thorns placed on his head.
- In their attempt to hurt and humiliate Jesus,
the Romans create one of the most powerful images
in Christianity.
- [Dennis] And even the cross itself.
- They touch a piece of wood to the sick woman,
and she gets miraculously better.
- [Dennis] These incredible relics
have fascinated the faithful for centuries,
but do they still exist, and if so, where could they be?
- The Christians have hidden anything they
can from the Romans.
There's a real fear that relics and treasures
of the church are going to be lost forever.
- Sacred objects have inspired awe
for thousands of years.
Now the remarkable stories behind history's
most compelling holy marvels.
[dramatic music]
Today, nearly every Christian Church holds a cross
meant to evoke the one that Christ died on.
But what happened to the original cross?
The one commonly known as the true cross?
The story of this legendary relic
begins some 2000 years ago.
- The cross is a symbol synonymous
with Jesus Christ himself
because as we know, Jesus was sentenced by the Romans
to death by crucifixion.
Crucifixion is a punishment intended
to maximize pain and suffering.
In fact, the word excruciating
stems from the Latin word for crucify.
It's about killing somebody in the most horrible,
brutal, humiliating way possible.
- This form of execution was reserved for the poor,
for those who were enemies of the state.
It was not necessarily for those of the upper class.
- Crucifixions are carried out in public
to discourage anyone else who's thinking
of stepping out of line.
- [Dennis] Before Jesus is killed,
he is brutally tortured by the Romans.
- Jesus is scourged, which means whipping him
with a special device made with strips of leather
and iron balls.
It's designed to tear the skin to shreds.
- After the brutal whipping,
Jesus is forced to drag part of his own cross,
which likely weighs somewhere between 75 to a 100 pounds
all the way to the crucifixion site outside the city walls.
- [Dennis] A cross for crucifixion
would be made out of two thick beams of wood.
There is a tall center pole called the stipes,
permanently mounted as a stake in the ground.
Then a horizontal crossbar, the patibulum,
which is about six feet long,
the width of your spread out arms,
and it's fixed to the center pole towards the top.
- We're pretty familiar with the classic T-shaped cross,
although occasionally the Romans would use
an X shape instead.
- In Jerusalem, crucifixions are carried out
on top of a hill known as Golgotha.
In the Aramaic language of the region,
Golgotha means place of the skull,
partly due to the way that the rocky cliff there
sort of resembles a human skull.
- Once at the crucifixion site,
Jesus is nailed to part of the cross
while it's still on the ground,
then it's hoisted up
and attached to the rest of the wood.
- Crucifixion is actually a slow process.
It could take up to say four days of someone hanging there
in order to finally succumb.
What we hear from the gospels is that Jesus dies
relatively quickly, in a matter of hours.
While he's hanging on the cross,
according to the gospel of John one soldier
even pierces Jesus on the side with a spear.
He wants to make sure that he's dead.
- According to the beliefs of Christianity,
by willingly dying on the cross,
Jesus atones for the sins of humanity
and he opens a pathway for all humankind
to receive redemption with God and reach heaven.
- The cross used in the crucifixion of Christ
is known as the true cross,
and Christians have been practically obsessed with it
for 2000 years.
Think about it.
The wooden beams of this cross would be soaked
with the blood, sweat, and tears of the Son of God,
shed during the moment of his excruciating death
and ultimate glory.
Any physical remnants of the cross would be among the most
highly valued artifacts in human history.
- [Dennis] But finding the true cross
is like the proverbial needle in a haystack.
- The Romans loved crucifixion.
They crucified tens of thousands of people.
- The ancient historian Josephus writes
that the Romans carry out so many crucifixions,
but not only do they run out of room for crosses,
but they also run out of wood.
Because of this, the Romans are very resourceful,
and they tend to reuse the center poles
of crosses over and over again for multiple crucifixions.
- There was no standard for bringing bodies down
and burying them.
The bodies stayed on the cross.
They were intended to decay there,
and they were left as a revolting reminder
of what happens when you cross Rome.
So we don't know exactly what becomes of Jesus' cross
after his body is taken down.
- [Dennis] According to the Bible,
there might be one man who does.
- In all four gospels, a wealthy follower of Jesus
named Joseph of Arimathea
is quickly allowed to take Jesus' body after he dies.
He bribes the authorities to let him go
to the site of the crucifixion
and carefully pulls Jesus down from the cross.
He prepares Jesus' body with great respect
and lays him to rest in a rock cut tomb,
which is said to be near Golgotha.
- The Bible doesn't specifically say what happens
to the cross, but the great care and reverence
that Joseph of Arimathea showed towards the body of Jesus
suggests to many that he might have kept it,
and brought it to the tomb.
As well as other mementos from the event.
- If the cross wasn't just discarded,
if it somehow survives, Joseph is our best hope.
So researchers as far back as the third or fourth century AD
believe the true cross is buried in a tomb
somewhere near the crucifixion site.
- [Dennis] Unfortunately, the exact location
of this tomb is intentionally hidden.
- After the execution of Jesus,
Christianity continues as a small sect of Judaism.
The Romans see it as a dangerous cult.
Some of its practices and beliefs
are mistaken as cannibalism or incest.
So, the Romans cracked down hard on Christians.
- In the first century AD,
the emperor Nero is particularly harsh.
One source says he publicly tortures Christians.
So the Christians avoid revealing themselves
and their sacred sites.
They resort to secret symbols and codes
to be able to identify one another
and maintain their faith without tipping off the Romans.
- [Dennis] Many believe that a cross becomes
one of these symbols.
- By about 200 AD, it's thought that some Christians
are using the sign of the cross
as something of a secret handshake.
- [Dennis] The secrecy continues
until the early fourth century.
- During the battle of the Milvian bridge in 312 AD
the Roman Emperor Constantine has a vision
of something floating in the sky
above his army's encampment.
Some versions of the legends say he sees the early
Christians symbol known as the Chi-Rho or Ci-Rho,
Greek letters that spell out the beginning
of the name Christ.
In other versions, he sees a cross of light in the sky,
accompanied by the words "conquer by this".
Taking it as a sign,
he orders his soldiers' shields to be marked
with this religious symbol,
and when they emerge victorious in battle,
he becomes a true believer and converts,
making Constantine the very first Christian emperor.
- The following year in 313 Constantine issues
the Edict of Milan, which legalizes Christianity.
Christians are now free from persecution.
10 years later he begins to outlaw paganism,
so that Christianity goes pretty quickly from being outlawed
to being the preferred religion of the Roman empire.
- [Dennis] Then around 324 AD,
Constantine sets his sights on finding the true cross.
- Constantine wants to be able to quickly convince
his subjects of his power and his newfound faith
by proving that Jesus has made the ultimate sacrifice,
by dying on the cross to save mankind.
But he wants evidence.
What better way to do that than to find the actual cross?
So he becomes obsessed with any and all artifacts
related to the crucifixion.
- At this point, it's been nearly 300 years
since the death of Jesus, and in those 300 years,
Christians have hidden
everything they can from the Romans.
Constantine has his work cut out for him.
So what does he do? He asks his mom for help.
- [Dennis] In 326 AD Helena,
the mother of Roman emperor Constantine,
is scouring Jerusalem in search of the true cross
used to crucify Jesus.
- Helena thinks the most likely resting place for relics
of the crucifixion would be Jesus's tomb,
and she hears a rumor that a local Jewish man
knows where to find it.
Ironically, his name is Judas.
In some versions of the story, Judas is helpful.
In others, Helena has to torture the information out of him
by putting him in a well for seven days
and starving him before he'll finally give up the secret.
- Judas divulges that the burial site of Jesus
is located under what is now a pagan temple
dedicated to the Roman goddess Venus.
So she has the building demolished,
and the ground underneath excavated.
- Helena begins what is really the first
Christian archeological excavation in history.
- They find what seems to be remnants of three crosses,
and so now for Helena, the issue is how do you tell
which cross belong to Jesus?
- So a very sick woman is brought in and they think,
okay, the real piece of wood is going to produce miracles.
So, they touch a piece of wood to the sick woman
and she gets miraculously better.
What this demonstrates is that the wood has divine powers.
This is it. Helena has found the true cross.
- The legends say that Helena divides up the sacred wood
and leaves some of it there in Jerusalem.
Over the side of the crucifixion and the tomb.
A new church is built: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
which houses one part of the true cross.
- Helena also takes a section of the cross
back to Constantinople.
The story goes that Constantine has a large piece
of that wood encased inside a giant bronze statue of himself
standing atop a column that's over 120 feet tall.
It's a major symbol of the emperor's power.
- [Dennis] The rest of the wood from the true cross
is allegedly scattered across Rome's empire.
- Some believe the fragments of the true cross
bring protection or good health or heal the illness
of any person lucky enough to touch one.
So over the next few decades,
the cross fragments are dispersed as holy relics
to churches and cathedrals.
- [Dennis] But not every alleged piece
of the true cross ends up in a church.
- As is often the case with desirable
and valuable artifacts,
a few end up in the hands of the era's
most rich and powerful.
Popes, kings, nobles.
Some of them will fashion special gold jewelry
and wear a piece of the cross
around their necks as protection,
and possibly also to remind others of their status.
- [Dennis] Meanwhile, the piece left behind in Jerusalem
has a much more eventful journey.
- Around 614 AD Jerusalem's piece of the true cross
is stolen from the Holy Sepulchre by Persian invaders
when they captured the city.
But then supposedly the same wood is returned
about 15 years later,
after the Romans take back Jerusalem.
- In 1009, it's nearly stolen a second time by Al-Hakim,
who's known as the Mad Caliph of Egypt.
Legends say believers hide the relics of the cross
just before he invades Jerusalem,
and destroys the Holy Sepulchre.
- [Dennis] This conflict ignites a war
that eventually becomes known as the crusades.
- The word crusade comes from the Latin word
"crusade signatus", which means one marked by the cross.
So hundreds of Christian soldiers go on
what they see as this kind of spiritual mission to Jerusalem
to free the holy land from Muslim rule,
and to save important relics like the true cross.
The crusades become a nearly 200 year long series
of increasingly brutally bloody battles.
- The first crusade helps the Christians
re-concur Jerusalem in 1099.
After that, crusaders actually start carrying a piece
of the cross into battle with them as a talisman.
More famously, it's carried by the bishop of the city
of Acre into a conflict known as the Battle of Hattin
in Galilee in 1187.
- [Dennis] During that battle,
it's captured by Muslim forces.
- The cross is now in the hands of Muslim sultan Saladin.
Some accounts say he is quite disrespectful
with this holy Christian relic,
even dragging it behind his horse as he rides.
Saladin knows the symbolic importance of the true cross
and he uses it as a bargaining chip
multiple times during negotiations
with England's King Richard I, AKA Richard the Lionheart.
- Richard I is a Christian and one of the driving forces
behind the Crusades.
He and Saladin are at odds over control of Jerusalem
and the area's holy sites.
They try to work out a truce agreement
that includes returning the cross to the Christians,
but by the end of the third crusade in 1192,
there is no truce and no cross.
The part of the true cross that Helena left in Jerusalem
is last seen with Saladin in Damascus,
and then it pretty much disappears
from the historical record.
- After that, despite multiple attempts
to stay in Jerusalem,
the Christians are largely driven out of the region,
but apparently they take some souvenirs home with them.
As the crusaders return home in the Middle Ages,
suddenly there are a lot more alleged pieces
of the true cross that are floating around to the point
where in the 1500s, the French reformer John Calvin quips,
"well, if all the pieces of the true cross
were collected together, they would make a big shipload."
- [Dennis] This leads many to assume the pieces are fake.
- It's like the ancient version of a fake Rolex.
Ever since medieval times there's been a booming
black market for these alleged fragments of the true cross.
This continues today.
- [Dennis] But could it be possible
that some of them are real?
- In 1870 French scholar Charles Rohault de Fleury,
tracks down every surviving fragment
and he calculates that they add up
to 240 cubic inches of wood.
A typical Roman cross would've been more like
10,900 cubic inches.
So John Calvin is wrong. It's not enough to fill up a ship.
It's not even enough to make up the entire cross.
Believers de Fleury's math to justify that
all these little random pieces of the true cross
could still in fact be genuine.
- [Dennis] Even some allegedly find their way back
to a few Catholic churches.
- The Catholic church and later the Vatican
develop an entire office that deals
with the authentication of these relics.
- Three fragments end up enshrined
in the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
- The Vatican owns an artifact called the Crux Vaticana.
It dates back to the sixth century,
and was a gift from the emperor Justin II of Constantinople,
where much of the original wood fragments
from the true cross were kept.
From the past 1500 years,
this reliquary has been brought out
for annual Easter and Christmas ceremonies.
In April 2023, as a coronation gift to King Charles III,
Pope Francis gives him an elaborate silver cross.
Inside, according to the Pope himself,
are two small pieces of the true cross.
- Visitors from around the world still clamor
to get a glimpse of these iconic religious artifacts.
- The true cross is not the only crucifixion relic
that becomes a sacred object of desire.
The nails used to pierce Christ's hands and feet
are also believed to hold marvelous powers.
- If the true cross is thought to have power,
imagine the possibilities of these nails.
Collectively, they've come to be known as The Holy Nails.
They were literally embedded in the body of Christ,
soaked in his blood.
- [Dennis] But unlike the cross,
it's not certain that the nails actually existed.
- Everyone who the Romans crucified
gets some kind of cross,
but not everyone gets nailed to it.
The Romans also use rope in crucifixions to tie the arms.
It's faster, it's easier, it's adjustable,
and when you're crucifying thousands of people,
it's more economical than having blacksmiths
make enough nails.
- [Dennis] So why in nearly every image of the crucifixion
is Jesus attached to the cross with nails?
- Interestingly, the Bible never explicitly says
that Jesus was nailed to the cross.
We get the idea actually from a little story
in the gospel of John, the story of the Doubting Thomas,
who doesn't believe that Jesus is resurrected
until he sees the holes in his hands and feet
from being nailed to the cross.
- This gives rise to the
overwhelming belief in Christianity
that Jesus had nails spiked through his hands and feet.
- [Dennis] In 1968, evidence is uncovered in Jerusalem
that could support this belief.
- Archeologists find the remains of a young Jewish man
named Jehohanan,
and there are compelling clues that he was crucified.
[metal clanging]
- Archeologist Vassilios Tzaferis found
a four and a half inch long nail
embedded through the right heel bone and bent at the end.
- Nails used in crucifixions are hammered through the flesh
and the wood, and they might've been bent at the ends
to prevent the person's body weight
from pulling them off the cross.
So this is pretty good evidence of a crucifixion
that did use at least one nail.
- [Dennis] If the holy nails do exist,
how many could there be?
- Up to the 13th century,
most of depictions in Western Christianity show four nails,
right? One through each hand and each foot.
But after say the 13th century,
most artwork switches to three nails.
Jesus' feet are crossed one over the other
and they are pierced with a single nail.
- [Dennis] The idea of three nails aligns with the legend
of Constantine's mother Helena,
who allegedly finds them next to the true cross.
- According to Gregory of Tours
who writes in the sixth century,
Helena finds the nails in May of 326.
He writes that when she encounters a huge storm
on her way from Jerusalem back to Constantinople,
Helena puts one of the nails into the rough water.
[thunder]
At that moment, the water immediately calms,
and the storm clears.
She uses the power of the nails to save herself
from certain death.
- To Helena, this is proof positive that these nails
have protective and mystical power.
- [Dennis] Convinced these are the holy nails
used in the crucifixion of Jesus,
Helen is determined to deploy them, to protect her son.
- Of course, she's going to look after
her number one son, Constantine.
So as the story goes, she has part of the nail used
to make a helmet to protect him in battle.
- [Dennis] The helmet also features
Constantine's signature emblem.
- Constantine liked to use the Christogram,
an abbreviation of the name of Christ in Greek letters.
Chi and Ro, the first two letters
of the Greek word "christos".
He put it on all kinds of stuff, shields, insignia,
and this helmet.
- One of Constantine's biographers Eusebius of Caesarea
writes that he often wore this helmet around in later life,
not just on the battlefield.
It's his way of letting everyone know
how powerful he is to possess this relic.
- If it made Constantine feel invulnerable in battle,
it didn't work on other maladies.
He dies in bed from an unknown illness in 337 AD,
and after that, history is silent on that helmet's fate.
- [Dennis] But some stories suggest Helena
makes another gift fashioned from a piece
of the same holy nail.
- According to the fifth century historian
Theodore of Cyrus,
Helena actually uses one nail to make two items.
Half is made into the helmet,
and the other half into a bridal
meant to protect Constantine's horse,
and of course her son while riding it.
- Unlike Constantine's helmet,
the bridal may actually have survived.
This may be our only and best chance
to locate any of the original Holy Nails.
- Today there are two places that claim
to have the bridle of Constantine.
One is the Cathedral of Milan,
the other is a cathedral in Carpentras, France.
Milan's claim is thought to be stronger.
There's a provenance to their artifact that dates
all the way back to the year 395,
and that year one of Constantine's successors,
the Roman Emperor Theodosius I dies.
He leaves his imperial insignia,
including this bridal to Saint Ambrose, the bishop of Milan.
- [Dennis] The bridal is kept in the church
of St. Tekla until 1389.
After that, it's moved to the Cathedral of Milan,
where it remains to this day.
- The nail is kept in a special vault
about 150 feet up above the floor of the cathedral.
In September, the church celebrates
what's called the "Rite of the Nivola".
During that ceremony,
the Archbishop of Milan enters a special elevator,
which many claim to be the oldest continually
used elevator in the world.
There's an unproven local rumor that the elevator
was designed by none other than Leonardo da Vinci.
The archbishop rises up into the sky of the cathedral vault
and brings down the holy nail for everyone to see.
It remains on display for several days,
and then back up it goes.
They've been doing this for over 400 years.
- We will never be able to prove if the bridal contains
one of the actual holy nails from Jesus's crucifixion,
but to the millions of faithful in Milan,
it's certainly revered as the genuine article.
- [Dennis] Among the most revered crucifixion relics,
three holy nails used to affix Christ to the cross.
According to legend, these were discovered by Helena,
mother of Emperor Constantine.
Each nail was used for a different purpose.
- One is said to have been made into a helmet and a bridle.
Another was put into the sea to save Helena during a storm.
Though we're not sure if she retrieved it.
That means there is at least one left to account for.
- Supposedly Helena uses a nail
to make one more protective item for her son, a crown.
It's become known as the Iron Crown of Lombardy.
It features six plates of gold joined by hinges,
with a small inner band said to include
the fragments of the holy nail.
- By 594, the iron crown is venerated as a holy relic
at the cathedral of Monza near Milan, Italy,
and then for centuries it's used to crown
Holy Roman Emperors as the kings of Italy,
certain artworks suggest it was even used
to crown Charlemagne as king of the Lombards.
- [Dennis] The crown remains in northern Italy until 1805
when it's placed on the head of one of Europe's
most infamous rulers, Napoleon.
- Napoleon is already the emperor of France,
but he wants to make his rule known in Italy,
so he throws himself an elaborate coronation ceremony.
- Napoleon goes up to the altar, he takes the iron crown.
He famously puts it on his own head, and he declares,
"God has given it to me, beware he who touches it."
- [Dennis] Despite the apparent blessing,
it doesn't make Napoleon untouchable.
- He's arguably one of the greatest military commanders
in history.
But he's also largely responsible
for the Napoleonic wars, in which it's estimated
that somewhere between three to five million people die.
That makes him pretty unpopular.
That and his tendency towards authoritarian rule.
- In 1812, 7 years after he crowns himself
with the Iron Crown, Napoleon invades Russia.
[dramatic music]
His campaign fails, and he's forced to abdicate in 1814.
Ultimately, he's defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
He's exiled by the British to a remote island,
ironically called St. Helena.
- [Dennis] Today the crown rests
in the cathedral of Monza,
where it's still venerated as a holy relic.
- In the 1990s, two separate tests are conducted
on the Crown to determine its age.
Of course, you can't carbon date metal since it's not
biological material,
but the precious gems in the crown are secured
with primitive super glue that's made out of beeswax,
and that can be tested.
- Turns out the iron crown was likely created
no earlier than about 450 AD,
which doesn't fit the timeline of Helena and Constantine.
They also discover that there's no actual iron
in the Iron Crown.
If a holy nail was ever a part of it,
it's not anymore.
- [Dennis] We may never know what happened to the last
of the three holy nails,
but some believe it's in Austria,
embedded within another crucifixion relic.
- In Vienna's Habsburg palace,
there's an Imperial treasury vault
which contains 21 rooms of rare treasures
collected by Austria's Habsburg rulers
and the Holy Roman empire.
Among the jewel encrusted crowns and golden scepters
sits a dull metal spear,
which might be the most valuable object
in the entire collection.
- It's called the Holy Lance,
also known as the Spear of Destiny.
- The spearhead is about 20 inches long,
weighs about two pounds.
It's mostly made of iron.
It has a leather wrap to tie it,
and silver and gold cuffs around the middle,
which were added later.
- The silver cuff was added by King Henry IV in 1084.
It's inscribed with the words "nail of our Lord". Why?
Because embedded in the tip of the spear
is a metal pin that many believe is one
of the holy nails from the crucifixion.
- [Dennis] Even without the nail,
Many believe the spear is an important crucifixion
relic on its own.
- In the New Testament, but only in the gospel of John.
We're told that the Romans aren't sure
if Jesus has died yet.
And so one of the Roman guards,
he actually pierces Jesus with a spear.
- Jesus has already died by them,
and it's said that there's a gush
of blood and water from the wound,
which is consistent with medical science,
because there would be a buildup of fluid
in his lungs due to heart failure.
- According to non-biblical sources,
the guard who wields the spear is blind,
or at least has eye trouble.
But when he pierces Jesus,
the holy blood drips into his eyes, and heals him.
- After that, he, not surprisingly,
converts to Christianity.
in later accounts of the incident,
the soldier is given the name Longinus.
So the Spear of Destiny is also sometimes known
as the "Lance of Longinus".
- [Dennis] Just like the other relics
from the crucifixion,
the spear is believed to have divine powers.
- It's said that the Spear of Destiny
can make the bearer invincible in combat.
- It's also said that whoever possesses the spear
is taken as a sign that they rule by divine right.
Meaning their authority comes directly from God.
Whomever wields the spear has in their hands
the destiny of the world.
- Now, this is obviously true when it's in the hands
of the holy Roman emperors.
They certainly played a major part in shaping the world.
But when you study the history of this incredible object
and learn more about its journey,
you realize it's been at the center of some
of the most important events in human history.
- While the Spear of Destiny is believed to be
in a Vienna museum today,
its legendary journey there places it
in the hands of some of history's
most famous and infamous leaders.
- The Bible doesn't say what happens to the spear
after the crucifixion, but the spear is a common
and valuable weapon for a Roman guard.
So, the soldier who used it
would probably just hang onto it.
So, we can't be sure what happens next
but there are a lot of stories about the lance
scattered throughout the historical record.
- The Holy Relic stays with the Roman Empire
passing from emperor to emperor.
Then in the year 410, King Alaric of the Visigoths
sacks Rome and takes the spear.
- [Dennis] Throughout the Middle ages,
the spear continues to change hands in battle.
- Around 450 AD, Atilla the Hun has conquered
a huge swath of Europe and Asia.
It said that during his conquest of the Roman empire,
he seizes the Spear of Destiny, but he rejects it.
He throws it to the ground and says,
"take back your holy lance.
It is of no use to me since I do not know
him who made it holy."
- Theodoric I, an ally of the Romans
and the king of the Visigoths, picks up that spear.
He leads his troops into war against the Huns,
and he forces them into their first and only defeat.
This may prove the spear's power,
but Theodoric himself ends up dying in battle.
- [Dennis] As later rulers wield the spear,
They too experience its alleged power.
- In the eighth and the early ninth centuries,
the first holy Roman emperor Charlemagne
supposedly carries the holy spear on
47 victorious military campaigns.
Then one day he accidentally drops the spear,
and he dies almost immediately of a fever.
The relic moves around until 1424
when it winds up in the city of Nuremberg.
In 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte makes a move to seize it,
so it's sent to the Habsburg palace in Vienna
for safekeeping.
Napoleon never does get his hands on it.
- [Dennis] Once it's in Vienna,
another power hungry leader sets his sights on the spear.
- Even before his rise to power, Adolf Hitler is aware
of the spear from his days as a starving artist in Vienna.
He spends his free time wandering the halls
of the Habsburg Palace, which had become a museum,
so he undoubtedly would've seen the relic on display there.
- Hitler is fascinated by the occult and the supernatural.
The spear believed to hold powers of invincibility
and healing would definitely pique his interest.
- Hitler clearly recognizes the symbolic political power
of a relic like the holy lance.
If he has it in his possession,
it would inspire the German people to get behind him.
It would grant him tremendous power, if not divine power.
It also makes for great propaganda.
- [Dennis] When Hitler invades Austria in 1938,
he seizes the spear.
- When he gets the lance,
he puts it on display as an expression of his power,
and also of his ability to control destiny.
- Hitler's empire grows, as does his ego.
He seems to believe he's invincible,
but if he paid attention to the legends
surrounding the Spear of Destiny, he should have realized
that things don't always end well for those who wield it.
- As we all know, eventually the tide turns against Hitler,
and on April 30th, 1945, he ends his own life
inside a Berlin bunker.
- Around the time of his suicide when the allies took over,
the lance was actually recovered by the allies
in a room that was sealed off,
along with lots of other relics.
The individual who found the lance
was an American soldier named Walter Horn,
who was part of the monuments men,
who were a special task force that were charged
to actually find artifacts that were stolen by the Nazis.
- By January 1946,
the spear is back at the Habsburg Museum in Vienna,
having survived another war.
So maybe it really does hold the power of invincibility.
- [Dennis] But while the spear's connection to history
is undeniable, its authenticity is not.
- Recent tests on the spear suggests unfortunately,
it may not be the relics that we think it is.
Analysis shows that the form of the blade itself
is from about the eighth century,
so that makes it roughly 700 years too new
to have been involved in the crucifixion.
However, the exact age of the nail itself
can't be determined.
Those studies have found it to be consistent
in make and size to other nails believed to be
from Roman crucifixions in the first century.
- It's kind of like which came first,
the chicken or the egg?
What's the source of the object's power?
The spear or the nail?
Either way, if the legends are true,
it's helped shape the destiny
of some very important historical leaders.
[dramatic music]
One of the most well-known crucifixion objects starts as
nothing more than a cruel jest.
- The stories in the New Testament
say that prior to putting Jesus on the cross,
the soldiers dress him up in a robe, laugh at him,
mockingly, call him King of the Jews.
- To add injury to insult,
they twist some thorny vines into a loop
and place it on his head like a crown.
The spikes tear into his flesh
and make the whole experience all the more agonizing.
But in their attempt to hurt and humiliate Jesus,
the Romans inadvertently create a symbol that becomes one
of the most powerful and enduring images of Christianity,
shown in countless works of art and depictions of Christ,
the Crown of Thorns.
- Here we have another example of a crucifixion relic
that believers would love to be able to see,
and to touch and to venerate.
- After this incident in the Bible,
the the crown isn't mentioned or seen again,
much like the other crucifixion relics.
It just disappears from the historical record
for several centuries.
- [Dennis] But it doesn't stay missing.
- The crown is unique because from the time it resurfaces,
there's only one crown of thorns,
and we can trace its path from that moment
all the way to the present day.
- [Dennis] According to a Roman author
named Paulinus of Nola,
the crown is next seen just after 400 AD on display
at the Basilica of Mount Zion.
- The crown is described as a simple woven wreath
likely made from a plant local to Jerusalem,
known as Sisyphus spina Christi.
It said the crown miraculously stays green
throughout the centuries and even sprouts new growth.
- [Dennis] Around 1063,
the crown is moved to Constantinople.
- By the time of the Holy Roman Empire in the 13th century,
Emperor Baldwin actually pawned the Crown of Thorns
to Venetian merchants in order
to subsidize his crumbling empire.
- King Louis IX of France buys it,
and makes a big public parade
out of the relic's arrival in Paris.
Dressed as a humble penitent in a simple tunic,
he walks barefoot carrying the Crown of Thorns
and other relics into a newly built chapel
known as Sainte-Chappelle.
- [Dennis] The Crown of Thorns stays there
for about 550 years,
but in the late 1700 as the French monarchy is displaced,
so is the crown.
[dramatic music]
- The French revolution is a time of total chaos.
Angry crowds are literally storming castles,
and people are executing nobles by guillotine.
There's a real fear that relics and treasures of the church
are going to be lost forever.
- Some credit Napoleon with swooping in
to take the Crown of Thorns into the biblioteca nacional
for safekeeping until things calm down.
Then in 1804, the crown goes to a new home
in Notre-Dame Cathedral.
- [Dennis] Over the years,
millions of tourists make the trip
to see the crown in Notre Dame.
But in April, 2019, disaster strikes.
- Notre Dame catches fire.
And its ceiling is made up of wooden beams,
and this goes up like a house of cards.
[dramatic music]
- First responders have just minutes to decide
what they can save out of centuries
of accumulated treasures, artwork, and relics.
- The firefighters make a human chain
to try to remove as many of the holy relics as they can,
and they do rescue the Crown of Thorns.
- Much of the building is destroyed,
so the Crown of Thorns is temporarily rehoused
in the Louvre Museum until Notre Dame is restored.
It's an incredible survival story
for a 2000 year old bundle of vines.
- While the origin of some of these legendary relics
remains unclear, one thing is certain.
Each of these mystical objects inspires fascination
and faith around the world.
I'm Dennis Quaid. Thanks for watching "Holy Marvels".