The Spear of Destiny is the purported spear that was used to pierce the side of Jesus Christ, to assure he was dead after his crucifixion. Legend says that when the Roman soldier Longinus pierced Jesus’ side, the spear was instantly imbued with the power to give the man that holds it the ability to control the destiny of mankind.
The Roman Emperor Constantine believed in the power of the spear, and held it as he called the council of Nicea, which established Christianity as the official religion of Rome. Constantine also had one of the nails from the crucifixion enshrined within the top portion of the spear. A later Emperor added the golden sleeve, which reads ‘Lancea et Clavus Domini” or “Lance and Nail of the Lord”. The spear and its alleged power was passed down from Emperor to Emperor. It remained with the Roman Emperors, until Attila the Hun sacked Rome during his rampage across Europe.
Attila the Hun reportedly heard the legend of the spear, and kept it for some time. The legend says that as he eventually left Rome to attempt to further conquer Europe, Attila the Hun threw the spear at the feet of a few roman officers stating “Take back your Holy Lance. It is of no use to me, since I know not him that made it holy!” Attila was defeated shortly thereafter.
Now that Rome again possessed the spear, it entered a new age of prosperity. It was again passed through the Holy Roman Emperor’s, including Charlemagne. Charlemagne was very protective of the spear, and never let it out of his sight. He even slept with it. The legend persists that Charlemagne led Rome to victory in 47 battles using the power of the spear, and died a shortly after he accidentally dropped the spear one day.
The spear was eventually entrusted to the Hofburg Museum in Vienna, Austria. The spear stayed here until it was smuggled to safety to keep it out of the hands of Napoleon’s rampaging army. It appears that Napoleon also had designs on acquiring the spear. The spear was eventually returned to the safety of the museum, where a young Adolf Hitler first gazed upon it and learned its story on a school field trip. Hitler describes that moment in his own words: ..."I knew with immediacy that this was an important moment in my life...I stood there quietly gazing upon it for several minutes quite oblivious to the scene around me. It seemed to carry some hidden inner meaning which evaded me, a meaning which I felt I inwardly knew yet could not bring to consciousness.... I felt as though I myself had held it in my hands before in some earlier century of history...that I myself had once claimed it as my talisman of power and held the destiny of the world in my hands. What sort of madness was this that was invading my mind and creating such turmoil in my breast?" He later stated that he moved "like a sleep-walker where providence dictates" when in the presence of the Spear of Destiny.
After Hitler’s meteoric rise to power, one of the first things he did was annex the country of Austria, march his troops to the door of the museum and take the spear for himself. Hitler possessed the spear throughout WWII, until Allied forces closed in on Berlin. An American soldier discovered the bunker containing the spear, and many other artifacts. Knowing the importance of the spear, General Patton took possession of it, and had it validated and protected until the war was over. Legend has it Hitler committed suicide a mere three hours after he lost possession of the spear. Many people also believe that General Patton and the American Government had a copy of the spear made and returned the fake to the museum in Austria where it remains to this day.