330 AD:
Constantine founds the new capital of the Roman Empire on the existing
site of the ancient Greek city Byzantium: Byzantium was
renamed Constantinople and it would become the capital of the Byzantine
Empire.
395:
The Roman Empire divides in half, with the Eastern Roman Empire based in
Constantinople and the Western Roman Empire based in Rome/Ravenna.
526:
Justinian's reign begins. He reconquers parts of the fallen Western
Empire (Africa and Italy, Spain). He codifies the Previous Roman Laws
into one document. Constantinople is the most glorious city in Europe,
with 500,000 inhabitants. The Hagia Sofia is constructed. Justinian is
the last emperor to use the title "Caesar".
1055:
Loss of southern Italy to the Normans.
1054:
The Great Schism: The Latin Roman Church and the Greek Orthodox Church
excommunicate each other.
1096:
Crusaders arrive at Constantinople. The Crusaders are successful, but
eventually withdraw from cooperation with the Byzantines.
1204:
Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople. The Latin Empire of
Constantinople is formed as well as many Byzantine successor states. The
capture of Constantinople in 1204 was a blow from which the Byzantines
never fully recovered.
1453:
Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans. End of the Byzantine Empire.
The Column of Constantine, Istanbul, Turkey
The column was brought from Heliopolis on orders of the
Emperor Constantine in 330 AD. It rested on a marble plinth which
contained relics; the ax which Noah had built the ark, the loaves had
fed to the multitudes, fragments of the true cross and other
sacred objects.
The Holy Roman Emperors also had a lance from the time of Otto I (10th
century). In the 11th century Henry IV had a silver band with the inscription
"Nail of Our Lord" added to it. The nail was believed to have been acquired from
Constantine the Great. Around 1350 a golden sleeve inscribed "Lancea et
clavus Domini" was put over the silver one. In 1424 the Imperial Regalia,
which included the lance, was moved from Prague to Nuremberg.
When the French Revolutionary army approached Nuremberg in the spring of 1796
the city removed the Regalia to Vienna for safe keeping; it was never returned;
that is until the 20th century.
When Austria was annexed to Germany in 1938, the Regalia and Lance were
returned to Nuremberg and afterwards hidden. They were found by invading U.S.
troops and returned to Austria by General George Patton after the war.
Howard A. Buechner, M.D., professor of medicine at Tulane, wrote two
books on the spear. * Buechner, a retired colonel with the U.S. Army who served in
World War II, claims he was contacted by a former U-boat submariner,
pseudonymous Capt. Wilhelm Bernhart who claimed the spear currently on
display in Vienna is a fake. "Bernhart" said the real spear was sent by Hitler
to Antarctica along with other Nazi treasures, under the command of Col.
Maximilian Hartmann. In 1979 Hartmann allegedly recovered the treasures.
Bernhart presented Buechner with the log from this expedition as well as
pictures of the objects recovered, claiming that after the Spear of Destiny was
recovered, it was hidden somewhere in Europe by a Nazi secret society. After
contacting most of the members of the alleged expedition and others involved,
including Hitler Youth Leader Artur Axmann, Buechner became convinced the claims
were true.
Dr. Robert Feather, an English metallurgist and technical engineering writer,
tested the lance in 2003. He was given permission not only to
examine the lance in a laboratory environment, but was allowed to remove the
delicate bands of gold and silver that hold it together. In the opinion of
Feather and other academic experts, the likeliest date of the spearhead is the
7th century A.D., only slightly earlier than the Museum's own estimate.
However, Dr. Feather stated in the same documentary that an iron pin seven
inches long
claimed to be a nail from the crucifixion, hammered into the blade and set off
by tiny brass crosses is "consistent" in length and shape with a 1st century
A.D. Roman nail.
*(Buechner, Howard A; Bernhart, Wilhelm (1988).
Adolf Hitler And The Secrets Of The Holy Lance. Thunderbird Press.,
Buechner, Howard A; Bernhart, Wilhelm (1989). Hitler's Ashes – Seeds Of A New Reich. Thunderbird Press).
