Saint Galgano Guidotti

Galgano Guidotti (1148 – 3 December 1181) was a Catholic saint from Tuscany born in Chiusdino, in the modern province of Siena, Italy. His mother's name was Dionigia, while his father's name (Guido or Guidotto) only appeared in a document dated in the 16th century, when the last name Guidotti was attributed. He is known for the Sword in the Stone relic by the ruins of the Abbey of San Galgano near Siena. The son of a feudal lord, Galgano became a knight, and is said to have led a riotous life before his conversion. According to legend, while on the road near Siena, his horse threw him into the dust. An invisible angel lifted him to his feet and led him to Monte Siepi, a rugged hill close to his home town of Chiusdino. In a vision, he saw a round temple on the hill, with Jesus and Mary surrounded by the Apostles. The angel urged him to repent his sins, but Galgano protested that he could no more do this than to split a rock with a sword. To prove his point, he drew his blade and thrust at the stony ground, but the sword slid easily into the living rock, where it remains stuck fast to this day. Galgano settled on the hill as a poor hermit. He befriended wild animals, and once, when the Devil sent a wicked monk to kill him, the wild wolves brought down the killer and gnawed his bones. He died in 1181 aged 33 years. In 1184, a round chapel was built over his tomb as in his vision; many pilgrims visited and miracles were claimed. The canonization process to declare Galgano a saint started in 1185, only a few years after his death, and was the first conducted with a formal process by the Roman Church. Galgano's life was documented in the canonization process, as well as in Vitae: Legenda beati Galgani, Legenda beati Galgani confessoris, Leggenda di Sancto Galgano, Vita sancti Galgani de Senis, and Vita beati Galgani.