'Templar crucifixion nail' found in imaginary country - but is it a hoax?

Templar Cross

Wikimedia

Media outlets are reporting that archaeologists on the "island of Ilheu de Pontinha, just off the coast of Madeira" have found a four-inch Roman nail from the time of Christ's crucifixion buried with the skeletons of what appear to be three Templar Knights.

That's a pretty juicy story with a lot of popular elements. Ask Dan Brown.

I'm not a journalist but since I play one on the Internet I thought I would try to make sense of this story using the famous Five W's of journalism. The story takes an interesting turn at Where.

Let's look at the basic elements.

WHO

The Templars - The legendary Christian Knights founded in Jerusalem in 1119 to protect Christian pilgrims after the first Crusades captured the city. The Templars rose from monastic poverty to become one of the greatest powers in Europe before being wiped out to thwart their growing influence and acquire their valuable land and holdings. The Templars were known to venorate relics and were thought to have a piece of the True Cross from the crucifixion of Jesus as well as the head of Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon*, among other items.

The Templars are also the go-to guys for much of modern conspiracy lore and popular novels and movies like The Da Vinci Code have only raised their profile. They have been linked to almost every conspiracy imaginable and a cottage industry has cropped up concerning their secrets and lore.

WHAT

The Nail - Reportedly found in a decorated box and described as well cared for with a "peculiar finish" that may be the result of being handled often. The description heavily implies that it was treated as a holy relic.

Nails from crucifixions were considered powerful magical and medical amulets in ancient times and due to the widespread practice of crucifixion there was no shortage of them. Archaeologist Joe Zias writes that "tens if not hundreds of thousands of individuals were subject to this cruel and humiliating death" over a 800 year period. Six thousand followers of Spartacus were killed by crucifixion in one fell swoop in 71 BCE.

The skeletons - Three skeletons with swords, with one sword bearing a marking of the Knights Templar, have been reported. No word on the condition of the bones and no pictures have been released of the remains or crypt, if any.

WHEN

Crucifiction Era: 400 BC to 400 AD

Crucifixion of Jesus: 29 to 36 AD

Templars: 1119–1314 AD

WHERE

And here's where it gets interesting. News reports are placing this find on "the tiny isle of Ilheu de Pontinha, just off the coast of Madeira." A quick check of Google maps brings up nothing but a general search leads us to the "Principality of the Pontinha" a "self-proclaimed country founded by Prince D. Renato Barros." Renato Barros announced his secession from Portugal in a 2007 press release and headquarters his country in the "Fort of São José." It seems that all three of these entities - the Ilheu, the Principality, and the Fort - are the same thing - a precarious pile of rocks on the side of a jetty off the southern city of Funchal that may indeed be an old fort. It is not an island anymore though it could have been on at one time.

Here's the jetty:

See that bump above the jetty's elbow? That's the Principality of Pontinha.

A video from the Principality's website offers some historic images of the location:

In the 2007 press release, "Prince" D. Renato Barros claims the property was made sovereign in 1903 by King D. Carlos I of Portugal in a Regal Letter now kept in the Tower of London. He also claims to have purchased the property and it is now the smallest country in the world. He has even registered it with the Micronational Professional Registry where they note his profession as a visual arts teacher.

WHY

Why were they digging? Who knows. At this point, it's not clear who was actually excavating when the nail was found. A 2008 post on the Principality's website notes that archaeological excavations were being carried out by Élvio Sousa and CEAM (the Center of Studies of Modern and Contemporary Archeology) based on Madeira.

The Telegraph article mentions archaeologist Bryn Walters but isn't specific as to whether Walters was on the site and found the nail or the skeletons. Walters is a specialist in Romano-British archaeology and lectures at the University of Bath on Roman Britain and Ancient Egypt.

So, boiled down, this is what we have: A man buys an old building, pronounces it a nation, secedes from his country, proclaims himself Prince, conducts archaeological digs and claims to have found three Templar skeletons and a nail that may have been a venerated relic of a crucifixion. And if it was a crucifixion nail it was one of thousands available.

Sounds a little sketchy.

The timeline is problematic for proving Templars were ever on Madeira. History tells us that the islands of Madeira and nearby Porto Santo were "discovered" by João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, two captains in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, when they took refuge from a storm on Poto Santo around 1418.

But this date is about 100 years after the Templars were largely wiped out by King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V - 1307-1315.

So if the island was discovered 100 years after the Templars disbanded then the skeletons can't be Templars, right?

Probably. But strangely, if you were going to look for Templar relics, Madeira might be the place to do it.

There is evidence for Templar survival In Portugal. Portugal's King Denis defied the Pope's order to disband the Templars and simply changed the name of his knights to The Order of Christ and by 1323 had even reclaimed Templar property for the group. Denis also sheltered persecuted knights from France. By 1417, the order was run by a powerful Grand Master - you guessed it - Prince Henry the Navigator, the same man whose sailors discovered the island.

If the skeletons are real - and I haven't seen any proof of that - it is possible they were members of the Order of Christ buried with an old Templar sword.

But there might be Templar burials there - if the Templars knew about Madeira before its supposed discovery and used it to hide out after their persecution.

The islands were known to the ancients. Pliny the Elder mentioned sailors travelling to islands that match the description of Madeira and Porto Santo in 75 AD and they appear on maps as early as 1339. This information could conceivably have been known to the the Templars.

A lonely island in the Atlantic is a pretty good place to hide. Even an imaginary one.

UPDATE: Madeiran archaeologists Élvio Sousa and CEAM have issued a statement on the supposed find calling it a "fantasy."

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Here's another piece of video from Portuguese television about the Prince and his very small country.

*Fun Fact: Saint Euphemia is thought to have been killed by wild bears in the arena