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Barcelona Cathedral · Legends

The Lepanto Christ who dodged a cannonball

A bent crucifix, a sea battle and a cannonball. The record is thinner than the legend.

Unproven

A living tradition with no proof behind it.

Published · checked against 9 sources
Part one · in the video's manuscript style

The legend says

This Christ is bent, because, the story goes, it dodged a cannonball.

It hangs in a side chapel of Barcelona's cathedral. Look closely: the body doesn't hang straight.

The story goes back to Lepanto, in fifteen seventy-one, when a Catholic fleet beat the Ottoman navy at sea.

They say this Christ sailed on the flagship of Don Juan of Austria, a galley built right here in Barcelona.

A cannonball flew straight at it. And the body bent aside.

Another version says it twisted to cover a hole that would have sunk the ship.

This is the story as it is told. We tell it as a story. Below is what the record holds.

But
Part two

The record shows

12 facts, each checked against a source we opened. Tap a source to read the line that carries it.

  1. 01

    The crucifix called the Holy Christ of Lepanto is in Barcelona Cathedral, in a side chapel: the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament most of the year

    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    Most of the year it can be found at the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Barcelona Cathedral
    2en.wikipedia, "Barcelona Cathedral"
    contains a cross said to date from the time of the Battle of Lepanto (1571)
  2. 02

    Its body is curved, not straight

    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    the characteristic curvature of the torso
    2en.wikipedia, "Barcelona Cathedral"
    the curved body
  3. 03

    Tradition says it was on the flagship at the Battle of Lepanto, 1571

    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    according to tradition, this image was aboard the flagship at the decisive Battle of Lepanto of 1571
    3en.wikipedia
    a Catalan legend which holds that the cross was carried on the prow of the galley captained by Juan of Austria
  4. 04

    At Lepanto (7 October 1571) the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states, beat the Ottoman fleet

    4en.wikipedia, "Battle of Lepanto"
    a coalition of Catholic states
    4en.wikipedia, "Battle of Lepanto"
    inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of the Ottoman Empire
    5Royal Collection Trust, militarymaps.rct.uk
    fought on 7 October 1571 … resulting in a victory for the Holy League
  5. 05

    Don Juan of Austria led that fleet

    5Royal Collection Trust, militarymaps.rct.uk
    commanded by Don John of Austria
    4en.wikipedia, "Battle of Lepanto"
    named by Pope Pius V as overall commander of the fleet
  6. 06

    His flagship was the galley Real

    4en.wikipedia, "Battle of Lepanto"
    his flagship Real
    6Revista General de Marina, Nov 2022, J. Cánovas García
    su galera Real
  7. 07

    The Real was built in Barcelona

    7en.wikipedia, "Real (galley)"
    built in Barcelona at the Royal Shipyard in 1568
    8beteve.cat, "Drassanes Reials"
    l'original es va fer fora de les drassanes, a les platges de Barcelona
  8. 08

    The legend: a cannonball flew at it and it leaned aside to dodge it

    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    it was to dodge a Turkish cannonball
    3en.wikipedia
    When a cannonball flew toward the cross, it leaned out of the way in order to avoid being hit
  9. 09

    The other version: it twisted to cover a hole that would have sunk the ship

    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    to cover a hole in the ship's hold
    3en.wikipedia
    the figure moved to cover a large hole which would have sunk the ship
  10. 10

    No proof has been found that it was at the battle

    9Revista General de Marina, Nov 2022, quoting J. M. Martínez-Hidalgo, director of Barcelona's Maritime Museum
    no se han podido encontrar pruebas de la presencia de tan celebrada imagen en la batalla de Lepanto
    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    little documented thus far
  11. 11

    The oldest records tying it to Don Juan's galley date from 1651, eighty years after the battle

    9Revista General de Marina, Nov 2022, quoting J. M. Martínez-Hidalgo, director of Barcelona's Maritime Museum
    Las referencias más antiguas son de 1651, en las que aparece una congregación llamada del Santo Cristo de la Galera de Don Juan de Austria
    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    dates back to at least 1651
  12. 12

    The cathedral calls it a Gothic carving, possibly from the 13th century (so possibly older than the battle)

    1catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
    It is a gothic carving, possibly from the 13th century, little documented thus far

Timeline

On recordTradition only
  1. 13th centuryA Gothic carvingThe cathedral calls it a Gothic carving, possibly from the 13th century.
  2. 1568The galley RealDon Juan of Austria's flagship, the Real, is built in Barcelona.
  3. 1571-10-07Battle of LepantoThe Holy League, led by Don Juan of Austria, beats the Ottoman fleet.
  4. 1571-10-07On board the RealTradition puts the crucifix on the flagship at the battle. No proof has been found.
  5. 1651First written linkThe oldest records tying it to Don Juan's galley, eighty years after the battle.
  6. TodayChapel of the Blessed SacramentMost of the year it hangs in this side chapel of Barcelona Cathedral.

Left out on purpose

What we chose not to say in the video, and why. If a comment says "you forgot…", the answer is probably here.

Which way it leans (left or right)

No source we could open says it, so the video shows the curve without naming a side.

"The battle that decided the Mediterranean" (from the brief)

Too strong for the sources; the video says only that the Catholic fleet beat the Ottoman navy.

"The return to Barcelona" (from the brief)

No source says the crucifix came back from the battle, and the cathedral has records of a Holy Christ there since the 15th century. That beat becomes "a galley built right here in Barcelona", which two sources carry.

The Real built "in the Royal Shipyard" (Drassanes)

Sources split (Wikipedia says the shipyard, beteve.cat says on the beaches outside it), so the video says only "built in Barcelona".

The cathedral archivist's claim that it "was nowhere near the battle" and was a later donation

A single quoted opinion, stronger than the rest; the video keeps to "no proof".

1568, 1651 and "13th century" as numbers

Two numbers in the whole video, "1571" and "eighty".

The chapel's architect and dates, Saint Olegarius's tomb, the galley-model ex-voto

Not the story.

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Read the video's transcript

Leo This Christ is bent, because, the story goes, it dodged a cannonball.

Sara It hangs in a side chapel of Barcelona's cathedral. Look closely: the body doesn't hang straight.

Leo The story goes back to Lepanto, in fifteen seventy-one, when a Catholic fleet beat the Ottoman navy at sea.

Sara They say this Christ sailed on the flagship of Don Juan of Austria, a galley built right here in Barcelona.

Leo A cannonball flew straight at it. And the body bent aside.

Sara Another version says it twisted to cover a hole that would have sunk the ship.

Leo But historians have found no proof it was ever on board. The oldest record tying it to the galley comes eighty years later.

Sara The cathedral itself calls it a Gothic carving, perhaps even older than the battle.

Leo Proof or not, the body still bends, and the legend still sails with it.

Sara Stories first, facts follow. Follow Dornix.

Sources

  1. catedralbcn.org, "Holy Christ of Lepanto"
  2. en.wikipedia, "Barcelona Cathedral"
  3. en.wikipedia
  4. en.wikipedia, "Battle of Lepanto"
  5. Royal Collection Trust, militarymaps.rct.uk
  6. Revista General de Marina, Nov 2022, J. Cánovas García
  7. en.wikipedia, "Real (galley)"
  8. beteve.cat, "Drassanes Reials"
  9. Revista General de Marina, Nov 2022, quoting J. M. Martínez-Hidalgo, director of Barcelona's Maritime Museum

Photo credits

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