A nail from the time of Christ’s crucifixion which was hidden by the same knights who featured in The Da Vinci Code has been found in a dig.

The four-inch Roman relic, stored in an ornate box, was uncovered by archaeologists working at a fort thought to have been a former Knights Templar stronghold.

It was buried with three skeletons and three swords, including one with the religious order’s cross on its blade, on the tiny island of Ilheu de Pontinha, off Madeira.

The iron nail is of the type used in thousands of crucifixions – but it is special. Archaeologist Bryn Walters said: “It dates from the 1st to 2nd centuries. You’d expect the surface to be pitted and rough after so long. But this was smooth.

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“It looks like it had been handled by a lot of people over a long period of time and the acid from their hands have given it a peculiar finish.”

Yesterday Christopher Macklin of the Knights Templar of Britannia described last summer’s find as “momentous”.

He said evidence the nail had been handled a lot “indicates it was of great interest to many people”. He believes the original Knights Templar thought it was a genuine artefact from Christ’s crucifixion.

They occupied Jerusalem during the Crusades a thousand years after Christ, and claimed to be guardians of the Holy Grail, the cross and other relics. The Da Vinci Code portrays them as a modern secret society.

Source: News of Mirror.co.uk

The Fort of Saint José is the headquarters of the Principality of the Pontinha, self-proclaimed country by Prince D. Renato Barros. The Fort of Saint José is located off the coast of the port of Funchal, capital of the Madeira Islands, an autonomous region of Portugal.

The history of the rock begins as early as 1 July 1419, when Portuguese sea captains João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, at the service of Prince Henry the Navigator, land on a rock, and carve steps and a shelter that can still be seen today. The history of the country, on the other hand, begins on 9 October 1903, when the then King D. Carlos I of Portugal, ancestor of D. Renato Barros, first Prince of the Pontinha, signed a Regal Letter (the original is kept in the Tower of London) that stated that the territory of the said Principality of the Pontinha, a rock where the Fort of Saint José is located (the building of the Principality), shall be sovereign.

Currently the case is being analyzed by the international community, including the United Nations. Prince D. Renato Barros expects to obtain the rights of a country, including the 200 nautical miles.

Prince D. Renato Barros states that he has good relations with the Brazilian Government, and if the Principality shall be recognized, it will be the door of entry to Europe.

The Principality of the Pontinha is a member nation of the Micronational Professional Registry, an international and intermicronational professional registry.

Source: Micronational Professional Registry

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The Micronational Professional Registry (MPR) is a Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth World resource which intends to evolve into an alternative nation Employment Agency and/or Chamber of Commerce. The MPR also issues independent intellectual property instruments such as Print Monopolies, Enterprise Names, Enterprise Marks, and MPR Patents.
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