Richard's shield
From Indiana Jones Wiki
| ARTIFACT | |
| Richard's shield | |
|---|---|
| |
| Culture | Medieval European |
| Discovery | 1938 Knight's tomb, Venice, Italy |
| Discovered by | Indiana Jones Elsa Schneider |
| Collected by | left at site |
Richard's shield was one of two markers left by the Knights of the First Crusade, describing the location of the Holy Grail. It was placed in the tomb of Richard, one of the three knights in the mid-12th century. Richard had died on the trip home to France from the Grail's location. The inscription on the upper right section of the metal shield was an exact match to the Grail tablet, left in Turkey.
In 1938, the partially flooded Knight's tomb was discovered by Indiana Jones and Elsa Schneider in the catacombs of Venice, underneath the church, using research notes left by Henry Jones, Sr.. Indy opened the tomb to discover the shield, buried with the knight. He recognized that inscription on the shield matched the inscription on the grail tablet, and made a rubbing of the shield's text.
When a fire set by members of the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword reached the knight's tomb, Indy and Elsa dumped the shield and Richard's corpse out of the stone coffin, and flipped it over, providing a temporary shelter until they could find an escape. With a rubbing made, the shield had to be abandoned in the oily waters of the tomb when the petroleum was set alight.
[edit] Appearances
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (First appearance)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade novel
