The origin of the “hoax” of the sword in the rock in the Terminillo and the legend of the five borders revealed

Sometimes certain “buffalo” are also created for good, for example to bring a little charm to a territory but also to encourage some commercial businesses by increasing their customers. In this case, these “buffaloes” are defined as “hyperstitions” term coined by Nick Land, British philosopher and writer, father of “accelerationism”, to define news without any foundation that however travel over time and progressively assume more and more credibility. Hyperstitions are therefore legends, conceptions, beliefs, interpretations and so on, whose main propagation tool is the massive diffusion through digital media (definition found on concepticontractive.org). After the creation of a more or less credible story, it is sufficient according to Nick Land publish it on a web space (e.g. a small online newspaper) and then start spreading it through social networks. At this point it is the operation in itself of the network and the social networks that does the rest, through the mechanism of shares. After a certain period of time (from a few months to a few years) the “hoax” bounces within the network and those who are hardly operated on a background verification to evaluate its reliability. In the end, hyperstition is lived and interpreted as a legend (or even as a historical event) that has been handed down since the mists of time even if, in reality, it has been released a few months earlier. In the current method of use of information (quite superficial) this becomes a possible and frequent thing. In this perspective, among the many initiatives to cloak a place of mystery and thus attract the interest of children but also of adults, the placement of a “sword in the rock” seems to be a very widespread gimmick, both in Italy and in other nations. Moreover, the fairy tale of King Arthur is known by practically everyone and the sword represents a very simple and effective symbolic element. Among the various “swords in the rock”, the one that has reached a certain level of knowledge between the public is certainly the one that was placed by the will of the Mountain Community in 2017 on Mount Terminillo (in the province of Rieti) and which then, due to the erosion by the atmospheric agents but also following vandalizations, has been relocated a few times in the following years. The hyperstition created by the Mountain Community of Terminillo, fully married by Felice Marchioni, a very serious real estate agent of Rieti who contributed (together with the mountain community) to the creation of this invention, in fact it was successful and soon the sword of the Terminillo has become a point of reference as well as for children’s games (for which it had been designed initially) also then as a appointment for giving and trekking enthusiasts. The genius of Felice & Co, however, manifested itself, creating, in parallel to the location of the sword, a nice legend on an alleged Templar Knight, Tal Guy II de la Roche, who together with four of his “brothers” would have come to Terminillo fleeing from the persecution of the king of France and, after abandoning the weapons and the Templar dress would have made friar (with the name of Fra ‘Bernardo) and would have obtained hospitality) Monastery not far from the place where the sword has been left. On the basis of some stories provided by the civic goods of Vazia, Felice Marchioni, drawing not only from his fervent fantasy, by some historical and literary sources on the internet, with the contribution of a Rieti writer he even wrote a “testament” of this phantom Guy de la Roche (who became a Bernardo), circulated first on various brochures linked to the planetary path. Later the “testament” was then inserted on some websites dedicated to families, mysteries and legends. Guy II de la Roche in reality has never been a Templar, he really existed but he died very young (at about 28 years) and, according to official historical documents, was buried in the monastery of Daphni in Greece. He had a captivating name to launch legend, but in reality he was not a monk-warrior, being happily married to a French nobleman. However, some of his relatives were Templars and this appeared sufficient to make the narrative credible, at least for those who do not have a solid preparation on medieval history. The “buffalo” conceived by Marchioni together with others, has made itself credible over the years also because near Mount Terminillo there is a location called “Pian de Rosce” (a name with a sound similar to Roche) which, however, as also underlined by Giovan Battista Pellegrini in his book “Italian toponymy” (published by Ulrico Hoepli in Milan) derives from the medieval Latin and refers to the red color, presumably. For the coloring of the leaves that cover the ground in the autumn. The legend of the sword in the rock on Mount Terminillo and the 5 Templars, bouncing since 2017 in Web Giornaletti but then also on some more prestigious newspapers, has still spread quickly, even if among the inhabitants of Rieti and the villages surrounding the Terminillo (apart from some disheveled), it is quite well known that at the origin of all this there are no Templars with their mysteries but simply the genius of the community of the community. Supported by Felice Marchioni who managed to build a real “hyperstition” from nowhere, which seems to be able to walk with his legs and has actually donated a touch of “charm” and mystery to Mount Terminillo. As however, Diego Volpe, university student of history and author of several texts on the Templars, legends on “historical” facts, even if they can entertain children and contribute to attracting some enthusiasts of the “mystery” to a geographical area, they can sometimes create a little confusion in serious historical-scientific research projects (Volpe has been developing for some time in the province of Rieti, in Umbria and in the Viterbo, a systematic study. On the presence of the Templar Knights, based on both archive documents and on the census of symbols found in sacred and profane artifacts) and it is therefore necessary to establish a net border between the popular legends and the historical events that really happened based on official documents.