Holy Lance
The Holy Lance in Vienna is displayed in the Imperial Treasury or "Weltliche Schatzkammer" (lit. Worldly Treasure Room) at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. It is a typical winged lance of the Carolingian dynasty. At different times, it was said to be the lance of Saint Maurice or that of Constantine the Great. In the tenth century, the Holy Roman Emperors came into possession of the lance, according to sources from the time of Otto I (912–973). In 1000, Otto III gave Boleslaw I of Poland a replica of the Holy Lance at the Congress of Gniezno. In 1084, Henry IV had a silver band with the inscription "Nail of Our Lord" added to it. This was based on the belief that the nail embedded in the spear-tip was one that had been used for the Crucifixion of Jesus. It was only in the thirteenth century that the Lance became identified with that of Longinus, which had been used to pierce Christ's side and had been drenched in the Blood of Christ and water.
Edwin of Northumbria
In an article titled "How Coifi Pierced Christ’s Side", Julia Barrow examines Bede’s Latinate text and pays particular attention to the passage concerning Coifi’s attack upon the temple. Barrow notes that Bede's use of "lancea" was "not the word medieval writers normally used for spear", while “"hasta" was the usual choice." Barrow goes on to claim that "lancea" was likely used by Bede as a reference to the details of the crucifixion of Christ provided in the vulgate book of John, thus Coifi’s desecration of the shrine is to be understood "as an inversion of the piercing of the temple of Christ’s body." All of these details support an understanding that Bede had great "warmth and admiration" for Edwin.