Head of Saint Veremundo

Between 770 and 804 the Kingdom of Asturias was governed by King Veremundo I, who would reign until his death. Following the death of Veremundo the nation would enter a period of mourning that would conclude with his burial in the royal crypt in the royal palace. According to legend, a short time after the embalming and burial process, Veremundo's daughter and heir, Queen Carmen of Asturias, entered into his crypt and proceeded to sever her father's head off with one clean sweep with a Scimitar that he had gained during the Portucales Reconquista War. The head was summarily embalmed for a second time and would carried around a silk bag by Carmen until her death, as a religious relic. The head gained extra noteworthiness after the beatification of Veremundo in 808 by Pope Marinus as a Saint. This occurred as a result of his well-known piety as well as an event that occurred while the King was on his way to attend an event in Galicia. Seeing a peasant man trapped below a large rock that had fallen from a nearby rock-face, the King halted his procession and went over to the man and prayed for his survival. Soon after this the boulder cracked in an unnatural manner, and enabled the man to emerge unscathed from the ordeal. This 'Miracle of Galicia' became a popular anecdote about the late King soon after he died and was written about extensively in subsequent chronicles and accounts of his life. The date of Saint Veremondo's feast is the 29th July, the date of the supposed miracle occurring. The head has meanwhile passed through various generations of the House of Veremundo and has even been adopted on the crest and coat of arms of the city of Santander where Veremondo was born. For centuries the head was carried into battle by Christian forces against Moorish Muslim foes, owing to its apparent role in assisting Queen Carmen at the Battle of Caceres in 811 which proved instrumental in the Christian victory in the Beja War. This tradition would continues for centuries until the head was 'retired' to the private de Cantabrias treasury vault where it would reside for a period of time, leading to accusations that it had been lost or was simply a legend. According to further urban legend the head apparently has the effect of being able to cure baldness, with various reports of such instances occurring over the centuries, though none of these have been independently verified. The head currently resides in the Spanish National Museum and continues to be a popular exhibit among native and foreign visitors alike. Indeed the head is jokingly referred to a staple of the childhood of every Spanish child, as most people in Spain have seen it at least once in their life, usually during a school trip to the museum.