Editing Heraclius (section)

=== Recovery of the True Cross ===
Heraclius was long remembered favourably by the Western church for his reputed recovery of the [[True Cross]] from the Persians. As Heraclius approached the Persian capital during the final stages of the war, Khosrow fled from his favourite residence—Dastagird near [[Baghdad]]—without offering resistance. Meanwhile, some of the Persian grandees freed Khosrow's eldest son [[Kavad II]], who had been imprisoned by his father, and proclaimed him King on the night of 23–24 February, 628.{{sfn|Thomson|Howard-Johnston|Greenwood|1999|p=221}} Kavad, however, was mortally ill and was anxious that Heraclius should protect his infant son Ardeshir. So, as a goodwill gesture, he sent the True Cross with a negotiator in 628.{{sfn|Baynes|1912|p=288}}

After a tour of the Empire, Heraclius returned the cross to [[Jerusalem]] on 21 March 629 or 630.{{sfn|Frolow|1953|pp=88–105}}{{sfn|Zuckerman|2013}} For Christians of Western Medieval Europe, Heraclius was the "first crusader". The iconography of the emperor appeared in the sanctuary at [[Mont Saint-Michel]] ({{Circa|1060}}),{{sfn|Baert|2008|pp=03–20}} and then it became popular, especially in France, the Italian Peninsula, and the Holy Roman Empire.{{sfn|Souza|2015|pp=27–38}} The story was included in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'', the famous 13th-century compendium of hagiography, and he is sometimes shown in art, as in ''[[The History of the True Cross]]'' sequence of [[fresco]]es painted by [[Piero della Francesca]] in [[Arezzo]], and a similar sequence on a small altarpiece by [[Adam Elsheimer]] ([[Städel]], Frankfurt). Both of these show scenes of Heraclius and [[Constantine I]]'s mother [[Helena of Constantinople|Saint Helena]], traditionally responsible for the excavation of the cross. The scene usually shown is Heraclius carrying the cross; according to the ''Golden Legend'', he insisted on doing this as he entered Jerusalem, against the advice of the Patriarch. At first, when he was on horseback (shown above), the burden was too heavy, but after he dismounted and removed his crown it became miraculously light, and the barred city gate opened of its own accord.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Local tradition suggests that the [[Late Antique]] [[Colossus of Barletta]] depicts Heraclius.{{sfn|Kiilerich|2018|p=55}}

Some scholars disagree with this narrative, Professor [[Constantin Zuckerman]] going as far as to suggest that the True Cross was actually lost, and that the wood contained in the allegedly-still-sealed reliquary brought to Jerusalem by Heraclius in 629 was a fake. In his analysis, the hoax was designed to serve the political purposes of both Heraclius and his former foe, the Persian general [[Shahrbaraz]].{{sfn|Zuckerman|2013}}