[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Crown of the German Empire.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Crown of the Austrian Empire.]
In 1858 a most remarkable discovery was made near Toledo, of eight gold
crowns of the 7th century, fashioned lavishly with barbaric splendour.
They are now in the Cluny Museum at Paris, having been purchased for
L4000, the intrinsic value of the gold, without reckoning that of the
jewels and precious stones, being not less than L600. The largest and
most magnificent is the crown of Reccesvinto, king of the Visigoths from
653 to 675. It is composed of a circlet of pure gold set with pearls and
precious stones in great profusion, which gives it a most sumptuous
appearance. It is 9 in. in diameter and more than 1/2 in. in thickness,
the width of the circlet being 4 in. It has also been given as a votive
offering to a church, and has the chains to hang it by attached to the
upper rim, while from the lower rim depend pearls, sapphires and a
series of richly jewelled letters 2 in. each in depth, which read
+RECCESVINTHVS REX OFFERET. The second of these crowns in size is
generally thought to be that of the queen of Reccesvinto. It has no
legend, but merely a cross hanging from it. The six others are smaller,
and are all most richly ornamented. They are believed to have been the
crowns of Reccesvinto's children. From one of them hangs a legend which
relates that they were an offering to a church, which has been
identified with much probability as that of Sorbas, a small town in the
province of Almeria. It has been surmised that in the disturbances which
soon afterwards followed they were buried out of sight for safety, where
they were eventually discovered absolutely unharmed centuries
afterwards. For a detailed description of these most remarkable crowns
the reader must be referred to a paper by the late Mr Albert Way
(_Archaeological Journal_, xvi. 253). Mr Way, in the article alluded to,
says of the custom of offering crowns to churches that frequent notices
of the usage may be found in the lives of the Roman pontiffs by
Anastasius. "They are usually described as having been placed over the
altar, and in many instances mention is made of jewelled crosses of gold
appended within such crowns as an accessory ornament.... The crowns
suspended in churches suggested doubtless the sumptuous pensile
luminaries, frequently designated from a very early period as _coronae_,
in which the form of the royal circlet was preserved in much larger
proportions, as exemplified by the remarkable _corona_ still to be seen
suspended in the cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle over the crypt in which
the body of Charlemagne was deposited."
Of modern continental crowns the imperial crown of Austria (fig. 4) may
be mentioned. It is composed of a circlet of gold, adorned with precious
stones and pearls, heightened with fleurs-de-lys, and is raised above
the circlet in the form of a cap which is opened in the middle, so that
the lower part is crescent-shaped; across this opening from front to
back rises an arched fillet, enriched with pearls and surmounted by an
orb, on which is a cross of pearls.
The papal _tiara_ (a Greek word, of Persian origin, for a form of
ancient Persian popular head-dress, standing high erect, and worn
encircled by a diadem by the kings), the triple crown worn by the popes,
has taken various forms since the 9th century. It is important to
remember that the tiaras in old Italian pictures are inventions of the
artists and not copied from actual examples. In its present shape,
dating substantially from the Renaissance, it is a peaked head-covering
not unlike a closed mitre (q.v.), round which are placed one above the
other three circlets or open crowns.[1] Two bands, or _infulae_, as they
are called, hang from it as in the case of a mitre. The tiara is the
crown of the pope as a temporal sovereign (see TIARA).
Pictorial representations in early manuscripts, and the rude effigies on
their coins, are not very helpful in deciding as to the form of crown
worn by the Anglo-Saxon and Danish kings of England before the Norman
Conquest. In some cases it would appear as if the diadem studded with
pearls had been worn, and in others something more of the character of a
crown. We reach surer ground after the Conquest, for then the great
seals, monumental effigies, and coins become more and more serviceable
in determining the forms the crown took.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.