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23-455: The Imperial Crown consists of three principal elements possessing great symbolic significance: the circlet, the high arch, and the mitre. The circlet is dominated by eight large squares of diamonds, forming a crown in itself, which symbolises royal authority. Between the stones are two large pearls arranged vertically and set within white enamel rosettes surrounded by scrollwork. From the circlet emerge eight lilies, which were probably inspired by

46-553: A private crown is an etching by the artist Albrecht Dürer of Emperor Maximilian I , where a depiction of a crown is seen that might have later influenced the appearance of the crown of Rudolf II. The Imperial Crown of the Habsburg Empire of Austria was never used for a coronation, since, unlike the Holy Roman Empire, it was a hereditary monarchy and such an act of legitimization was not seen as necessary. The ceremony held

69-497: A total of 19 sapphires , 44 spinels , 30 emeralds and 1 red elbaite (variety rubellite), often falsely referred to as ruby . The crown has two hoops and an upstanding cross at the point of intersection. There is no monde ; the cross stands directly on the crown. It weighs two and a half kilograms. The sapphire cross has an inset cameo in which the scene of the Crucifixion is cut. Unlike many other European royal treasures,

92-690: A very inconspicuous cross . The sapphire was not cut, but polished. Since the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire , including the Crown , were kept in Nuremberg and could only leave the city for a coronation , some rulers had their own personal crowns made. For example, when they attended a session of the Imperial Diet ( Reichstag ), they attended with their own crowns. The oldest depiction of such

115-566: Is known as stephanos , and in Latin as corona aperta , although stephanos is associated more with laurel wreaths and the crown of thorns said to have been placed on the head of Jesus . In heraldry , a circlet of an order of knighthood may be placed around the shield of the bearer to signify membership of a particular order . In British heraldry , this pertains to the grades of Commander and above (i.e. Knight Commander and Knight Grand Cross ). This royalty -related article

138-553: The Archduchy of Austria . 48°12′24″N 16°21′56″E  /  48.20667°N 16.36556°E  / 48.20667; 16.36556 Crown of Saint Wenceslas The crown of Saint Wenceslas ( Czech : Svatováclavská koruna , German : Wenzelskrone ) is a crown forming part of the Bohemian crown jewels , made in 1346. Charles IV , king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor , had it made for his coronation, dedicating it to

161-554: The Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia , is said to have secretly crowned himself while inspecting St. Vitus' Cathedral, and was assassinated less than a year later by the Czech resistance . Although there is no evidence proving that Heydrich did so, the legend is widely believed. In November 1945, a rumor held that the crown had been stolen by Heydrich and sold in Germany, and that

184-513: The 700th anniversary of the birth of Charles IV, and in May 2013, celebrating the inauguration of a new Czech president. An old Czech legend says that any usurper who places the crown on his head is doomed to die a violent death within a year, as the Crown is the personal property of St. Wenceslas and may only be worn by a rightful Bohemian king during his coronation. During World War II , Reinhard Heydrich ,

207-559: The Bohemian Crown of St. Wenceslas . The lilies are also associated with the fleurs-de-lis of the House of Valois . The use of eight elements was also taken from the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire , which includes a circlet made out of eight plates. In the circlet are precious stones such as spinels , zircons , and pearls . The zircons are cut in such a way that they are flat at

230-1001: The Czech Republic , the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies , the President of the Senate , the Prime Minister , the Mayor of Prague , the Archbishop of Prague , and the Dean of the Metropolitan Chapter of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. The jewels are only taken from the chamber and displayed for periods of several days on notable occasions approximately once every five years. The crown was exhibited in May 2016 to mark

253-515: The Romans, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Constructed in 1602 ). The high arch was inspired by the arch of the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. It rises from the front and back of the circlet and is studded with eight diamonds , which symbolise Christ . The emperor was regarded as governor on earth in the name of Christ. At the top of the arch is a blue sapphire , which symbolises heaven, above

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276-492: The St. Wenceslas Crown is not normally displayed to the public, and only a replica is shown. Along with the other Bohemian crown jewels, it is kept in a chamber within St. Vitus Cathedral accessible by a door in the St. Wenceslas Chapel . The exact location of the chamber is not known to the general public. The entrance to the jewels is locked by seven locks whose keys are held by the President of

299-485: The coronation hill in Pressburg (Bratislava) during his coronation as King of Hungary . The third section shows his coronation procession through Prague as King of Bohemia . The fourth section depicts an allegory of his victory over the invading Turks . The Latin inscription inside the arch reads, RVDOLPHVS II ROM(ANORVM) IMP(ERATOR) AVGVSTUS HVNG(ARIAE) ET BOH(EMIAE) REX CONSTRVXIT MDCII ( Rudolf II, August Emperor of

322-478: The court church in Innsbruck has a crown with two arches which cross over the top of the mitre and the unique form of the imperial crown adopted by Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico appears to have been modeled on this form, but with the half-arches and the eagles on the circlet on the front, back and sides. In the later 17th century Baroque form of mitral crown of Leopold I the peaks of the mitre have been rounded into

345-523: The crown, especially the enamel-work which is in the same style. It is topped by a large sapphire. A peculiarity of the Sceptre is that it was said to be made from unicorn horn , but in fact it was made from the horn of a narwhal. The Imperial Orb and Sceptre were already in use before the proclamation of the Austrian Empire, as Bohemian royal regalia and for the hereditary private estates ( Erbhuldigung ) of

368-492: The crown, leaving an opening in the middle through which the high arch passes. The mitre is made of gold, with a band of enamel work depicting birds and plants. The mitre is divided into four sections representing the high honours of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. The first section shows him kneeling, receiving the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire in Regensburg as Holy Roman Emperor. The second section shows him riding onto

391-453: The earlier forms of the Western mitre the peaks or 'horns' were over the ears, rather than over the face and back of the head. The form of mitre used in the imperial mitral crown preserved this earlier form. This form of the imperial mitre-crown can be seen in the extant portraits of such emperors as Frederick III and Maximilian I The bronze effigy of Maximilian I found on his monumental cenotaph in

414-490: The first patron saint of the country St. Wenceslas and bequeathed it as a state crown for the coronation of (future) Bohemian kings . On the orders of Charles IV the new royal crown was deposited in St. Vitus Cathedral , however, it was later transferred to Karlštejn Castle . It was used for the last time for the coronation of Ferdinand V in 1836. The St. Wenceslas Crown is made of 21 to 22 carat (88 to 92%) gold and decorated with 91 precious stones and 20 pearls. It has

437-466: The front. Preparing precious stones for mounting in this way was a relatively new technique at the time the crown was made. The pearls were added by Alexander Emmanuel Köchert of the A. E. Köchert shop in Vienna. The mitre symbolises the divine right to rule, and the spiritual position of the emperor, who during coronation was consecrated symbolically as a deacon . The mitre fills the left and right sides of

460-544: The hemispherical form Peter the Great would adopt as the Imperial Crown of Russia when he took the title emperor as Russian sovereign. Although it is often assumed that the Imperial Crown made for Otto I with its single arch over its inner red cap was the original prototype for the western imperial crown, it is also possible that the Byzantine imperial crown, which in the twelfth century also became closed with two arches, inspired

483-473: The version recovered in Prague after the end of World War II was in fact a forgery. Circlet A circlet is a piece of headwear that is similar to a diadem or a corolla . The word 'circlet' is also used to refer to the base of a crown or a coronet , with or without a cap . Diadem and circlet are often used interchangeably, and 'open crowns' with no arches (as opposed to ' closed crowns ') have also been referred to as circlets. In Greek this

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506-628: The western emperors to follow their example and also close their crowns with such a pair of arches. The Imperial Crown is associated with the Imperial Orb and Sceptre, and they are displayed together in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. The Imperial Orb was commissioned in 1612 by Rudolf's brother and successor, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias , and was created by Andreas Ochsenbruck. The shape takes its inspiration from

529-447: Was an act of investiture to mark the monarch's official ascension to the throne rather than a coronation. The crown of Rudolf II was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen , one of the most outstanding goldsmiths of his time, who was called specially from Antwerp . The crown is made out of three parts: the circlet ( Kronreif ), the high arch ( Kronbügel ), and a mitre ( Mitra ). In

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