Crown of Saint Wenceslas

The crown of St. Wenceslas, also of St. Wenceslas crown, crown of St.. Wenzel, Czech koruna Svatováclavská, is the crown of the former Kingdom of Bohemia. It is the oldest part of the Bohemian crown jewels. Of these, the royal apple, the royal scepter and the royal mantle are preserved except the crown yet.

Description

The crown is made from 21-22 carat gold. She weighs about 2.5 kg, its maximum height and its diameter be 19 cm. Their shape is similar to the older crowns Přemyslids and the French kings. It consists of four pages attached to the hoop of gold plate, each ending in a large lily. Two arches connect the four side panels. The arches are occupied with parts of an older piece of jewelry, a golden girdle, the Blanche of Valois in 1323 to her marriage to Charles IV was the beauty of her cousin, the French King Charles. At the highest point, the intersection of the two arcs, a hollow golden cross is attached. The cross is adorned with a cameo from a Byzantine sapphire with the representation of a crucifixion scene. The inscription on the cross reads " Hic est de spina corona Domini ". Under the arches of the crown is lined with a cloth cap. The crown was occupied during their production in 1347 with red and blue gems. However, the composition of the gem collection changed several times since Karl until his death in 1378 left complement the crown with precious stones, which came into his possession. Your final form dates from 1374-1378. Since she is with 19 sapphires, 44 spinels, 1 ruby, 30 emeralds and 20 pearls occupied.

History and present-day storage

Charles IV was the crown on the occasion of his coronation in 1347 make. It should be used as a state gem, at the coronation of all subsequent kings of Bohemia. Under the provisions of Charles it should be taken only returned to the coronations and similar significant acts of state from the Cathedral and on the same day. Each withdrawal was associated with a fee of 200 or 300 pounds, which should benefit the clergy of St. Vitus Cathedral.

The regular depository of the crown was the Cathedral of St. Vitus Cathedral. Already during its production devoted Charles IV the crown to the first patron saint, Saint Wenceslas. The skull of the saint, who also was in the cathedral treasury, the king overlay them with gold. At certain religious holidays of the skull should be publicly exhibited and adorned with the crown. However, the skull as a relic and the crown jewel of the state never made a material unity. The combination of both was immaterial and legal nature: The dedication of the crown to the first patron should guarantee their safety. Theft and misappropriation were covered with high ecclesiastical penalties.

Although according to the will of Charles IV the new Royal Crown was to be permanently stored in St. Vitus Cathedral, already his son Wenceslas IV had converted the coronation jewels on the Karlstejn Castle. Since then, the repository changed frequently, in the 18th century they came to Vienna.

Since 1791 they are in a special chamber in the St. Wenceslas Chapel of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. The door of the chamber in which lie the imperial regalia (crown, scepter and orb ), is equipped with seven locks that are held by seven state and religious dignitaries. Key holders are the President of the Czech Republic, the Prime Minister, the Prague Archbishop, the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, the Chairman of the Senate, the Dean of the Metropolitan Chapter of St. Vitus Cathedral and the Lord Mayor of the City of Prague. About a removal and public exhibition of the crown jewels decides the president. In the 20th century, the imperial regalia were a total of nine times shown publicly, most recently in 1998 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the first Czechoslovak Republic in 1918.

Use and Myth

Many people have been crowned with the crown as King of Bohemia, including the Wittelsbach " Winter King " Frederick of the Palatinate. The crown was in the 19th century, a symbol of the Czech state rights and independence.

The last coronation to the Wenceslas Crown took place in 1836, was crowned as Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria in Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral as King of Bohemia.

To the Wenceslas crown is entwines the legend that anyone who wears it wrong to die within a year of violent death. Allegedly sat in the knowledge of this legend, the managing Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich in a symbolic key handover to the coronation chamber next to Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral on November 19, 1941 briefly the Wenceslas crown on to desecrate the holy of holies of the Tschechentums and to disprove the legend. This is probably just a legend that arose after the death of Heydrich to the consequences of an assassination attempt on May 26, 1942.

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