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Crown

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, seeCrown (disambiguation).
Imperial State Crownof the United Kingdom
Corona di Costanza d'Aragona.
Imperial Crown ofKingdom of Sicily(Crown of Constance of Aragon,Cathedral of Palermo).
Imperial Crown (Benkan) of Emperor Kōmeiof Japan
Imperial Crown of Austria
Imperial Crown of Russia,2012 replica
Vajracarya's Ritual Crown, AncientNepal
TheSeobongchong Golden Crownof AncientSilla,which is 339th National Treasure ofSouth Korea.It is basically following the standard type of Silla's Crown. It was excavated by Swedish Crown PrinceGustaf VI Adolfin 1926.

Acrownis a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn bymonarchsas a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, particularly in Commonwealth countries, as an abstract name for the monarchy itself (and, by extension, the state of which said monarch is head) as distinct from the individual who inhabits it (that is,The Crown). A specific type of crown (orcoronetfor lower ranks of peerage) is employed inheraldryunder strict rules. Indeed, some monarchies never had a physical crown, just a heraldic representation, as in the constitutional kingdom of Belgium.

Variations

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  • Costumeheadgear imitating a monarch's crown is also called a crown hat. Such costume crowns may be worn by actors portraying a monarch, people at costume parties, or ritual "monarchs" such as the king of aCarnivalkrewe,or the person who found the trinket in aking cake.
  • Thenuptial crown,sometimes called acoronal,worn by a bride, and sometimes the bridegroom, at her wedding is found in many European cultures since ancient times. In the present day, it is most common inEastern Orthodoxcultures. The Eastern Orthodox marriage service has a section called the crowning, wherein the bride and groom are crowned as "king" and "queen" of their future household. In Greek weddings, the crowns arediademsusually made of white flowers, synthetic or real, often adorned withsilverormother of pearl.They are placed on the heads of the newlyweds and are held together by a ribbon of whitesilk.They are then kept by the couple as a reminder of their special day. In Slavic weddings, the crowns are usually made of ornate metal, designed to resemble an imperial crown, and are held above the newlyweds' heads by their best men. A parish usually owns one set to use for all the couples that are married there since these are much more expensive than Greek-style crowns. This was common in Catholic countries in the past.
  • Crowns are also often used as symbols of religious status or veneration, by divinities (or their representation such as a statue) or by their representatives (e.g., theBlack Crownof the Karmapa Lama) sometimes used a model for wider use by devotees.
  • According to theNew Testament,acrown of thornswas placed on the head ofJesusbefore hiscrucifixion;it has become a common symbol of martyrdom.
  • According toRoman Catholictradition,theBlessed Virgin Marywas crowned asQueen of Heavenafter herassumptionintoheaven.She is often depicted wearing a crown, and statues of her in churches andshrinesareceremonially crownedduring May.
  • TheCrown of Immortalityis also common in historical symbolism.
  • The heraldic symbol ofThree Crowns,referring to the three evangelicalMagi (wise men),traditionally called kings, is believed thus to have become the symbol of the Swedish kingdom, but it also fits the historical (personal, dynastic)Kalmar Union(1397–1520) between the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
  • InIndia,crowns are known asmakuta(Sanskritfor "crest" ), and have been used in India since ancient times and are described adorning Hindu gods or kings. The makuta style was then copied by theIndianized kingdomsthat was influenced by Hindu-Buddhist concept of kingship in Southeast Asia, such as in Java and Bali in Indonesia, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand.
  • In East Asia, there were crowns such as the Chinesemianguanand Japanesebenkanworn by emperors.
  • Dancers of certain traditionalThai dancesoften wear crowns (mongkut) on their head. These are inspired in the crowns worn by deities andby kings.
  • In pre-ColonialPhilippinescrown-likediadems,orputong,were worn byelite individualsanddeities,among an array of golden ornaments.[1][2]
  • Theshamsawas a massive, jewel-inlaid ceremonial crown hung by a chain that was part of the regalia of theAbbasidandFatimidCaliphates.[3]

Terminology

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Three distinct categories of crowns exist in thosemonarchiesthat use crowns or state regalia.

Coronation
Worn by monarchs when beingcrowned.
State
Worn by monarchs on other state occasions.
Consort crowns
Worn by aconsort,signifying rank granted as aconstitutionalcourtesyprotocol.

Crowns or similar headgear, as worn bynobilityand other high-ranking people below the ruler, are in English often calledcoronets;however, in many languages, this distinction is not made and the same word is used for both types of headgear (e.g., Frenchcouronne,GermanKrone,Dutchkroon). In some of these languages the term "rank crown" (rangkroon,etc.) refers to the way these crowns may be ranked according to hierarchical status. Inclassical antiquity,the crown (corona) that was sometimes awarded to people other than rulers, such as triumphalmilitarygeneralsorathletes,was actually awreathor chaplet, or ribbon-likediadem.

History

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Crown ofKing of PersisArdakhshir II,1st century BC.

Crowns have been discovered in pre-historic times fromHaryana,India.[4]The precursor to the crown was the browband called thediadem,which had been worn by theAchaemenid Persian emperors.It was adopted byConstantine Iand was worn by all subsequent rulers of the later Roman Empire. Almost all Sassanid kings wore crowns. One of the most famous kings who left numerous statues, reliefs, and coins of crowns is the kingShapur I.

Numerouscrowns of various formswere used in antiquity, such as theHedjet,Deshret,Pschent(double crown) andKhepreshofPharaonic Egypt.The Pharaohs of Egypt also wore the diadem, which was associated with solar cults, an association which was not completely lost, as it was later revived under the Roman Emperor Augustus.[5]By the time of the Pharaoh Amenophis III (r.1390–1352c) wearing a diadem clearly became a symbol of royalty. Thewreaths and crowns of classical antiquitywere sometimes made from natural materials such as laurel, myrtle, olive, or wild celery.[6]

Thecorona radiata,the "radiant crown"known best on theStatue of Liberty,and perhaps worn by theHeliosthat was theColossus of Rhodes,was worn by Roman emperors as part of the cult ofSol Invictusprior to theRoman Empire's conversion to Christianity. It was referred to as "the chaplet studded with sunbeams" byLucian,about 180 AD.[7]

TheIron Crown of Lombardy.

In the Christian tradition of European cultures, where ecclesiastical sanction authenticates monarchic power when a new monarch ascends the throne, the crown is placed on the new monarch's head by a religious official in a coronation ceremony. Some, though not all, earlyHoly Roman Emperorstravelled to Rome at some point in their careers to be crowned by the pope.Napoleon,according to legend, surprisedPius VIIwhen he reached out and crowned himself, although in reality this order of ceremony had been pre-arranged.

Today, only theBritish MonarchyandTongan Monarchy,with their anointed and crowned monarchs, continue this tradition, although many monarchies retain a crown as a national symbol. TheFrench Crown Jewelswere sold in 1885 on the orders of theThird French Republic,with only a token number, their precious stones replaced by glass, retained for historic reasons and displayed in theLouvre.TheSpanish Crown Jewelswere destroyed in a major fire in the 18th century while the so-called "Irish Crown Jewels"(actually merely the British Sovereign's insignia of theMost Illustrious Order of St Patrick) were stolen fromDublin Castlein 1907, just before the investiture ofBernard Edward Barnaby FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown.

TheCrownof KingGeorge XII of Georgiamade of gold and decorated with 145 diamonds, 58 rubies, 24 emeralds, and 16 amethysts. It took the form of a circlet surmounted by ornaments and eight arches. Aglobe surmounted by a crossrested on the top of the crown.

Special headgear to designate rulers dates back to pre-history, and is found in many separate civilizations around the globe. Commonly, rare and precious materials are incorporated into the crown, but that is only essential for the notion of crown jewels.Goldand preciousjewelsare common in western and oriental crowns. In theNative Americancivilizations of thePre-ColumbianNew World,rarefeathers,such as that of thequetzal,often decorated crowns; so too in Polynesia (e.g., Hawaii).

Coronation ceremoniesare often combined with other rituals, such as enthronement (the throne is as much a symbol of monarchy as the crown) and anointing (again, a religious sanction, the only defining act in the Biblical tradition of Israel).

In other cultures, no crown is used in the equivalent of coronation, but the head may still be otherwise symbolically adorned; for example, with a royaltikkain the Hindu tradition of India.

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Numismatics

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Because one or more crowns, alone or as part of a more elaborate design, often appear on coins, several monetary denominations came to be known as 'a crown' or the equivalent word in the local language, such askrone.This persists in the case of the national currencies of the Scandinavian countries and the Czech Republic. The generic term "crown sized" is frequently used for any coin roughly the size of an Americansilver dollar(ie., approximately 26.5mm diameter).

See also

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References

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  1. ^Itsios, Alex."Gold of Ancestors - Ayala Museum".ayalamuseum.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-06-25.Retrieved2017-07-01.
  2. ^"12 Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About Ancient Philippines".4 July 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2017.Retrieved1 July2017.
  3. ^Halm, H. (1997). "SHAMSA". In Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P.; Lecomte, G. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IX (SAN-SZE)(PDF).Leiden: Brill. pp. 298–9.ISBN90-04-10422-4.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2022-03-25.Retrieved13 June2022.
  4. ^"Stone Pages Archaeo News: 4,000-year-old copper crown unearthed in India".Archivedfrom the original on 2021-09-28.Retrieved2020-12-16.
  5. ^Al-Azmeh, Aziz (2001).Muslim Kingship: Power and the Sacred in Muslim, Christian and Pagan Politics.London: I.B. Tauris Publications. p. 12.ISBN1-86064-609-3.
  6. ^"Winners of Panhellenic Games Received Victory Wreaths".ThoughtCo.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-10.Retrieved2023-03-10.
  7. ^inAlexander the false prophetArchived2016-11-26 at theWayback Machine)
  8. ^"Crown of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, known as the Crown of the Andes".Metropolitan Museum of Artwebsite.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-05-18.Retrieved2023-06-04.
  9. ^"Gemstone Gallery".2018-05-29. Archived fromthe originalon 2018-05-29.Retrieved2022-10-04.
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