Hungarian
Crowns
A very famous
crown is the Holy crown of St Stephen which is ascribed to the hungarian king
Stephen I (1001-1038). However, not a
trace of this crown is found in history before the middle of the 16th
century. Therefore the origin of the crown, which has been the subject of
many studies, is nevertheless still a great enigma. This article is meant to
throw some light on the royal crowns of Hungary through the ages. We start
therefore with a short analysis of the Crown of St. Stephen as it exists now
en proceed with the royal crowns of Hungary as they can be found in several
historical sources |
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I. The Corona Latina |
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De huidige Stephanskroon wordt gesloten met twee beugels die zijn samengesteld uit gouden geëmailleerde platen, acht in getal met in het midden een negende, vierkante plaat. Dit onderdeel wordt de corona latina genoemd. Op de acht rechthoekige platen staan acht apostelen nl.: Petrus, Paulus, Jacobus, Johannes, Andreas, Filippus, Bartholomeus en Thomas, en op de middelste, waarop inmiddels een gouden latijns kruisje is gesoldeerd, een afbeelding van de Christus. Hoogstwaarschijnlijk zijn de vier buitenste (of binnenste) platen waarop de overige apostelen, nl. Mattheus, Judas, Simon en Thaddeus er bij het in elkaar zetten van de Kroon van St. Stefan afgesloopt. Aan de uiteinden van de armen kunnen vierkante platen van het formaat van de middelste gezeten hebben waarop de symbolen van de evangelisten: leeuw, stier, adelaar en mens. Zodoende komen we uit op Christus, de twaalf apostelen en de vier Evangelisten, wat een logisch programma is. Plat gelegd vormen de platen een grieks kruis (de bestuurlijke macht, de geestelijke macht berustte bij de Paus) en het is dus waarschijnlijk dat zij oorspronkelijk deel uitmaakten van een metalen kruis dat, vergeleken met andere soortgelijke kruisen, als een Rijkskruis kan worden beschouwd. Dit kruis zou uit dezelfde tijd dateren als de corona grćca, dus uit de 11e eeuw. Een voor de hand liggende tijd is de regering van Stephan I (1001-1038). Uit zijn regeringsperiode zou ook het citaat dateren: ... ab apostolica sede, que premisimus insignia postulavit [.....] cuncta prout fuerunt postulata benigne concessit. Crucem insuper ante regi ferendam velut in signum apostolatus misit.) De kroningsmantel, met een soortgelijk programma, draagt het jaartal 1031. Herkomst en stijl komen echter zodanig met die van de corona graeca overeen dat een gelijktijdig onstaan waarschijnlijk is. Het kruis vormde tesamen met een kroon het Hongaarse rijkssymbool. Deze kroon was aanvankelijk een cilinderkroon met opzetstukken zoals afgebeeld op de kroningsmantel. The Corona Latina [1]
Plan of the Corona Latina In the middle Christ athen: 1. Petrus; 2. Paulus;
3. Jacobus; 4. Johannes; 5. Andreas; 6. Filippus; 7. Batholomeus; 8. Thomas. [4]) Reconstruction Corona
Latina |
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The
Mantle of St Stephen (1001-1038) |
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Portrait
of King Stephen I the Saint on the Coronation Mantle. The King with a lance
and an orb. On his head a crown with three fleurs-de-lis. The
coronation mantle is the only survivor from the coronation robes, which would
have consisted of several garments. It is a semicircular garment in a bluish
lilac colour, densely embroidered in gold. Its original function is clear
from the semicircular inscription on the cloth, done by the same technique as
the rest of the mantle: ANNO INCARNACIONIS XRI : MXXXI :
INDICCIONE XIIII A STEPHANO REGE ET GISLA REGINA CASULA HEC OPERATA ET DATA
[EST] ECCLESIAE SANCTAE MARIAE
SITAE IN CIVITATE ALBA (this chasuble was made for and presented to the Church of St. Mary in
the city of Alba (Fehérvár) by King Stephen and Queen Gisela, in the 1031st year of the incarnation of Christ, and in
the 14th indiction). The
chasuble was an act of thanksgiving to God, for the victory over the Germans
in 1030, and for Stephen’s earlier success in establishing the country and
the church. (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Budapest) The crown on his head is styled after the
crowns of the Ottones as can be seen
on their portraits |
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The Preslav Treasure ca 913-963 |
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The Preslav Treasure was found in autumn of 1978 at the vineyard
in Castana, 3 km to the north - west of the second Bulgarian capital Veliki
Preslav. The excavations that followed revealed more than 170 golden, silver
and bronze objects including 15 silver Byzantine coins of Constantine
VII (913-’59 and Romanus II (959-‘63) and other artifacts dating far back
to the period between the 3rd and 7th centuries. |
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Five enameled plates from the Preslav
Treasure Constantinople, 1st
half-middle of 10th cent. (?) 5.39´4.41;
5.39´4.48; 5.34´4.45; 5.37´4.45; 5.37´4.43 cm Preslav,
Arkheologicheski Muzei “Veliki Preslav”, inv. nr. 3381/2 These plates are a part of
a cuirass of the shape St. Michael is wearing on the Icon of St. Michael from
Venice dating from about 1100 The Cuirass of
St. Michael, 1100 ca. They represent: Alexander the Great on a
cart pulled by two griffins, two senmurws,
a griffin and a winged lion.[5] The scales have belonged
to a scale-armour which was the fashion in the 11th-12th century and Basileus
Bulgaroctones is for example represented in such a coat of arms. The
Alexander and the senmurws are
probably of armenian origin and are the badges of a high ranking military
commander, probably the domestic of the west. They are in the tradition of
the representation of all rank-badges from low to high on the armour and coat
of arms of a supreme commander. A candidate-owner of the whole armour is Leo Phokas the Younger who, under Romanus II, was named Domestic of the Schools of the West, i.e.
commander of the western armies in the Balkans (959-963).
Five enameled plates from the Preslav Treasure Constantinople, 1st
half-middle of 10th cent. (?) 5.39´4.41; 5.39´4.48; 5.34´4.45; 5.37´4.45; 5.37´4.43 cm Preslav, Arkheologicheski Muzei
“Veliki Preslav”, inv. nr. 3381/2 |
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The Crown of Constantine IX
Monomachos (1042-’55) |
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Byzantine,
1042-’50. Inscribed: A.: KѠNCTANTINOC
AYTOKRATO POMEON O MONOMAXOC (Constantine Monomachos, autokrator of the
Romans). B.: ZѠH OI EYCAIBAICTATH AYΓOCYCTA (Zoe, the most
pious Augusta). C.: ΘEOΔѠPA H EYCAIBECTATI AYΓOYCTA (Theodora the most
pious Augusta). Provenance: Reportedly found during plowing at the
village of Nyitra-Ivánka in Slovakia; sold to the Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum between
1861 and 1870. Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary
(99/1860). A.
11.5 ´ 5 cm; B. 10.05 ´ 4.8 cm; C. 10.7 ´ 4.8 cm; D. 10 ´ 4.8 cm; E. 9.8 ´ 4.5 cm; F. and G. 8.7 ´ 4.2 cm. Total width 32,8 cm Ů 32,8 cm
Ú Arabic sources speak of Byzantine belts of cloth
encrusted with gold and enamel plaques. A similar use must be envisaged for
these objects, [although the arched tops suggest that they were intended for
a diadem rather than for a belt. (Evans, 145, p. 210).] |
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II De Corona Graeca |
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Geza I |
1074-1077 |
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The Crown of St
Stephen The Crown of St Stephen is undoubtedly from Byzantine manufacture and was sent to Geza by the Byzantine emperor Michael VII Parapinaces (1071-1078). Certainly the crown is originally a diadem made from a curved golden plate in one piece. The points indicate a high rank, possible and probably directly under the Basileus. đ It is unlikely that the Cross of
St. Stephen, or the corona latina,
has ever formed a set with this crown. It is also unlikely that the crown has
been in use for longer than the favorable diplomatic relations with
Byzantium.
The image is
taken from the papal registers Codex Reg. Vat. 5 of the Vatican Archives,
which is the seventh year of Innocent's pontificate (Click here for
larger image). The letter in the middle of the page
with the capital "R" initial is dated 30 November 1204 - February
1205 and has next to it in the margin a drawing of the Hungarian Crown
and a young boy. The letter was from the Regent of Hungary, Andrea, the
duke of Dalmatia and Croatia and written to Innocent. It must have been
of special importance to Innocent, since the registers contain few letters
that were written to Innocent by other correspondents. |
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The
Crown of Bela IV |
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In the Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum in Budapest, a
crown of gilded silver and decorated with precious stones has been preserved (pict.).
The crown has eight links with soldered lilies, on the hinge pins groups of
three asp-leaves. This was the common model at the beginning of the
thirteenth century. Cf. eg the crown of Peter II de Courtenay of
Constantinople in Namur. It is also possible that the crown was
originally the crown of the co-king and was later upgraded to a royal crown
by applying lilies. The crown comes from the ruins of the
Dominican convent in Budapest, built by Bela IV for his daughter Margaret. In
1249 the royal residence was moved from Esztergom to Buda. The crown may
therefore have been from Bela IV (co-king 1214-'35, king 1235-70). Bela IV
also carries a lily crown on his seals. “Bela IV had a convent built on Margaret
Island (Margit-sziget) for Dominican nuns in the 13th cent. and for a while
under his patronage the nuns became the largest ecclesiastical landowners in
the country. According to tradition Béla vowed, during the Mongol invasion of
1242-’44, that if Hungary were victorious his daughter Margaret would be
brought up as a nun. Thus at the age of nine Margaret was brought here in
1252. She lived here until her death in 1271.” |
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The Crown of Queen Elizabeth
Kotromanic. |
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A crown
of nine segments of the reliquiary of St. Simeon in Zadar. Width of each
segment 5. cm. Third quarter of the fourteenth-century. (Treasury of the
church of St. Simeon, Zadar) The
crown has been dissembled and 4 parts of it are missing. It is composed of small
plates in the form of fleurs-de-lis which were originally connected by
hinges. The upper parts of the hinges turn into a cast branching ornament
similar to a tree, with a human head in relief and pearls on the top. The
plates are decorated with jewels (rubies, sapphires) and pearls. The crown is
obviously not part of the coronation insignia, but belonged to some member of
the royal family. Most probably it was worn by Queen Elizabeth on state
occasions. A very similar crown was found in the grave of Elizabeth’s
daughter, Queen Mary. Today the elements of the crown are sewn onto a piece
of crimson silk in the form of a mitre, which was a decoration for the relic
of St. Simeon’s head. Sewn onto the silk are also twenty small silver plates,
most of which have the form of stylized human faces, and many pearls.
Probably both the silk and the small decorations sewn onto it were part of
the fabric foundation of the crown itself. [6]) Dissatisfaction
among the nobles and aristocracy of Hungary and Croatia with the “womens’
government” and the killing of Charles II led to a general revolt in Croatia.
The queens were taken prisoner near Gorjan in Slavonia, brought to Dalmatia
and imprisoned in Novigrad close to Zadar. Here Elizabeth was strangled in
front of her daughter, and buried in Zadar in the Church of St. Chrysogonus
on 9 February 1387. Soon afterwards Queen Mary was freed from Novigrad by her
fiancé, Sigismund of Luxemburg, with the help of Venice. Elizabeth’s body was
exhumed on January 16, 1389, and transferred, escorted by three Zadar nobles,
by sea to Obrovac, from were it was carried overland to Hungary. Fragments of a crown Middle 14th century From the tomb of Sigismund of Luxemburg,
Nagyvárad (Oradea). H.: 8.2 cm, width of the segments 4.9 - 5.1
cm. Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Középkori
Osztály, inv. nr. 1934.415.a. These are the four
missing parts of the crown of Zadar.[7]) |
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The
Crown of King Wenceslas |
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King Wenceslas *1361 Votive Painting
of Archbishop Jan Očko of Vlašim, ~1371 * Jan Očko of Vlašim Archbishop of Prague (1364–1378)
†1380. The Holy King Sigismund Wing of the Mühlhauser Altar, Bohemia, 1385, H. 233,5 cm.
Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie The altar with
representations of St. Wenceslas and Vitus was donated by the brothers
Reinhart and Eberhard, citizens of Prague to the St. Vitus chapel in
Mühlhausen a.d. Neckar This picture would
mean that the crown of Wenceslas was given to Sigismund when crowned a King
of Hungary in 1385. This crown is on
the head of a bust of St. Ladislas, in fact the bust of king Ladislas from
1406 The bust is in the
collection the the National Museum in Budapest. Reliquiary of Szent Laszlo, 15th century Ensigned of the
arms of the House of Arpad and Hungary This Saint Ladislas I (1077-1095 ) was the
patron saint of Hungary but there are some other kings of the name for
example Vladislas I of Poland, king of Hungary (1440-1444), and Wladyslaw I
the Short of Poland (1305-1333). Probably Vladislas I of Varna (Hungary) is
meant because he lived in the time a long beard was the fashion. However this
Vladislas I only was 20 when he died and had no long bard His father was Wladyslaw II Jagiello (1386-1434)
who bore a beard Luxemburg fashion but was not a king of Hungary but a king
of Poland and Lithuania |
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Vladislas III
Jagiello |
*1424- …1444 King of Poland 1434-1444 King of Hungary and Croatia 1440-1444 |
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Wladislaus Dei gracia Polonie, Hungarie, Dalmacie,
Croacie, Rascia etc. rex necnon terrarum Cracouie, Sandomirie, Syradie,
Lancicie, Cuyauie, Lithuanie princeps supremus, Pomeranie, Russieque dominus
et heres etc. Seal 1438 This seal is said to be of Vladislas III but
may be of his predecessor Albert de of Austria (1437-1439) He is represented in the Chronica Hungarorum: Wladislas II of Poland-Lithuania The third chronicle entitled
Chronica Hungarorum, partly based
on the Chronicon Pictum, was produced by Johannes
de Thurocz (Thuróczy János), c.1435-90, ed. E. Galantai, J.
Kristo, E. Malyusz, Budapest 1985-88), the first layman known to have written
a book in the Kingdom
of Hungary. This work (Brno, 1488,
Augusburg, 1488) presents events as seen by an educated nobleman. The
chronicle is described in the article on the author. Jogaila (Jogaila), later Władysław
II Jagiełło (c. 1352/1362 – 1 June 1434) was the Grand Duke of
Lithuania (1377–1434) and then the King of Poland (1386–1434), first
alongside his wife Jadwiga until 1399, and then sole King of Poland. He ruled
in Lithuania from 1377. Born a pagan, in 1386 he converted to Catholicism and was
baptized as Władysław in Kraków, married the young Queen Jadwiga,
and was crowned King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło.
In 1387 he converted Lithuania to Christianity. His own reign in Poland started in 1399, upon the death
of Queen Jadwiga, and lasted a further thirty-five years and laid the
foundation for the centuries-long Polish–Lithuanian union. He was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland that bears his
name and was previously also known as the Gediminid dynasty in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The dynasty ruled both states until 1572,[nb 2] and became one of the most influential
dynasties in late medieval and early modern Central and Eastern Europe.
During his reign, the Polish-Lithuanian state was the largest state in the
Christian world. Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of medieval
Lithuania. After he became King of Poland, as a result of the Union of Krewo, the newly formed
Polish-Lithuanian union confronted the growing power of the Teutonic Knights. The allied victory at the Battle
of Grunwald in
1410, followed by the Peace
of Thorn, secured
the Polish and Lithuanian borders and marked the emergence of the
Polish–Lithuanian alliance as a significant force in Europe. The reign of
Władysław II Jagiełło extended Polish frontiers and is
often considered the beginning of Poland's Golden
Age. At the end of the 15th century the dutch
painter Antoni Boys made a portrait called of Wladyslaw the Short which was
inspired on this bust and having a
long beard. King Wladislas the Short (1305-1333) by the dutch
artist Anton Boys, 1579-1587 As Wladislas II had a
full beard this portrait should be a
posthumous portrait of him. |
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Wladislas II Jagiello (King of Bohemia1471-1516 King
of Hungary 1490-1516) By Albrecht
Dürer, 1517 |
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Louis II |
1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526 |
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During the reign of Louis the
crown was restyled by replacing the leaves by points probbaly by using a
crown from a byzantine treasury, sold by the last byzantine pretenders for
example Anreas Palaiologos (*1483-…1502) who was in financial troubles, or his
elder brother Manuel Palaiologos (*1455-…1515). King of
Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He was
killed during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottomans,
whose victory led to the Ottoman annexation of Hungary. He had no
legitimate issue. Vladislaus II took steps to ensure
a smooth succession by arranging for the boy to be crowned in his own
lifetime; the coronation of Louis as king of Hungary took place on
4 June 1508 in Székesfehérvár
Basilica, and his coronation as king of Bohemia was held in 1509
in St. Vitus Cathedral. Seal of King Louis II. (1516-1526) the original kept in the archives.
Drawn by Emil Baránski. The Hungarian-Bohemian arms in a
shield quarterly in the middle; the Polish eagle in its heart shield. In the smaller shields are the
arms of Hungary (the double cross), Dalmatia, Bohemia, Moravia, Tótia
(Slavonia) and Bosnia. Caption: + S[igillum] SERE *
[nissimi] * PRIN[cipis] * D[omini] * LODOVICI * DEI * GRACIA * REGIS *
HVNGARIE * BOHEMIE * DALMACIE * CROACIE * ETC [etera]. That is: Seal of his Majesty
Prince, Lord Louis, by the grace of God king of, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia,
Croatia, etc. The crown of five points and three
hoops. Louis II fell in the battle of
Mohács in 1526 and his crown was taken by Sultan Sulayman. From that time a
new model of crown is seen on seals of his successor John Zapolya . On his
seal of 1529 the crown shows a diadem with seven points spanned with four
hoops. This crown disappears on the seal of his son and successor, John
Sigismond (1540-1551). After the original crown was rendered by Sulayman at
his restoration of 1556 on his
initiative. From the tiime of the rule of Ferdinand I the Zapolya
crown of 1526 reappears on the coat of arms of Ferdinand. I and remains on the arms of his Habsburg
successors until this day. |
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John Zapolya |
1526-1540 |
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Seal of John Zapolya 1529 Arms:
Ľ: Arpad and Hungary and escutcheon Ľ
of Zips & Zapolya. Crown: The
Holy Crown of Stephen Caption: SIGILLVM
SERENISSIMIS PRINCIPIS DOMINI IOANNIS DEI GRA
REGIS HVNGARIE DALMACIE CROACIE And the arms of Bosnia, Slavonia, Moravia, Bohemia,
Dalmatia and Hungary The seal of King John (p. 59) was
drawn from the original copy of the archives of the Hungarian National Museum
of Volume V of the History of the Hungarian Nation by Károly Mühlbach. Fields
1 and 4 of the squared shield covered with a sealed crown show the Hungarian
divisions, fields 2 and 3 the double cross, fields 1 and 4 the squared heart
shield show the unicorn, fields 2 and 3 the growing wolf; around the large
shield 6 smaller shields show on the right 1. the double cross, 2. the three
Dalmatian leopard heads, 3. the Lutheran lion, on the left 1. the two crowns
of Bosnia, 2. the weasel of Slavonia, 3. the eagle of Silesia. The crown is of five spade-shaped
pieces and three hoops It is very likely that the famous
Crown of St. Stefan is a creation to replace the crown of king Louis, his
crown being at that time to have been in the hands of Sultan Suleiman who had
taken it from King Louis at the battle of Mohács (1526). Its rightful owner
being John Zapolya who swore to the Hungarian the diet not to recognize
Ferdinand I Habsburg after his death. The crown of St. Stefan (John
Zapolya) is a pastiche of two parts both dating from the 11th century, namely
the so-called corona graeca and the corona latina. Presumably, in the treasury in
Székesfehérvár the corona graeca was found between the regalia and, in order
to obtain a (royal-) crown with a hoop, it was merged with the largest part
of the old Imperial Cross, the so-called corona latina. This must have been
done rather rigorous because pieces of the imperial cross were torn off to
make it fit and the plates were fastened to the old diadem with rough rivets.
On top of that, a cross bottony was soldered in the middle of the lap of
Christ |
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John Sigismund Zápolya |
1540-1570 |
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Sultan Suleiman gives back the crown to Szapolyai
(1556?) Persian miniature
1605 Topkapi Istanbul. inv.n° Hazine 1517 On this miniature it can clearly be seen that
the crown is of four leaves set with jewels and has a golden sphere set with
pearls. It is of a Western european fashion most reminiscent to the crown of
King Wladislas. Such a crown is also on the seal of Ioan Zapolya. Of course it is not known
where this crown is now. Seal of János Zsigmond Szapolyai |
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The
Crown of St. Stephen |
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On 10 November 1526, John Zápolya was proclaimed king by a Diet at
Székesfehérvár (Stuhlweißenburg), elected in the parliament by the untitled lesser nobility (gentry). Nicolaus Olahus, secretary of
Louis, attached himself to the party of Ferdinand but retained his position with
his sister, Queen Dowager Mary. Ferdinand was also elected King of
Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, etc. by the higher aristocracy (the
magnates or barons) and the Hungarian Catholic clergy in a rump Diet
in Pozsony on 17 December 1526. Accordingly, Ferdinand was
crowned as King of Hungary in the Székesfehérvár Basilica on 3 November, 1527. The Croatian nobles unanimously
accepted the Pozsony election of Ferdinand I, receiving him as their king in
the 1527 election in Cetin, and confirming the succession to him and his
heirs.[10] In return for the throne, Archduke
Ferdinand promised to respect the historic rights, freedoms, laws and customs
of the Croats when they united with the Hungarian kingdom and to defend
Croatia from Ottoman invasion.[2] While acting as secretary to George
Szatmári, Bishop
of Pécs, he was
appointed a canon of that chapter, later of
Esztergom, and 1522 became Archdeacon of Komárom. In 1526 he was made secretary to
King Louis II; but
was transferred to the service of Mary of Habsburg. After the battle
of Mohács, Olahus
attached himself to the party of King Ferdinand I,
but retained his position with the queen-dowager Soon after his coronation there
appears a picture of his crowned royal arms, the crown thoroughly of the
traditional style of five leaves and
two hoops. Arms of Ferdinand I, King of Hungary From: Chororaphia
Hungariae, Ingolstadt, 1528 As Ferdinand did
not have the Hungarian crown, then in the possession of Suleiman, the arms is
covered with a common royal crown, Habsburg fashion Wolfgang Lazius, Map of Hungary 1552-‘56 An image of the “new” crown appeared in the
years 1552-'56 for the first time on a map of the Kingdom by Wolfgang Lazius
and later, more accurately, in the Chronicle of Fugger. So both images come
from the Habsburg camp. On this
picture the hoops are still of the old fashion, no apostles to be
seen. The so-called Holy Crown of Hungary appears
in the last years of the reign of Ferdinand I (…1576), when the crown of Hungary when John
Sigismund Zapolya had died (…1570) Fugger Chronicle, 1599 Here the corona
latina can be seen and pendilia are
added On a picture from 1610 Matthias II (1608-18)
was crowned with it Another old image is in Révay, Peter: De Sacrć coronć Regni Hungarić ortu
(Augsburg 1613). On stamps of Gabriel Bethlen, who was king of
Hungary from 1620-'21, his arms impaled
of Hungary and Transilvania was
crowned with it. |
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The
Crown of Stefan Bocskai |
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Stefan Bocskai's
crown Turkish, around 1605 Gold, rubies, spinels,
emeralds, turquoises, pearls, silk, 23.2 cm high, 18.8 - 22 cm in diameter ( Weltliche
u Geistliche Schatzkammer Wien, Inv.No. XIV 25 The crown is associated with only one brief
historical episode. Counter-Reformation measures caused the Lutheran mountain
towns of Upper Hungary and the Transylvanian Saxons to turn away from Emperor
Rudolf II. The Calvinist nobleman Stefan Bocskai (1557-1606) took the lead of
the discontented and was elected Prince of Siebengurgen in February 1605. He
had already designated himself as such in 1604 and had Sultan Achmed I
(1603-1617) recognize him. After great successes against General Basta's
imperial army, also in western parts of Hungary, the rebellious Hungarian
nobility elects him on 20 4 1605 a Prince of Hungary Now Bockskai turned to
the sultan about the bestowal of the royal dignity. The Porte, at war with
the emperor, took the opportunity to exercise suzerainty and at the same time
tied the prince to their interests. Sultan Ahmed recognized Bocskai and his
heirs as kings of Hungary with full authority and had him solemnly crowned
with this crown by the Grand Vizier Lala Mehmend Pasha on 11 November 1605 on
the Rákos field near Pest. A little hypocritically, Bocskai declared that out
of consideration for the emperor, the crown should not be viewed as a sign of
royal dignity, but only as a Turkish gift. On 23 June 1606, the Peace of Vienna was concluded,
which granted freedom of religion. In November of the same year peace was
made with the Turks in Zsitva Torok. On 29 December Bocskai died in Kaschau
Košice, and his successor Bálint Drugeth Homonnai (d. 1609) took over the
crown. In 1608 Matthias was crowned King of Hungary, and in November 1609 the
Hungarian parliament decided to hand over the Bocskai crown to Matthias. It
was taken from the heirs of the now deceased Homonnai, and the palatine Georg
Thruzo brought it to Vienna on 4 October 1610. Lit.: K. Nahrin. Die
Bocskai Krone als Objeky des patrimoine intellectuel. in: Südost Forschungne,
XLIII, 1984. S. 123-133. Matthias. King of Hungary1608 |
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The Holy Crown of Hungary |
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Baron Péter Révay de Szklabina et
Blathnicza (used aliases of his name include Révai, Rewa, Réva; 2 February
1568 – 4 June 1622) was a Hungarian nobleman, Royal Crown Guard for the
Holy Crown of Hungary, poet, state official, soldier, and historian. He was
the grandson of Ferenc Révay. 1735 (1613) The crosslet on the crown has been
skewed since the Kossuth rebellion of 1848 During World War II, the crown was
transported out of Hungary to protect it from the Germans and the Soviets. On
2 May 1945, the Holy Crown and other jewels were handed over by a Hungarian
Army Colonel to a U.S. Army Colonel near Egglesberg, Austria. The Crown had
been packed in a large black satchel. It was initially sheltered in
Wiesbaden, in the American Zone, but was later transferred to the United
States Gold Reserve at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. It was not considered as spoils of
war; rather, the U.S. Government stored it in hopes of returning it to the
Hungarian people one day. The decision by President Jimmy
Carter to return the Crown in 1978 was a controversial one, and one which
took political courage. President Carter made his decision based on the
evidence that Hungary’s record on human rights – its tolerance of religious
expression, its facilitating of travel and communication – while not perfect,
deserved recognition as an example to other Soviet-bloc countries. Many
people on both sides of the Atlantic adamantly opposed the return of the
Crown at a time when Hungary was still under Communist rule. Carter felt that
it was only right that the Crown be returned before a whole generation of
Hungarians came of age without understanding its symbolism. to resurface. The delegation that President
Carter sent to bring the Crown to Hungary was a distinguished one, led by
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. It included Senator Adlai Stevenson,
Congressman Lee Hamilton, and Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi. On
the Hungarian side, the Cardinal, the Chief Rabbi, Protestant Bishops, and
leaders of the academic, scientific and cultural communities participated in
the ceremony, as well as representatives of the Hungarian state. |
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About
the crown of St Stephen Otto von Habsburg said in an interview with the
Groene Amsterdammer (27 March 2009, page 30): “There
is such a thing as the Mysticism of the Holy Crown. The thousand-year-old
Crown of St. Stephen of Hungary is seen as more than a symbol. That crown has
a mythical-religious component. You must not forget: the Hungarians come from
the Far East and bring along a certain type of Asian thinking, which is very
healthy for all of us, but for many who only think Western is difficult to
understand. For a Hungarian, the crown, very physical, is the only reality.
Firstly from history, secondly because the crown is surrounded by an Asian
mysticism. That means: he is the most valuable relic that Hungary possesses.
After the Second World War, the crown stolen by the Nazis was found by
American troops and taken to the US. We then formed a group there to ensure
that the Holy Crown was protected and not just lying around. That has
functioned for a while, until I found out that the Americans treated this
relic of history in an ordinary and shameful manner during drinking. I do not
want to elaborate on that, because it would make every Hungarian emotion even
more emotional. The worst communist in Hungary would be more respectful. I
tried to protect the crown, so I went straight to the other side and, to the
anger of the anti-Communist opposition, persevered. Since 1978 the crown is
back in Hungary, where he is now, with his own bodyguard, in parliament. The
crown, as it was thought, is the real head of state and the ruler is the
servant of this head of state. In the time that there were no constitutions
yet, the crown was the constitution. You can only understand the inner value
that this object represents when you read the testament of St Stephen; it is
the best constitution I have ever read! " |
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Conclusions |
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No trace
of the present Crown of St. Stepehen is found before the end of the 16th
century. Neverthelesse the Kings of Hungary were always crowned with precious
crowns of which some have been preserved. The
present crtown is a pastiche of several parts, probably put together by Baron Péter Révay de Szklabina et
Blathnicza who was the Royal Crown Guard for the Holy Crown of Hungary at the
end of the 16th century. It is not known where the Baron got the pieces
from but at the time he could have the
disposal of many pieces from several treasuries from the possessions of the
ruling Habsburgs for example Emperor Matthias (1612-1619), who was the first
actually been crowned with the Holy Crown. The work of Révay seems to have
been done in great haste as the cross of the hoops is soldered quite careless
to the pointed crown. We must coclude therfore thta the Holy crown
of St. Stephen is nor a Holy Crown nor of St Stepen bur rather the crown of
King - Emperor Matthias made by the Royal crown guard of Hungary. |
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© Hubert de Vries 2020-09-01
[1] ) Tóth, Endre & Karoly Szelényi: op. cit.
1996, pp. 23-24.
[2]) Barcsay
p. 164.
[3] ) Tóth, op.cit. pp. 41 e.v.
[4] ) Tóth, Endre & Karoly Szelényi: The Holy Crown of Hungary. Kings and
Coronations. Budapest, 1996. fig. 29, p.23
[7] ) Hungaria Regia, 1999. Nr. 33, p. 124.