The Holy Crown of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyar Szent Korona, Serbo-Croatian: Kruna svetoga Stjepana/Kрунa Светoгa Стефана , Latin:Sacra Corona), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen. The Crown was bound to the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, (sometimes the Sacra Corona meant the Land, the Carpathian Basin, but it also meant the coronation body, too). (see more: Doctrine of the Holy Crown) No king of Hungary was regarded as having been truly legitimate without being crowned with it. In the History of Hungary, more than fifty kings were crowned with it (the two kings who were not so crowned were Sigismund Johann II and Joseph II). It was first called the Holy Crown in 1256. During the 14. century royal power came to be represented not simply by a crown, but by just one specific object: the Holy Crown. This also meant that the Kingdom of Hungary was a special state: they were not looking for a crown to coronate a king, but rather, they were looking for a king for the crown; this is special in Europe. In 1401 the inscription on the state seal read: "The seal of the Holy Crown of Hungary". There was also the expectation that the coronation insignia would eventually include additional gold works that could be linked to the first, beatified Hungarian king, István. The inscription embroidered onto the coronation mantle indicates with all certainty that István I and Queen Gizella have it made in 1031. The coronation scepter with the orb at the end can also be dated to the time of St István. On the seals of Emperor Henry II, and the Burgundian king, Rudolph III, the rulers are holding identically shaped scepters. Such short-staffed scepters ending in orbs were not in use as insignia earlier or later.
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History of the crown
The crowning of Stephen I., the first king of Hungary, who was later canonized Saint Stephen, marks the beginning of Hungarian statehood. The date is variously given as Christmas 1000 or 1 January 1001. The historians are arguing on the origin of the crown, putting it from 4th century to 13th century, originating it from Byzantine, Rome, West Europe; the number of theories are summing up to more than 40. One version of the origin of the crown is written by bishop Hartvik (between 1095-1116), whereas Pope Sylvester II has sent Stephen I. his blessings and a crown. An 800-year-old legend says that the crown is the same as that which Pope Sylvester II had the Archbishop Astrik of Esztergom delivered to Stephen, the first King of Hungary, in 1000 for his coronation. The basis for this belief is a biography by Bishop Hartwik written around 1100-1110 at the request of King Kálmán. Hartvik’s legend appeared in the liturgical books and breviaries in Hungary around 1200, and consequently the story of how the crown had been sent by Pope Sylvester II spread throughout the Christian world. On the other hand, Thietmar von Merseburg (died in 1018) reports that Otto III of the Holy Roman Empire has consented to the coronation of St. Stephen to Hungarian king, and the Pope is sending his blessings, but does not report on any crown. Contemporary sources, however, reveal a different story. In the earlier Greater Legend of St István, written around the time he was canonised (1083),we learn only that: in the fifth year after the death of his father …. They brought a papal letter of blessing… and God’s favoured one, István, was chosen to be king, and was anointed with oil and fortunately crowned with the diadem of royal honour”. In 1613, crown guard Péter Révai states that the entire crown was given to St Stephen by Pope Sylvester II. Nevertheless, there is no firm evidence if it was brought from the Pope as there are no documents found in Vatican City. Clearly, donating a crown should be mentioned. In year 1038 King Stephen I died without a direct heir after the tragic early death of his only son, Saint Prince Imre. On his deathbed the elderly king committed his country into the graces of the Virgin Mary, declaring her Patrona Hungariae (Patroness of Hungary). The coronation insignia was kept in Székesfehérvár during the Árpád period. Later it was housed in Visegrád, Pozsony (present-day Bratislava) and Buda (Presently part of Budapest). During World War II it fell into the hands of the American Army. In 1978 the United States returned the crown to the people of Hungary.
Type of the crown
There are three types of crowns:
- domestic crown, which has no restrictions of usage,
- the governing crown, which should be worn on pre-determined occasions, and
- imparting crown (which is the Holy Crown of Hungary).
This crown should be worn only on the occasion of a coronation, and for the rest of the time two crown guards (koronaőr) were guarding it. Apart from this, there are only two other people who can touch it, the nádorispán(the highest secular title), who puts it onto a pillow during coronation, and the archbishop (the highest ecclesiastical title), who places it on the head of the king.
Structure of the crown and its icons
The crown consist of three parts:
- the cross
- the crown body
- the hanging pendants
The cross
The cross is analogous to the "antenna" like from electronics. Its function is to collect the spiritual energy and transfer it to the crown body. The cross is bent in 42 degrees. It is not known if it is originally bent or not, most probably it was erect when it was first built, as all early illustrations on the crown show it erect. It is not known if the cross is original. The cross was not drilled on the crown later, because the enamel icon on the top has a prepared hole with security border surrounding, to accept the cross. This means, that the icon was made delibrately with a hole inside.
The crown body
According to the official theory represented in the publications of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences[1] and also of the Hungarian Catholic Episcopal Conference [2], the Holy Crown of Hungary consists of two main parts: the Corona Graeca (Greek crown) and the Corona Latina (Latin crown). This is based on the fact that the crown body is made from a ring-shaped lower part diadem and intersecting bands mantled on the diadem. The name constitutes that the icons on "lower" part is inscribed in Greek, while on the "upper" part in Latin. the two parts are not from the same material, one part is pure gold, the other is alloyed gold, moreover, the thicknesses also differ. The names Corona Latina and Corona Graeca only appear in 17th. century, and not mentioned in ancient chronicles or documents. Also, there are no illustrations found which shows the crown seperated. The analysis of Sacred Crown was more detailed after January 6, 1978, when the crown was taken back from Fort Knox, USA. Mihály Beöthy, Csaba Ferencz, Mrs. Ilona Árkos and András Fehér were the team of engineers who have questioned the theory of the two separate crowns assembled to one. Later, goldsmiths Rezső Ludwig and Lajos Csomor examined it, and found out that it was uniformly designed and built structure. They stated it can not be originated from Byzantine Empire nor from South- or North- or West-Europe. The set of treasury is mounted by techniques used by Indo-Asian, Iranian and Mesopotamian-Caucasian goldsmiths. The upper band originally held 8 apostles, while icons on the back side of the lower part was replaced, from most probably Virgin Mary and St. Raffael to Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Dukas and St. Geobicas. The upper part was made of four 5.2-cm-wide gold sheets welded to the edge of a square central panel (7.2*7.2 cm). The intersecting bands are edged with beaded gold wire that closes off the lower end of the bands and finishes off the system of decoration. There are twelve pearls on the central panel and a total of seventy-two altogether on the dorona latina, symbolizing the number of Christ’s disciples (as stated in Acts 10.1). The central panel is decorated with a square cloisonné enamel picture depicting Christ Pantokrator. Each band has two (altogether eight) pictures of standing apostles identical to the first eight listed in Acts 1.13. The two bands were designed to be attached to the rim and provide a cupola-shaped top. The inscription on the pictures of the saints and the style of their lettering suggest the date when they were made. According to one theory, amidst the antique-style capital letter, the T in Thomas and the second U in Paulus are formed in the style characteristic of the Latin letters used on Byzantine coins, a practice abandoned in the middle of the eleventh century. Based on their style, it is certain that the apostle panels were made in one of the border territories the than Byzantine Empire, most probably in central Italy in the first half of the eleventh century. The picture of the apostles, however, based on their style, cannot be dated to around 1000. The diadem is 5.2 cm wide with a diameter of 20.5 cm. The enamel picture on the front depicts Christ Pantokrator. On the rim to the right and left of Jesus are pictures of the archangels St Michael and St Gabriel, followed by half-length images of the saints St George and St Demetrius, and St Cosma and St Damianus, all saints from New Testament. The two aquamarine stones with cut surfaces on the back of the diadem were added as replacements by King Mátyás II (1608-1619). In the arched frame on the back of the diadem Byzantine Emperor Michael Dukas VII (1071-1078) is depicted. Below it to the left is the half-length picture of Kon(stantinos) Porphyrogennetos or Kon(stantios). The former was Emperor Michaels’s son, the latter his brother. To the right there is (possibly) a picture of the Hungarian King Géza I (1074-1077). As was customary in the hierarchy of the Byzantine state, differentiation is made between the emperors and the Hungarian king. The saints and the Greek rulers have halos while Géza does not. The inscriptions of the emperors’ names are in red, while the Hungarian king’s is in dark blue or black. The enamel plaques on the circular band, the panel depicting Christ Pantokrator, and the picture of Emperor Michael were all affixed to the crown using different techniques. The picture of the emperor could not be attached to the rim in the same way as the Pantokrator picture on the front. The frame was folded upwards an the picture of the emperor was nailed to the edge. We can thus conclude that the picture of Michale VII was not originally designed for this crown. The function of the crown body is to transfer the spiritual energy to worldly energy. The lower part of the crown is pointing the aims for the king: to protect and uphold (St George and St Demetrius), while the back side of the crown ponints out the mission of Hungary: to cure (twins St Cosma and St Damian)
The Pendants
There are four pendants (pendilium) hanging from chains on each side of the diadem and one in the back. Most probably they are not original, and possibly there were more originally. The function of the pendants is to "ground" the energy which the crown body transferred.
Legal personality concept of the crown
The crown's raw gold and jewelry value was assessed at a mere 20,000 gold forints in the early 19th century, but its artistic value and spiritual power are immense. Charles Robert (Charles I of Hungary) had to be crowned three times because it was not until he was crowned with the Holy Crown, in 1310, that the coronation was seen as legally binding. Another, more recent, example of the powers of the Crown is the fact that inter-war Hungary — after the last Habsburg king of Hungary, Charles IV, tried and failed to retain the throne in 1921 — remained a kingdom without a king until 1946. In such times the Virgin Mary would be considered a formal monarch of Hungary, but this venue was not pursued due to regent Horthy's Protestant faith. Instead the favored idea was Szent Korona Állameszmény, which assigned legal personhood to the Sacred Crown and declared that all state powers of the monarch or the government stem solely from the sacred powers of the headgear. A monarch or a regent was formally seen as a mere arm for the crown. The concept was used to push Hungary toward a rightist regime intent on re-securing the Lands of Saint Stephen, a course which ultimately tied the country to Hitler's Third Reich and ended in severe World War II destruction. The present day use of the Sacred Crown in Hungarian state heraldry and official papers is still controversial with neighbouring countries who continue to suspect that it represents Magyar intentions to reclaim the lost territories of the former Kingdom of Hungary. People of Hungary generally respect the crown as a symbolic reminder of the nation's successful survival through a millennium of turbulent central European history, but are deeply divided over the conservative political movements' efforts to claim specific powers for the crown.
The regalia in modern times
The Sacred Crown has had a lively history, having been stolen, hidden, lost, recovered and taken abroad many times. It was last returned to Hungary from the USA in 1978, where it had been taken after World War II to Fort Knox for safekeeping. After undergoing extensive historical research to verify the crown as genuine, it was returned by order of U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Most current academic knowledge about Hungarian royal garments originates from this modern research. After the fall of Communism, the crown made its return to the national coat of arms in 1990, the National Assembly choosing the pre-war coat of arms in preference to the crown-less Kossuth arms of 1848-49. In a unique case in Europe, almost the entire medieval ensemble of coronation insignia survived. On January 1, 2000, the Sacred Crown of Hungary was moved to the Hungarian Parliament Building from the Hungarian National Museum. The sceptre, orb and the coronation sword were also moved to the Parliament. The very large coronation mantle remains in a neutral gas glass vault at the National Museum due to its delicate, faint condition. Unlike the crown and accompanying insignia, the originally red coloured mantle is considered genuine to Stephen I, as it was made circa 1030. Codices describe the robe as a donation handiwork of the queen and her sorors and the mantle's middle back bears the king's only known portrait (which shows his crown was not the currently existing one). Circular inscription sewing in Latin identifies the coat as a bishop's liturgical robe. The scepter is considered the artistically most valuable piece of the Hungarian royal inventory. It contains a solid mountain crystal ball decorated with engraved lions, a rare product of the 10th century Fatimid empire. Its handle contains a wooden rod surrounded by very fine wrought silver ornaments. The ceremonial straight sword kept in the Holy Crown collection is a 14th century Italian product. However, the original daily use sword of Stephen I survives in Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral since 1368. The good condition of this short-bladed (60cm ~ 2ft) ivory-decorated Norman sword pays homage to the art of smiths at Ulfbreht, a 10th century Viking steelwork on the Rhine--see Oakeshott typology. Although the sword regularly visits Hungary as a museum loan, it has never been featured in Hungarian royal inaugurations.
The titular lance of King Stephen I (as seen on the Mantle portrait) was reportedly obtained by the Holy Roman Emperor circa 1100.
See also
External links
Sources
- Bárány-Oberscall M. von, Die Sankt Stephans-Krone und die Insinien des Königreichs Ungarn, Vienna-Munich 1974
- Benda K.-Fügedi E. Tausend Jahre Stephanskrone, Budapest 1988.
- Deér J., Die Heilige Krone Ungarnsin, in Denkschriften der Österreichsischen akademie d. Wiss. Phil.hist. Kl, 91, Vienna 1966.
- Fügedi E., Medieval Coronations in Hungary in Studies in Mediaeval and Renaissance History 3, 1981.
- Kovács É.-Lovag Zs., Die Ungarischen Krönungsingien, Budapest 1980.
- Tóth E., Szelényi K., Die heilige Krone von Ungarn, Budapest 2000.
- Tóth E., A koronázási palást és jogar (The Coronational Cloak and Sceptre), Szeged 2000.
- Tóth E. Das ungarische Krönungspectrum, in Folia Archaeologia 47, 2000.
- Vajay Sz. De Corona Regia. Corona. Regni, Sacra Corona: Königskronen und Kronensymbolik in mittelalterlichen Ungarn, in Ungarn Jahrbuch 7, 1976m pp. 37-64.
References
- ^ Tóth E., Zur datierung der Apostolplatten der Heiligen Krone, in Communicationes Archeologiaie Hungariae, 1996, pp 181-209.
- ^ Zombori, I, Cséfalvay, P., Maria Antonietta De Angelis: A Thousand Years of Christianity in Hungary – Hungariae Christianae Millennium – Published by the Hungarian Catholic Episcopal Conference, Budapest, 2001, for the exhibition in the Musea of Vatican, Vatican City, 10 October 2001 – 12 January 2002
