The for, la, globus cruciger, cross-bearing orb, also known as ''stavroforos sphaira'' () or "the orb and cross", is an orb surmounted by a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

. It has been a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...

since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, used on

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

s, in

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

, and with a

sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

as royal

regalia Regalia ( ) is the set of emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royal status, as well as rights, prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by a sovereign, regardless of title. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and ...

. The cross laid over the globus represents Christ's dominion over the world, literally held in the hand of a worthy earthly ruler. In the iconography of

Western art The art of Europe, also known as Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period bet ...

, when Christ himself holds the globe, he is called ''

Salvator Mundi , Latin for Saviour of the World, is a subject in iconography depicting Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding an orb (frequently surmounted by a cross), known as a . The latter symbolizes the Earth, and the whol ...

'' (Latin for 'Saviour of the World'). For instance, the 16th-century

Infant Jesus of Prague The Infant Jesus of Prague (: ) is a 16th-century wax-coated wooden statue of the Child Jesus holding a ''globus cruciger'' of Spanish origin, now located in the Discalced Carmelite Church of Our Lady of Victories in Malá Strana, Prague, C ...

statue holds a ''globus cruciger'' in this manner.

History

Holding the world in one's hand, or, more ominously, under one's foot, has been a symbol since antiquity. To citizens of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, the plain spherical globe held by the god

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

represented the world or the universe, as the dominion held by the Emperor. A 2nd-century coin from the reign of

Emperor Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

shows the

Roman goddess Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to the ...

Salus Salus (, "safety", "salvation", "welfare") was the Roman goddess of safety and well-being (welfare, health and prosperity) of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes equated with the Greek goddess Hygieia, though their functions d ...

with her foot upon a ''globus'', and a 4th-century coin from the reign of

Emperor Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christ ...

shows him with a ''globus'' in hand. The ''orbis terrarum'' was central to the iconography of the

Tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. I ...

, in which it represented the Tetrarchs' restoration of security to the Roman world. Constantine I claimed to have had a vision of symbol of Christ above the sun, with the words "In this sign, you shall conquer" (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: "''

In hoc signo vinces "" is a Latin phrase conventionally translated into English as "In this sign thou shalt conquer", often also being translated as "By and/or in this sign, conquer". The Latin phrase itself renders, rather loosely, the Greek phrase "", translit ...

''"), before the

Battle of Milvian Bridge The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine the Great, Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October AD 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the batt ...

in AD 312. This symbol is usually assumed to be the "Chi-Rho (X-P)" symbol, but some think it was a cross. Consequently, his soldiers painted this symbol on their shields and then defeated their foe,

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius ( 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized as a legitimate ...

.With the growth of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

in the 5th century, the orb (in Latin works ''orbis terrarum'', the 'world of the lands', whence "orb" derives) was surmounted with a

, hence ''globus cruciger'', symbolizing the Christian God's dominion of the world. The Emperor held the world in his hand to show that he ruled it on behalf of God. To non-Christians already familiar with the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

globe, the surmounting of a cross indicated the victory of Christianity over the world. In medieval iconography, the size of an object relative to those of nearby objects indicated its relative importance; therefore the orb was small and the one who held it was large to emphasize the nature of their relationship. Although the globe symbolized the whole Earth, many Christian rulers, some of them not even

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

, who reigned over small territories of the Earth, used it symbolically. One of the first known depictions in art of the symbol was in the late 4th century AD, possibly as early as AD 388, namely on the reverse side of the gold tremissii of Emperor Theodosius I. The ''globus cruciger'' was associated with powerful rulers and

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s; it adorned portrayals of both

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

s and

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

s, and also

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

s. It remained popular throughout the Middle Ages in coinage,

, and royal

. For example, it was often used by

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperors in order to symbolize their authority and sovereignty over the Christian world, usually being done via coinage. The symbol was meant to demonstrate that the emperor ruled both politically and divinely. The

papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, which in the Middle Ages rivaled the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

in temporal power, also used the symbol on top of the

Papal tiara The papal tiara is a crown that was worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. It was last used by Pope Paul VI in 1963, and only at the beginning of his reign. The name ''tiara'' refers t ...

, which consisted of a triple crown; the Pope did not use a separate orb as a symbol. The ''globus cruciger'' (made up of a

monde A ''monde'', meaning 'world' in French, is an orb located near the top of a crown. It represents, as the name suggests, the world that the monarch rules. It is the point at which a crown's half arches meet. It is usually topped off either wit ...

and cross) was generally featured as the finial of European royal crowns, whether on physical crowns or merely in royal heraldry, for example, in Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Yugoslavia. It is still depicted not only in the arms of European polities for which a monarchy survives, yet also, since the end of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

in 1991, in the arms of some eastern European polities, despite the termination of their historical monarchies. Even in the modern era in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

Sovereign's Orb The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, originally the Crown Jewels of England, are a collection of royal ceremonial objects kept in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, which include the Coronation of the British monarch, coronation regalia ...

symbolizes both the state and

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

under the protection and domain of the monarchy.

Gallery

Image:Barbarossa.jpg, Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

Image:Goldene-bulle 1c-480x475.jpg, The Golden Bull of 1356 by the

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

Image:Charles II (Chronica Hungarorum).jpg, Charles II of Naples and Hungary Image:Mary (Chronica Hungarorum).jpg,

Mary of Hungary Mary, also known as Maria of Anjou (, , ; 137117 May 1395), queen regnant, reigned as Queen of Hungary and List of dukes and kings of Croatia, Croatia between 1382 and 1385, and from 1386 until her death. She was the daughter of Louis I of Hun ...

Image:Wenceslaus (Chronica Hungarorum).jpg,

Wenceslaus III of Bohemia Wenceslaus III (, , , , ; 6 October 12894 August 1306) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1301 and 1305, and King of Bohemia and Poland from 1305. He was the son of Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia, who was later also crowned king of Poland, ...

Image:Dürer karl der grosse.jpg,

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

Image:Albrecht Dürer 082.jpg,

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elect ...

Image:Gerard van Honthorst 006.jpg,

Frederick V Frederick V or Friedrich V may refer to: *Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (1164–1170) * Frederick V, Count of Zollern (d.1289) *Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg (c. 1333–1398), German noble * Frederick V of Austria (1415–1493), or Frederick II ...

holding the orb Image:Elizabeth I in coronation robes.jpg,

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

in coronation robes, with orb and sceptre Image:Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom 1952-12-13.jpg, Primary

Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, originally the Crown Jewels of England, are a collection of royal ceremonial objects kept in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, which include the coronation regalia and vestments worn by British mo ...

, with Sovereign's Orb at upper left (in late 1952 before the

coronation of Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

) Image:Rijksappel.jpg, Dutch ''globus cruciger'', part of the

Regalia of the Netherlands The regalia of the Netherlands consists of a number of items symbolising the Dutch monarch's authority and dignity. In comparison to many European monarchies' regalia, the Dutch regalia are relatively new: having been commissioned by King Willi ...

File:Crown, sceptre, orb & key of the King of Sweden 2014.jpg,

Regalia of Sweden Sweden, Sweden's regalia are kept deep in the vaults of the Royal Treasury (), underneath the Royal Palace in Stockholm, in a museum that is open to the public. The crowns and coronets have not been worn by Swedish royalty since 1907, but they ...

with the orb Image:Russian regalia.jpg, Regalia of Russia Image:Budapest Parlament Innen Kuppelhalle Ungarische Krönungsinsignien.JPG, with the orb; note the

patriarchal cross The patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the religious symbol of Christianity, and is also known as the Cross of Lorraine. Similar to the Latin cross, the patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main o ...

on the orb Image:Uppland_vapen.svg, Coat of arms of Uppland Image:Coat of Arms of Vologda (Vologda oblast) (1780).png, Coat of arms of

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

Image:Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg, Orb and sceptre in the

coat of arms of Montenegro The coat of arms of Montenegro () was officially adopted by the law passed in the Assembly of Montenegro, Parliament on 12 July 2004. It is now the central motif of the flag of Montenegro, as well as the coat of arms of the Armed Forces of Monten ...

; several other coats of arms use them in the same manner. Image:O_Salvador_do_Mundo,_a_vida_de_Jesus_Cristo.png, Chromolithograph of Jesus as a child, holding an orb and a crown of thorns Image:Notre Dame Cathedral Ho Chi Minh city (39543912241).jpg, Statue of Virgin Mary holding an orb Image:A német megszállás áldozatainak emlékműve (2).jpg, Statue of Archangel Gabriel holding an orb Image:Orb in Sainte-Chapelle 20240128.jpg, Wall sculpture in Sainte-Chapelle, Paris Image:Harris-Tweed 1.jpg, The Harris tweed orb

Use as an alchemical symbol

The ''globus cruciger'' was used as the

alchemical symbol Alchemical symbols were used to denote chemical elements and compounds, as well as alchemy, alchemical apparatus and processes, until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy ...

(♁) for

antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

. It was also used as an alchemical symbol for "the grey wolf", supposedly used to purify alloyed metals into pure gold. (

stibnite Stibnite, sometimes called antimonite, is a sulfide mineral, a mineral form of antimony trisulfide ( Sb2 S3). It is a soft, metallic grey crystalline solid with an orthorhombic space group. It is the most important source for the metalloid an ...

) was used to purify gold, as the sulphur in the antimony sulphide bonds to the metals alloyed with the gold, and these form a slag which can be removed. The gold remains dissolved in the metallic antimony which can be boiled off to leave the purified gold.

References

* Leslie Brubaker, ''

Dictionary of the Middle Ages The ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' is a 13-volume encyclopedia of the Middle Ages published by the American Council of Learned Societies between 1982 and 1989. It was first conceived and started in 1975 with American medieval historian Jos ...

'', vol 5, pg. 564,
Picture of the 10th century Orb, Scepter and Crown insignia of the Holy Roman Empire
*

External links

{{Authority control Christian iconography Christian symbols Cross symbols Formal insignia Latin religious words and phrases Regalia Religious symbols Heraldic charges Byzantine regalia Spherical objects

History

Gallery

Use as an alchemical symbol

See also

References

External links