The Hungarian Crown () was a part of the
Polish crown jewels.
It was made in the 16th century, resembling the
Crown of Saint Stephen, as a private crown of
John II Sigismund Zápolya.
History
The original Hungarian Regalia were handed over by Queen
Isabella Jagiellon to
Ferdinand of Austria in 1551, when she was forced to leave
Transylvania
Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, which fell into Ferdinand's hands in accordance with the treaty of
Nyírbátor
Nyírbátor () is a town in Szabolcs–Szatmár–Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. The town contains 15th and 16th century ecclesiastic and secular architectural heritage.
Geography
It covers an area of and ...
. According to a contemporary Polish chronicler, she broke the cross off the Crown of Saint Stephen’s peak for her son, John Sigismund Zápolya. The copy of the main Hungarian insignium was probably made at that time.
After John Sigismund's death the crown was inherited in 1571 by King
Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, Isabella's brother.
The Polish king treated the crown of Hungary as a family keepsake, and kept it in a private vault in the
Tykocin Castle.
In 1572, when the last of the
Jagiellons died the insignium was used as an exequial crown during the
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
ceremonies to Sigismund Augustus in
Knyszyn and eventually passed to his sister
Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon (, ; 18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596) was King of Poland, Queen of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1575 to 1587.
Daughter of Polish King and Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund I the Ol ...
.
After the king's death the opposition led by the primate, made the guardian of the
Wawel
The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...
Royal Treasury, refused to bestow the
Polish royal insignia on the newly
elected Anna Jagiellon and her husband
Stephen Báthory. Unable to use the
Crown of Bolesław I the Brave, Báthory used the Hungarian Crown as an alternative.
In about 1576 the crown was bequeathed to the State Treasury at the
Wawel Castle
The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...
, where it was kept until October 1795.
It was then stolen by Prussian soldiers after the seizure of
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
by the
Prussian army, and was appropriated to the collections of the
Hohenzollerns in Berlin.
After 1809 it was destroyed, as was the majority of Polish regalia.
The Hungarian Crown was made in the form of rims topped with a globe and a cross at their intersection.
It was decorated with
enamel plaques,
filigree
Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork.
In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, m ...
work,
pendant
A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...
s and precious stones including four large
sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...
s and
rubies.
In the 18th century the crown was depicted in the portrait of
Louis I of Hungary
Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...
by
Marcello Bacciarelli
Marcello Bacciarelli (; 16 February 1731 – 5 January 1818) was an Italian-born painter of the late-baroque and Neoclassicism, Neoclassic periods active in Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Biography
He was born in Rome, and stud ...
, painted to embellish the Marble Room at the
Royal Castle in Warsaw.
References
Further reading
* Jerzy Lileyko. ''Regalia Polskie''. Warszawa 1987.
* Janusz Miniewicz. ''Tajemnica polskich koron. Czy jest szansa ich odnalezienia?''. Nowy Sącz 2006.
* Michał Rożek. ''Polskie koronacje i korony''. Kraków 1987.
External links
{{Crowns
Individual crowns
Polish crown jewels