The Royal Casket () was a memorial created in 1800 by

Izabela Czartoryska Elżbieta "Izabela" Dorota Czartoryska ( Flemming; 31 March 1745 – 15 July 1835) was a Polish princess, writer, art collector, and prominent figure in the Polish Enlightenment. She was the wife of Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and a member ...

. The large wooden casket contained 73 precious relics that had once belonged to Polish royalty. The casket was inscribed: "Polish mementos assembled in 1800 by Izabela Czartoryska". It once reposed in the

Temple of the Sibyl The Temple of the Sibyl (in Polish, ''Świątynia Sybilli'') is a colonnaded round monopteral temple-like structure at Puławy, Poland, built at the turn of the 19th century as a museum by Izabela Czartoryska. History The "Temple of the S ...

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka River, Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was Cen ...

Poland Cross on a chain of Anna Jagiellon

Kober Anna Jagiellon in coronation robes

The relics contained in the casket included: * Portrait of Queen

Constance of Austria Constance of Austria (; ; ; 24 December 1588 – 10 July 1631) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of King-Grand Duke Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir. Biography Constance was a daughte ...

in a silver dress made by King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

* Silver rosary of Queen

Marie Leszczyńska Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska (), was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of St ...

* Ivory box in a silver gilded frame of King

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

* Gold watch of Queen

Marie Casimire Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien (, ; 28 June 1641 – 30 January 1716), known also by the diminutive form "Marysieńka", was a French noblewoman who became the queen consort of Poland and grand duchess consort of Lithuania from 1674 ...

* Gold snuff-box decorated with diamonds and an enamel miniature of King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

* Gold watch of King

Augustus II Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

* Gold enameled chain of King

John II Casimir John II Casimir Vasa (; ; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 to his abdication in 1668 as well as a claimant to the throne of Sweden from 1648 to 1660. He was the first son of Sigis ...

* Pectoral cross of King

Sigismund the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV and younger brother of Kings ...

, made of red jasper in a gold frame with a gold chain * Silver filigree cutlery of Prince Zygmunt Kazimierz * Crystal watch in a gold frame of King

* Gold watch of King

Stanisław Leszczyński Stanisław I Leszczyński (Stanisław Bogusław; 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at various times Prince of Deux-Ponts, Duk ...

* Gold enameled pendant with "A" monogram and a gold chain of

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 ...

* Gold filigree chain of Queen

Ludwika Maria Gonzaga Marie Louise Gonzaga (Italian: ''Maria Luisa'', , ; 18 August 1611 – 10 May 1667) was Queen consort of Poland, Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to two kings of Poland and grand dukes of Lithuania, brothers Władysław ...

, etc. Catalogue recording some of the items (58)—enter the title ''Royal Casket'' The casket survived all the confiscations after the collapses of the Polish national uprisings, because it had been moved to

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 ...

. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, it was transported together with the rich collection of the

Czartoryski Museum The Princes Czartoryski Museum ( ) – often abbreviated to Czartoryski Museum – is a historic museum in Kraków, Poland, and one of the country's oldest museums. The initial collection was formed in 1796 in Puławy by Princess Izabela Czartor ...

Sieniawa Sieniawa (), is a town in southeastern Poland, in Przeworsk County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It had a population of 2,127 inhabitants (02.06.2009). History Sieniawa's history dates back to the 17th century, and the town owes its existenc ...

and hidden in a repository, in a palace outbuilding, which was later bricked up. However, the German owner of a mill who worked for the

Czartoryski family The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; ) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian- Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia. The family, which derived their kin from the Gediminids dynasty, by the mid-17 ...

betrayed the hiding place to ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' soldiers, who entered

on 14 September 1939. The soldiers broke into the palace and plundered the collection. They robbed the Royal Casket and distributed its contents among themselves.

Images

File:Pulawy swiatynia sybilli.jpg,

File:Bona Sforza casket.JPG, Queen

Bona Sforza Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen consort, Queen of Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Poland and List of Lithuanian consorts, Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old, and Duchess of Bari and ...

's casket File:Pendant Polish Eagle Royal Casket.JPG, Pendant:

Polish Eagle The coat of arms of Poland is the Coat of arms, heraldic symbol representing Poland. The current version was adopted in 1990. It is a white, crowned Eagle (heraldry), eagle with a golden beak and talons, on a red background. In Poland, the coat ...

on a chain

Notes

External links

Szkatuła Królewska

Department of National Heritage, Wartime losses
*

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928032946/http://www.eksplorator.com/1szkatula.htm , date=2007-09-28 Crown jewels Polish monarchy Art and cultural repatriation Germany–Poland relations

Contents

Images

See also

Notes

External links