Bohemian Crown Jewels ****************************************************************************************** * ****************************************************************************************** By Jan Malý On 2 September 1347, in a half-built St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague castle, an ancient princes and kings, Prague archbishop, Ernest of Pardubice (1344-1364), crowned at that tim year-old Luxembourgian Charles the King of Bohemia. Charles who was born 14 May 1316 was, already crowned the king of Rome (the coronation took place in Bonn in November 1346). Eve beginning of Charles' reign was all but calm (the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, supported by s elites, was against him then), Charles truly made his Bohemian coronation matter. Tiara, which Ernest of Pardubice put on his head, is now known as the Crown of St. Wencesl got it made apparently shortly before the ceremonial act. The Bull of Pope Clement VI of M us that Charles got a new crown made, which he dedicated to St. Wenceslas. The case, in wh was transported, states the year 1347. This means that the crown was made probably sometim beginning of 1346 and his own coronation. In terms of shape the crown most likely followed Přemyslid tiaras, the precise form of which we do not know, because only funeral crowns fr century are preserved. We can get some idea, however, from some material sources. Vratisla became the first King of Bohemia in 1085. Later, this dignity was given to his grandson Vl (1140-1172) in 1158. The coins minted during the reign of the mentioned kings show some so but it is of a rather schematic character. At the beginning of the 13th century, the royal definitely hereditary and in the years 1197-1306 five Premyslid kings ruled successively. In addition to the aforementioned funeral kits we can get some idea about how the royal cr from several depictions. As an example we can mention illumination of King Wenceslas II (1 the throne of Codex Manesse from the early 14th century, or the majestic seal of King Přem (1253-1278). The depiction of Přemyslid kings in the manuscript of Zbraslav Chronicle (ear or a crown stamped on the obverse of a Prague nickel (after 1300) are a little younger. Th according to some opinions might not actually have existed at all and it was only symbolic crowns had four (in en face images only three are visible) parts completed with the shapes crowns of French kings probably served as another model for the St. Wenceslas crown. Since lived for several years in the Capetian palace in Paris and in 1328 experienced the corona Philip VI (1328-1350). We can get some idea of how the French crown looked from the so-cal in the so-called Big French Chronicles. The crowns on heads of the Capetians represent the high medieval jewel with four segments, completed with lilies, similarly like the Přemysli The St. Wenceslas crown is a jewel of high quality design. It is made of gold of very high carats). The crown with a diameter of 19 centimetres weighs 2,358 kg. The crown’s height i radius. Two arches, through which the crown is connected, carry the cross in its centre, w from Christ's crown of thorns is stored, of which the Latin inscription HIC EST SPINA DE C (i.e. here is a thorn from the crown of the Lord) around the perimeter of the cross inform artistic decoration of the crown itself is impressive. The total of 96 precious stones are crown, among which there are some very rare and unique pieces, especially on the front of stones were added to crown throughout the life of Charles IV, as the emperor was gradually The location of the precious stones follows a rigorous program and has a profound symbolis nowadays able to decipher exactly. 20 pearls accompany the precious stones: 16 on the arch tops of lilies. After 1374, Charles initiated a significant redesigning of the crown. We a the original form of the crown from the description in the inventory of the St. Vitus Cath Orb and sceptre also belonged to the crown. Kaiserliche Schatzkammer in Vienna now owns th instruments from the Middle Ages. Current orb and sceptre originate from the first half of and it was Ferdinand I (1526-1564) had them created. Both insignia become a part of the se crown jewels during the 17th or 18th century, i.e., at the time when the St. Wenceslas cro stored in Vienna. This brings us to the question of jewels storage. According to the instr Charles IV the crown should have rested on the skull of St. Wenceslas and should have been Prague Castle in the cathedral. But we know that already during the reign of his sons the original location. It was stored in Karlštejn and during the Hussite wars even outside the the lost Battle of White Mountain, the fleeing Frederick Palatine left the jewels at the O then, they were transported to Vienna, from where they were always brought to Prague for c 1791, Leopold II Habsburg returned the jewels to Prague, and since then they have been sto Vitus Cathedral. Today the storage location of the jewels, i.e., a crown chamber of the St. Wenceslas Chape an inaccessible area protected by a door with seven locks. The crown jewels today represen valuable treasure in our country and are displayed only on special occasions. It is an anc very strong symbol of the sovereignty of the state and its solid place in European history    Bibliography: BOBKOVÁ, Lenka – BARTLOVÁ, Milena. Velké dějiny zemí koruny české IVb. Praha: Paseka, 2003 BRAVERMANNOVÁ, Milena a kol. České korunovační klenoty. Praha: Správa Pražského hradu, 200 ŠMAHEL, František – BOBKOVÁ, Lenka. Lucemburkové. Česká koruna uprostřed Evropy. Praha: NL