page_title: Portuguese Crown Jewels
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese Crown Jewels / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A Piece of the Portuguese Crown Jewels
context_page_description: The Portuguese Crown Jewels, also known as the Royal Treasure, are the pieces of jewelry, regalia, and vestments that were used by the Kings and Queens of Portugal during the time of the Portuguese Monarchy. Over the nine centuries of Portuguese history, the Portuguese Crown Jewels have lost and gained many pieces. Most of the current set of the Portuguese Crown Jewels are from the reigns of King João VI and King Luís I.
context_section_description: By the reign of King Manuel I (1495–1521), Portugal had already a lavish set of jewels, the king having been one of the most powerful men in the world at the time and having been known to show off.
  In early 1581 King António I fled to France after King Philip I was made the King of Portugal. António I took with him the Portuguese Crown Jewels, including many valuable diamonds. Being well received by the French Queen Consort, Catherine de' Medici, he sold her some of the pieces of the Portuguese Crown Jewels in return for France's support in his plans to reclaim the throne of Portugal and depose Philip I.
  After several failed attempts to reclaim the Portuguese Crown, António I fell into poverty. His poverty led him to sell many of the remaining diamonds. The last and finest diamond of the Portuguese Crown Jewels, the Sancy, would be acquired by Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy, from whom it would make its way to Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully. From Maximilien, the diamond would finally go to join the French Crown Jewels.
  During the Portuguese Restoration War, João II of Braganza sold many of the Portuguese Crown Jewels to finance the war with Spain. When João II became King of Portugal as João IV and deposed the Philippine Dynasty in 1640, he placed his crown with a statue of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception and said that she was the "true Queen of Portugal". Since then, Portuguese monarchs did not have a coronation but instead an acclamation. Before the assumption of the Portuguese throne by the Philippine Dynasty, the Kings of Portugal used to be anointed and crowned in the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon.
  In 1755 the Great Lisbon earthquake destroyed Lisbon and the Paço da Ribeira, the Portuguese royal residence of the time. With the destruction of the palace, innumerable pieces of the Portuguese Crown Jewels of the time were destroyed, lost, or stolen.
  While his court was in Rio de Janeiro, João VI had a new set of Portuguese Crown Jewels made. Constructed by the royal jewelers at the workshop of António Gomes da Silva, the set most notably included a new crown and sceptre, among a plethora of jewelry pieces. The pieces from this era are the majority of the current set of jewels.
  When Maria Pia of Savoy became Queen Consort of Portugal, King Luís I ordered many pieces of jewelry to be made, as it was a passion of his wife. Alongside this, he had a new royal mantle produced.
  When the Portuguese Royal Family was exiled, many of the jewels were taken with Queen Amélie of Orléans and Queen Mother Maria Pia of Savoy on their respective exiles.
  In 2002 a large part of the Portuguese Crown Jewels were stolen from the Museon in The Hague, where they were on loan for an exhibition on European Crown Jewels. Following an investigation by the museum and Dutch authorities, the Dutch government paid a sum of six million euros to the Portuguese government for reparation.
  The Portuguese Crown Jewels are currently kept in a secured vault at the Ajuda National Palace, in Lisbon. While the palace is a popular and important museum, the crown jewels are not open to the public. The crown jewels are now only seen at special events concerning them or the palace specifically, a repercussion of the 2002 Hague theft.
caption: The Mantle of João VI.
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