Crown Jewels of the Imperium

The **Crown Jewels of the Imperium**, originally the **Crown Jewels of Predaconia**, are ceremonial objects kept in the *reliquary*, which include the regalia and vestments worn at their coronations by Predaconian Emperors and Empresses.

Symbols of perpetual monarchy, the collection is the most historically complete of any regalia in the world. Objects used to invest and crown the monarch variously denote his or her roles as embodiment of state, King of Sacred Rights, and head of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces. They feature heraldic devices and national emblems of the entire Imperium, and recent pieces were designed to reflect the monarch's role as Head of the Commonwealth.

## Imperial and Royal Regalia

The Imperial and Royal Regalia is the regalia and vestments worn by the Holy Predaconian Emperor during the coronation ceremony and other state functions. The term refers to the following objects: the crowns, sceptres, orbs, swords, rings, crosses, holy relics, and the royal robes, as well as several other objects connected with the ceremony.

### Crown

    The Imperial & Royal Crown of the Imperium was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen as the personal crown of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and therefore is also known as the Crown of Emperor Rudolf II (German: Rudolfskrone). The crown was used as a private crown of the Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Hungary and Bohemia from the House of Habsburg. In 1804 it became the official crown of the newly constituted Austrian Empire. After 1867 it remained the imperial crown of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. Later, it became to be identified as the symbol of Imperial and Royal authority, and became the form take by the divine crown.

   The circlet is dominated by eight large squares of diamonds, forming a crown in itself, which symbolises royal authority. Between the stones are two large pearls arranged vertically and set within white enamel rosettes surrounded by scrollwork. From the circlet emerge eight lilies, which were probably inspired by the Bohemian Crown of St. Wenceslas. The lilies are also associated with the fleurs-de-lis of the House of Valois. The use of eight elements was also taken from the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which includes a circlet made out of eight plates. In the circlet are precious stones such as spinels, zircons, and pearls. The zircons are cut in such a way that they are flat at the front. Preparing precious stones for mounting in this way was a relatively new technique at the time the crown was made. The pearls were added by Alexander Emmanuel Köchert of the A. E. Köchert shop in Vienna.

    The mitre symbolises the divine right to rule, and the spiritual position of the emperor, who during coronation was consecrated symbolically as a deacon. The mitre fills the left and right sides of the crown, leaving an opening in the middle through which the high arch passes. The mitre is made of gold, with a band of enamel work depicting birds and plants. The mitre is divided into four sections representing the high honours of the Holy Predaconian Emperor. The first section shows him kneeling, receiving the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire in Regensburg as Holy Roman Emperor. The second section shows him riding onto the coronation hill in Pressburg (Bratislava) during his coronation as King of Hungary. The third section shows his coronation procession through Prague as King of Bohemia. The fourth section depicts an allegory of his victory over the invading Turks.

The high arch was inspired by the arch of the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. It rises from the front and back of the circlet and is studded with eight diamonds, which symbolise Christ. The emperor is regarded as Savior of the Empire in the name of Christ. At the top of the arch is a blue-green emerald, which symbolises heaven, where as a pagan god he has the right of. The emerald is not cut, but polished.

### Orb & Sceptre

    The Imperial Crown is associated with the Imperial Orb and Sceptre, and they are always used together. The Imperial Orb was commissioned in 1612 by Rudolf's brother and successor, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, and was created by Andreas Ochsenbruck. The shape takes its inspiration from the crown, especially the enamel-work which is in the same style. It is topped by a large sapphire. Symbolically, the orb is representative of the universe, which is held in the Emperor’s hand as

The sceptre is so old that it is also known as the **Sceptre of Diocletian**. A peculiarity of the Sceptre is that it was said to be made from unicorn horn, a very rare element as usually unicorn horns dissolved into pure magic when sought out. While originally topped by an eagle similar to an Aquilia, it was reshaped by Rudolf.

### Glove of Mercy

The legend has it that Romulus Augustulus, the last of the Predacon Emperors, had a dream about the punitive tax being collected, so when he awoke he repealed the tax. It is believed that the coronation ceremony was evolved to include a symbolic reminder of this lesson: just before the Pope puts the Sceptre in the sovereign's right hand, a single glove is presented as a reminder that the Sovereign power should be exercised with gentleness in taxation and all matters.

### Emperor’s Shoes

Not many shoes are seen clearly in public ceremonies because of the long robes of the rich. The Emperor’s Regalia has military *calugae*, the boots nearly reaching the knee - red in colour for the Emperor. They are lavishly decorated with pearls and jewels and gold scrollwork on the sides and over the toe of the shoe.

## Graeco-Roman Crown Jewels

            Of the imperial regalia of the Roman Emperors, previous to the Byzantine era, little remains. The Civic Crown is the Crown of the Roman Emperor, stemming from Republican tradition, and is used in the most ornate of ceremonies. Others may use the Iron Crown of Lombardy, of the medieval Kingdom of Italy. The Byzantine Empire, surviving into the Dark Ages, has a much more ornate crown, which is the sign of ultimate power within the Eastern Orthodox Church.

### Byzantine Imperial Dress

The distinctive garments of the Emperors (often there were two at a time) and Empresses were the crown and the heavily jewelled Imperial loros or pallium, that developed from the trabea triumphalis, a ceremonial coloured version of the Roman toga worn by Consuls(during the reign of Justinian I Consulship became part of the imperial status), and worn by the Emperor and Empress as a quasi-ecclesiastical garment. It was also worn by the twelve most important officials and the imperial bodyguard, and hence by Archangels in icons, who were seen as divine bodyguards. In fact it was only normally worn a few times a year, such as on Easter Sunday, but it was very commonly used for depictions in art.

The men's version of the loros was a long strip, dropping down straight in front to below the waist, and with the portion behind pulled round to the front and hung gracefully over the left arm. The female loros was similar at the front end, but the back end was wider and tucked under a belt after pulling through to the front again. Both male and female versions changed style and diverged in the middle Byzantine period, the female later reverting to the new male style. Apart from jewels and embroidery, small enamelled plaques were sewn into the clothes; the dress of Manuel I Comnenus was described as being like a meadow covered with flowers. Generally sleeves were closely fitted to the arm and the outer dress comes to the ankles (although often called a scaramangion), and is also rather closely fitted. The sleeves of empresses became extremely wide in the later period.

## German Crown Jewels

        The **German Crown Jewels** (German: *Preußischen Kronjuwelen*) is the Imperial regalia, consisting of two crowns, an orb and a sceptre, used during the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor of the Germans by the Pope.

## Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom

The regalia contain 23,578 stones, among them

    Cullinan I (530 carats (106 g)), the largest clear cut diamond in the world, set in the

    Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross. It was cut from the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, the Cullinan, discovered in South Africa in 1905 and presented to Edward VII. On the Imperial State Crown are Cullinan II (317 carats (63 g)), the Stuart Sapphire, St Edward's Sapphire, and the Black Prince's Ruby – a large spinel given to Edward the Black Prince by a Spanish king in 1367. The Koh-i-Noor diamond (105 carats (21 g)), originally from India, was forfeited to Queen Victoriaand has featured on three consort crowns. A small number of historical objects at the Tower are either empty or set with glass and crystals. Furthermore, there are the Crowns of the Empire of Liberty, the Empire of Haiti, and the French side of the United Kingdom.