List of papal tiaras in existence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pope John XXIII moments after his coronation in 1958. He was crowned using the 1877 tiara.

The Papal Tiara is the crown of the papacy. For over one millennium all popes were crowned with a tiara in a Papal Coronation. Though the last pope to be crowned was Pope Paul VI in 1963 it remains one of the key symbols of the papacy, and features on the Vatican coat of arms. Pope Benedict XVI has replaced the tiara on his official coat of arms with a traditional bishop's mitre and the pallium, symbols of the Pontiff's authority as Bishop of Rome.

Though people talk of the tiara, there are in fact over twenty surviving tiaras in existence. The earliest dates from the eighteenth century, the latest from 1963. Eleven of them are held in the Vatican and two are permanently on display in the United States at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. and at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Indiana at the University of Notre Dame.

Main article: Papal Tiara

[edit] List of some of the papal tiaras still in existence

Tiara of Pope Gregory XIII (16th century) (opposite)
Papier-mâché Tiara of Pope Pius VII (Made for his exiled coronation in Venice in 1800.)
Tiara of Pope Pius VII (1804, from Napoleon, marking his wedding to Josephine; by Henry August and Marie-Etienne Nitot, House of Chaumet, Paris. Some of the jewels and decoration for this tiara came from earlier tiaras smashed and stolen by the troops of the French Directory in 1798. The tiara was made deliberately too small, and at 18 pounds (8 kg) too heavy, for the pope to wear.)
Tiara of Pope Pius VII (1820) (image)
Tiara of Pope Gregory XVI (1834) (image)
Tiara of Pope Gregory XVI (1845).
Tiara of Pope Gregory XVI (date unknown). Lightweight version of a tiara.
Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1846) coronation tiara.
Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1855) from Queen Isabella II of Spain (image)
Tiara of Pope Pius IX (late 1850s) from the Congregation of Holy Cross on permanent display in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame.
Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1871) from the women of the Royal Court of the King of the Belgians by Jean Baptiste Bethume of Ghent. (image opposite.)
Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1870s) lightweight tiara.
Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1877) from the Holy See's Palatine Guard in honour of Pope Pius's jubilee. (image)
Tiara of Pope Leo XIII (1887) from Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany in commemoration of the Pope's Golden Jubilee as a priest.
Tiara of Pope Leo XIII (1888) (image) from the Catholics of Paris to celebrate the Pope's Golden Jubilee. By François Désiré Froment-Meurice.
Tiara of Pope Leo XIII (1894) from Kaiser Franz Joseph of Austria.
Tiara of Pope Leo XIII (1903) Golden tiara given by the Vicar-General of Rome on behalf of the world's Catholics to commemorate the Pope's Silver Jubilee as pope. (image)
Tiara of Pope Pius X (1908) by papal jewellers Tatani to commemorate the Pope's golden jubilee of his ordination as a priest. Made because the pope found other tiaras too heavy.
Tiara of Pope Pius XI (1922) (image)
Tiara of Pope Pius XI (1922) from the Archdiocese of Milan.
Tiara of Pope John XXIII (1959) (image) from the people of Bergamo, his home region in honour of his election as pope.
Tiara of Pope Paul VI (1963) (image) made by the artisans of his former archdiocese, Milan. On permanent display in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Though Pope Paul VI decided not to wear his tiara again in a gesture of humility and gave it to the Church in the United States, his 1975 Apostolic Constitution, Romano Pontifici Eligendo required that his successor be crowned. However Pope John Paul I decided not to follow the requirement and instead underwent a Papal Inauguration. Pope John Paul II's 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis left it up to each future pope to decide whether to be crowned or inaugurated.

Papal Tiara series
Coronation \| Inauguration \| Papal Tiara \| Decoration of the Papal Tiara \| List of Tiaras \| Origins of the Papal Tiara \| Vicarius Filii Dei

Papal rituals, symbols & ceremonial
Apostolic Palace • Camauro • Coat of Arms • Conclave • Coronation • Fanon • Holy See • Inauguration • Mitre • Mozzetta • Pallium • Popemobile • Regalia & Insignia • Ring of the Fisherman • St. John Lateran • St. Peter's Basilica • St. Peter's Square • Sedia gestatoria • Sistine Chapel • Tiara • Vatican City