Crown of Zvonimir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Crown of Zvonimir was bestowed on King Dmitar Zvonimir of Croatia in 1076 by the papal legate. Zvonimir ruled Croatia until 1089 after which the crown was used in the coronation of his successor Stjepan II and presumably by the numerous Hungarian monarchs after the unification of Croatia and Hungary in 1102. It is quite possible that the crown was lost during the 1520's when the Ottoman Turks captured and sacked the royal capitals of Solin and Knin. A stylised version of this crown is used on several provincial and county flags in modern Croatia and is consistently of the design illustrated here which is taken from an 11th Century engraving found in a baptistry in Split.[1] The distinctive long sides could be hanging pendilium as found adorning the Holy Crown of Hungary which was also an 11th Century Papal gift.

In 1941 a crown with the same name but which seems to have little resemblance to the original (it is described as "a wreath of golden clover leaves surmounted by a cross and an apple"[2]) was presented to Victor Emmanuel III of Italy by representatives of the fascist Independent State of Croatia with the request he choose a suitable member of the House of Savoy to be elevated to the proposed Croatian throne as king. The honour fell to the Duke of Spoleto who then "reigned" from his Italian properties as King Tomislav II until 1943. Although it seems likely he came into possession of the regalia he was never formally crowned.

It is not known where the mediæval or later Crowns of Zvonimir are - or even if they still exist.