Imperial Regalia
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The Imperial Regalia, insignia, or crown jewels (in German Reichskleinodien, Reichsinsignien, or Reichsschatz) are the regalia of the Emperors and Kings of the Holy Roman Empire. The most important parts are the Imperial Crown, the Holy Lance and the Imperial Sword. Today they are kept at the Schatzkammer Treasury in the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria.
The Imperial Regalia are the only completely preserved regalia from the Middle Ages. During the late Middle Ages, the word Imperial Regalia (Reichskleinodien) had many variations in the Latin language. The regalia were either named in Latin: insignia imperialia, regalia insignia, insignia imperalis capellae quae regalia dicuntur and other similar words.
Components
The regalia is composed of two different parts. The greater group are the so-called Nürnberger Kleinodien (roughly translated Nuremberg jewels), named after the town of Nuremberg where the regalia were kept from 1424 to 1796. This part comprised the Imperial Crown, parts of the coronation vestments, the Imperial Orb (a globus cruciger), the Imperial Sceptre, the Imperial Sword, the Ceremonial Sword, the Imperial Cross, the Holy Lance, and all other reliquaries except St. Stephen's Purse.
St. Stephen's Purse, the Imperial Bible, and the so-called Saber of Charlemagne were kept in Aachen until 1794, which gave them the name Aachener Kleinodien (Aachen jewels). It is not known how long they have been considered among the Imperial Regalia, nor how long they had been in Aachen.
| Present inventory in Vienna: | |
| Aachen regalia (Aachener Kleinodien) | Probable place of origin, and date of production |
|---|---|
| Imperial Bible (Reichsevangeliar or Krönungsevangeliar) | Aachen, end of 8th century |
| St. Stephen's Purse (Stephansbursa) | Carolingian, 1st third of 9th century |
| Sabre of Charlemagne (Säbel Karl des Großen) | Eastern Europe, 2nd half of 9th century |
| Nuremberg regalia (Nürnberger Kleinodien) | Probable place of origin, and date of production |
|---|---|
| Imperial Crown (Reichskrone) | Western Germany, 2nd half of 10th century |
| Imperial Cross (Reichskreuz) | Western Germany, around 1024/1025 |
| Holy Lance (Heilige Lanze) | Langobardian, 8th/9th century |
| Relics of the True Cross (Kreuzpartikel) | |
| Imperial Sword (Reichsschwert) | Sheath from Germany, 2nd third-part of 11th century |
| Imperial Orb (Reichsapfel) | Western Germany, around end of 12th century |
| Coronation Mantle (Krönungsmantel) (Pluviale) | Palermo, 1133/34 |
| Alb | Palermo, 1181 |
| Dalmatic (Dalmatica or Tunicella) | Palermo, around 1140 |
| Stockings | Palermo, around 1170 |
| Shoes | Palermo, around 1130 or around 1220 |
| Gloves | Palermo, 1220 |
| Ceremonial Sword (Zeremonienschwert) | Palermo, 1220 |
| Stole (Stola) | Central Italy, before 1338 |
| Eagle-dalmatic (Adlerdalmatica) | Upper Germany, before 1350 |
| Imperial Sceptre (Zepter) | Germany, 1st half of 14th century |
| Aspergille | Germany, 1st. half of 14th century |
| Reliquary with chains | Rome or Prague, around 1368 |
| Reliquary with a piece of vestment of the John the Evangelist | Rome or Prague, around 1368 |
| Reliquary with a shaving of the Crib of Christ | Rome or Prague, around 1368 |
| Reliquary with an arm-bone of St. Anne | probably Prague after 1350 |
| Reliquary with a tooth of John the Baptist | Bohemia, after 1350 |
| Case (Futteral) of the Imperial Crown | Prague, after 1350 |
| Reliquary with a piece of the tablecloth used during the Last Supper |
History
Middle Ages
The inventory of the regalia during the late Middle Ages normally consisted only of five to six items. Goffredo da Viterbo counted following items: the Imperial Cross, the Holy Lance, the crown, the sceptre, the orb, and the sword. On other lists, however, the sword is not mentioned.
Whether the medieval chronicles really do refer to the same regalia which are kept in Vienna today depends on a variety of factors. Descriptions of the emperors only spoke of them being “clothed in imperial regalia” without exactly describing which items they were.
The crown can only be dated back to the 13th century, when it is described in a medieval poem. The poem speaks of the Waise (i.e., The Orphan) stone, which was a big and prominent jewel on the front of the crown, probably a white opal with an exceptionally brilliant red fire and has since been replaced by a triangular blue sapphire. The first definite pictorial image of the crown can only be found later in a mural in the Karlstein Castle close to Prague.
It is also difficult to define for how long the Imperial and Ceremonial Swords have belonged to the regalia.
Whereabouts in mediæval times
Until the 15th century the Imperial Regalia had no firm depository and sometimes accompanied the ruler on his trips through the empire. Above all with conflicts around the legality of the rule it was important to own the insignia. As depositories during this time some imperial castles or seats of reliable ministerialises are known:
- Limburg Abbey near Dürkheim (Palatinate) (11th century)
- Harzburg (11th century)
- Imperial Palace of Goslar (11th, 13th century)
- Castle Hammerstein at Rhine (1125)
- Trifels Castle near Annweiler (12th, 13th century, with interruptions)
- Castle Waldburg near Ravensburg (c. 1220–1240)
- Krautheim Castle on the river Jagst (probably 1240–1242)
- Kyburg Palace, today Canton of Zurich in Switzerland (1273–1322, with one interruption)
- Castle Stein, municipality of Rheinfelden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland (about 1280 beneath Rudolf of Habsburg)
- Alter Hof (Old Court) in Munich (under Ludwig the Bavarian, 1324–1350)
- St. Vitus Cathedral (Prague) and Karlstein Castle in Bohemia (c. 1350/52–1421)
- Plintenburg and Ofen in Hungary (1421–1424)
Committal to Nuremberg
Refuge
While French troops are advancing 1794 in the direction of Aachen the pieces located there were spent in the Capuchin's monastery to Paderborn. In July, 1796 French troops crossed the Rhine and reached shortly after Franconia. On the 23rd of July a part of the Imperial Regalia (crown, sceptre, orb, eight pieces of the vestments) were transported by Nuremberg colonel Johann Georg Haller von Hallerstein from Nuremberg to Regensburg where they arrived on the next day. On the 28th of September the remaining parts of the jewels were also delivered to Regensburg. Since this elopement parts of the treasure are missed.
Until 1800 the Imperial Regalia remained in the St. Emmeram Castle in Regensburg from where on the 30th of June their transfer began to Vienna. There the committal is verified for 29th of October. The pieces from Aachen were brought in 1798 to Hildesheim and reached Vienna not before 1801.
Time of the National Socialism and post-war period
After the Anschluss of Austria to the Nazi Reich in 1938 the imperial regalia were returned on instruction by Adolf Hitler to Nuremberg where they were exhibited in the Katharinenkirche. In the Second World War they were stored for protection from air raids in the Historischer Kunstbunker (English: historical art bunker) beneath Nuremberg Castle. In 1945 the imperial regalia were found there by US soldiers and were brought back in 1946 to the Hofburg in Vienna.
See also
Literature
- Weltliche und Geistliche Schatzkammer. Bildführer. Kunsthistorischen Museum, Vienna. 1987. ISBN 3-7017-0499-6
- Fillitz, Hermann. Die Schatzkammer in Wien: Symbole abendländischen Kaisertums. Vienna, 1986. ISBN 3-7017-0443-0
- Fillitz, Hermann. Die Insignien und Kleinodien des Heiligen Römischen Reiches, 1954.
- Heigl, Peter. The Imperial Regalia in the Nazi Bunker/ Der Reichsschatz im Nazibunker. Nuremberg 2005. ISBN 3-9810269-1-8
External links
Media related to Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire at Wikimedia Commons
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