Crown of Bolesław I the Brave



The Crown of Bolesław I the Brave (korona Chrobrego), also known as the Corona Privilegiata, was the coronation crown of Polish monarchs and the centrepiece of the Polish crown jewels. The original crown was made for the coronation of Ladislaus the Short in 1320 and symbolised the regalia bestowed upon Bolesław I the Brave by Emperor Otto III over three centuries earlier. Following the Partitions of Poland, the crown along with other insignia was stolen from the royal treasury at Wawel Castle in Kraków and melted down.

According to historical accounts, the crown was two-arched, made of gold and featured 474 uncut gemstones on a fleur-de-lis setting. Its near-exact replica from 2003 comprises salvaged gold from the original. In its present state, the crown is 26 cm tall, 18.5 cm in inner diameter and weighs 1.28 kg.

History
The exact origins of the Polish crown are unknown. According to legend, the story dates back to the Congress of Gniezno in the year 1000 AD, when Bolesław I the Brave, Duke of Poland, received from Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor a replica of the Holy Lance and a crown, both symbolising royal power. The destination the crown was lost over the course of time, possibly taken to Germany in 1036 by Queen Richeza. It was only in 1320 that a new set of regalia was prepared for the coronation of King Ladislaus the Short and survived until the 18th century.

The crown along with the crown jewels was kept in the cathedral treasury at Wawel Castle. During the reign of the Jagiellon dynasty it was moved to the Crown Treasury of the castle. The crown was often removed from the Wawel, for example in 1370, when Louis I of Hungary took it away, returning in 1412. In the 17th century the crown was moved to Warsaw for the coronations of the queens. During the Deluge in the years 1655-1661, the crown was hidden away in Stará Ľubovňa Castle in today's Slovakia. In the 18th century it moved around again, particularly to Silesia and Moravia. Although returned to Wawel Castle in 1730, only three years later it was taken again to Warsaw. In 1734 the crown was left at the Jasna Góra Monastery, where it remained until 1736. On the occasion of the coronation of Stanisław August Poniatowski on November 25, 1764 in St. John's Cathedral, Warsaw, the crown was transported from Kraków to Warsaw for the last time. It returned to Wawel Castle where it remained until its theft.

The seizure of Kraków by the Prussian army in 1794 had dramatic consequences. The crown treasury was plundered and the royal insignia robbed and later melted down on the order of King Frederick William II of Prussia, who experienced financial hardship during the Napoleonic Wars. Out of the gold, a number of coins were minted in 1811 in Königsberg.

Reconstruction
Based on historical drawings, paintings, descriptions and using a number of Prussian coins believed to have been minted from the gold of the crown in 1811, a team led by Adam Orzechowski of Nowy Sącz produced a recreation in 2001-2003.

The replica crown is made out of 21 oz. gold, 21 oz. silver, 11 synthetic rubies, 88 emeralds, sapphires and garnets 0.5 to 1 in. in diameter, 184 gems 0.15 to 0.2 in. in diameter, 80 pearls, and 5 sqft of royal purple silk velvet, likely similar to the dimensions of the original crown.