Palatine Tiara
Encyclopedia
The Palatine Tiara is the most widely used Papal Tiara
in the possession of the Vatican. It was donated to Pope Pius IX
in 1877 by the Holy See
's Palatine Guard
to commemorate his jubilee as a bishop. It was last worn to date by Pope John XXIII
.
s and its off-centre monde
. It was particularly associated with the pontificates of Pope Pius XII
(r
1939–1958) and Pope John XXIII
(r: 1958–1963), both of whom chose to be crowned
with it.
It was not however the official coronation tiara. Traditionally popes received their own tiara from their cardinalate see on election. However Pius XII prior to his election had not had a see: he had been Cardinal Secretary of State, and so did not receive a tiara, and so chose the 1877 tiara from the collection to be crowned with. In John XXIII's case, though he did receive his own tiara, his election was so unexpected that Bergamo
, his native region, which donated the tiara, had not plans in train to manufacture a tiara quickly in the event of his election. His papal tiara
was given to him in 1959. As a result he chose also to be crowned with the 1877 tiara.
, three emerald
s, a hyacinth
(yellow zircon
), an aquamarine, three rubies, a sapphire
, and eight gold
points with five garnet
s and two Balas rubies. The second crown has on it ten emeralds, eight Balas rubies, one chrysolite, two aquamarines, six small rubies and three sapphires. The third crown has sixteen small Balas rubies, three larger Balas rubies, four sapphires, three hyacinths, three aquamarines, one garnet, eight gold floral ornaments each with two emeralds, one Balas ruby, a chrysolite and eight gold points, each adorned with a garnet. The top of the tiara beneath the monde is covered with a layer of thin gold, on which are eight rubies and eight emeralds. The gold covering is a gold monde enameled in blue on the top of which is a cross
containing eleven brilliants. Jewels are also attached to the lappets.
claimed that Vicarius Filii Dei
, "representative of the Son of God", is spelt out in jewel
s on the 1877 tiara. "Vicarius Filii Dei" is a title mentioned as a papal title in the forged mediaeval Donation of Constantine
. Some Protestant groups claim it is a real papal title, a claim dismissed by the Roman Catholic Church as an "anti-Catholic myth".
All photographs of the tiara, including close-up photographs taken from all sides at the coronation of Pius XII in 1939 show that it actually contains no writing. None of the existing tiaras in the collection, the oldest of which dates back to the 16th century, in fact contains the words Vicarius Filii Dei.
, chose to be crowned with his own tiara
given to him by his former see rather than with the Palatine Tiara. (He also had a shorter rite of papal coronation than had previous popes.) He never wore any other tiara from the collection and in June 1963 formally renounced the wearing of a tiara for his papacy by placing his tiara on the altar of St. Peter's Basilica
during the Second Vatican Council
. However his own 1975 Apostolic Constitution
Romano Pontifici Eligendo
still envisaged incoronations for his successors.
In 1978, his immediate successor, Pope John Paul I
, chose not be crowned, as did the next two, John Paul II
and Benedict XVI. None of them ever wore a tiara. They thus let the custom fall into disuse. They did not prohibit it: it would be meaningless to do so, since any new pope could at any time undo such a prohibition and choose to be crowned (with the Palatine Tiara or any other tiara specially made or already existing) in the same way as Pope John Paul I chose not to be crowned.
Pope John Paul II's 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis
on the election of a pope omitted all mention of a coronation ceremony, speaking merely of "the inauguration of the pontificate".
Papal Tiara
The Papal Tiara, also known incorrectly as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum, in Italian as the Triregno and as the Trirègne in French, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy...
in the possession of the Vatican. It was donated to Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
in 1877 by the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
's Palatine Guard
Palatine Guard
The Palatine Guard was a military unit of the Vatican. It was formed in 1850 by Pope Pius IX, who ordered that the two militia units of the Papal States be amalgamated...
to commemorate his jubilee as a bishop. It was last worn to date by Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
.
Coronation tiara for some popes
Of all the tiaras in the papal collection, the Palatine Tiara is the most widely used, a fact reflected in the image which shows its worn lappetLappet
A lappet is a decorative flap or fold in a ceremonial headdress or garment. They were a feature of women's headgear until the early 20th century. They remain strongly associated with religion. A bishop's mitre has two lappets sewn to the back of it. The most famous usage of lappets occurs on the...
s and its off-centre monde
Monde (crown)
A monde is a ball-like object located near the top of a crown. It is the point at which a crown's half arches meet. It is usually topped off either with a national or religious symbol, for example a cross in Christian countries....
. It was particularly associated with the pontificates of Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
(r
Reign
A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation or of a people . In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office...
1939–1958) and Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
(r: 1958–1963), both of whom chose to be crowned
Papal Coronation
A papal coronation was the ceremony of the placing of the Papal Tiara on a newly elected pope. The first recorded papal coronation was that of Pope Celestine II in 1143. Soon after his coronation in 1963, Pope Paul VI abandoned the practice of wearing the tiara. His successors have chosen not to...
with it.
It was not however the official coronation tiara. Traditionally popes received their own tiara from their cardinalate see on election. However Pius XII prior to his election had not had a see: he had been Cardinal Secretary of State, and so did not receive a tiara, and so chose the 1877 tiara from the collection to be crowned with. In John XXIII's case, though he did receive his own tiara, his election was so unexpected that Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
, his native region, which donated the tiara, had not plans in train to manufacture a tiara quickly in the event of his election. His papal tiara
Tiara of Pope John XXIII
The Tiara of Pope John XXIII was the personal Papal Tiara presented by the region of Bergamo to Angelo Roncalli, who was born there, following his election as Pope John XXIII in 1958....
was given to him in 1959. As a result he chose also to be crowned with the 1877 tiara.
Design
The tiara is made up of a silver mesh over a felt base and consists of three separate golden crowns. Each crown is inlaid with pearls, 90 on each, a total of 540 pearls on the tiara. The first crown contains sixteen rubiesRuby
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
, three emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
s, a hyacinth
Zircon
Zircon is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4. A common empirical formula showing some of the range of substitution in zircon is 1–x4x–y...
(yellow zircon
Zircon
Zircon is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4. A common empirical formula showing some of the range of substitution in zircon is 1–x4x–y...
), an aquamarine, three rubies, a sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
, and eight gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
points with five garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
s and two Balas rubies. The second crown has on it ten emeralds, eight Balas rubies, one chrysolite, two aquamarines, six small rubies and three sapphires. The third crown has sixteen small Balas rubies, three larger Balas rubies, four sapphires, three hyacinths, three aquamarines, one garnet, eight gold floral ornaments each with two emeralds, one Balas ruby, a chrysolite and eight gold points, each adorned with a garnet. The top of the tiara beneath the monde is covered with a layer of thin gold, on which are eight rubies and eight emeralds. The gold covering is a gold monde enameled in blue on the top of which is a cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
containing eleven brilliants. Jewels are also attached to the lappets.
"Vicarius Filii Dei" myth
Some Protestant groups, particularly associated with the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchSeventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
claimed that Vicarius Filii Dei
Vicarius Filii Dei
Vicarius Filii Dei is a phrase first used in the forged medieval Donation of Constantine to refer to Saint Peter, a leader of the Early Christian Church and regarded as the first Pope by the Catholic Church...
, "representative of the Son of God", is spelt out in jewel
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
s on the 1877 tiara. "Vicarius Filii Dei" is a title mentioned as a papal title in the forged mediaeval Donation of Constantine
Donation of Constantine
The Donation of Constantine is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the emperor Constantine I supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the pope. During the Middle Ages, the document was often cited in support of the Roman Church's claims to...
. Some Protestant groups claim it is a real papal title, a claim dismissed by the Roman Catholic Church as an "anti-Catholic myth".
All photographs of the tiara, including close-up photographs taken from all sides at the coronation of Pius XII in 1939 show that it actually contains no writing. None of the existing tiaras in the collection, the oldest of which dates back to the 16th century, in fact contains the words Vicarius Filii Dei.
No longer worn, but not prohibited
In 1963 the new pope, Pope Paul VIPope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, chose to be crowned with his own tiara
Tiara of Pope Paul VI
The Tiara of Pope Paul VI was the last papal tiara worn to date. It was donated by the see of Milan when its cardinal, Giovanni Montini, was elected Pope Paul VI in the 1963 papal conclave. It was this tiara that was used to crown Pope Paul VI in 1963, which was the last papal coronation to date...
given to him by his former see rather than with the Palatine Tiara. (He also had a shorter rite of papal coronation than had previous popes.) He never wore any other tiara from the collection and in June 1963 formally renounced the wearing of a tiara for his papacy by placing his tiara on the altar of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
during the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
. However his own 1975 Apostolic Constitution
Apostolic constitution
An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the...
Romano Pontifici Eligendo
Romano Pontifici Eligendo
Romano Pontifici Eligendo was the Apostolic Constitution governing the election of popes that was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1975. It instituted a number of far-reaching reforms in the process of electing popes.- Ban on cardinals over eighty voting :...
still envisaged incoronations for his successors.
In 1978, his immediate successor, Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I
John Paul I , born Albino Luciani, , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes...
, chose not be crowned, as did the next two, John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
and Benedict XVI. None of them ever wore a tiara. They thus let the custom fall into disuse. They did not prohibit it: it would be meaningless to do so, since any new pope could at any time undo such a prohibition and choose to be crowned (with the Palatine Tiara or any other tiara specially made or already existing) in the same way as Pope John Paul I chose not to be crowned.
Pope John Paul II's 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis
Universi Dominici Gregis
Universi Dominici Gregis is an Apostolic Constitution of the Catholic Church issued by Pope John Paul II on February 22, 1996. It superseded Pope Paul VI's 1975 Apostolic Constitution, Romano Pontifici Eligendo....
on the election of a pope omitted all mention of a coronation ceremony, speaking merely of "the inauguration of the pontificate".
See also
- Holy SeeHoly SeeThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
- List of papal tiaras in existence
- PopePopeThe Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
External links
- Detailed picture of the Palatine Tiara
- http://www.royal-magazin.de/collection/tiara-papst-papale-pope/tiara-1.jpg Photo of Palantine Tiara]
- Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at Washington DC