Treasure of Guarrazar
Encyclopedia
_01.jpg)
The Treasure of Guarrazar is an archeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
find composed of twenty-six votive crown
Votive crown
A votive crown is a votive offering in the form of a crown, normally in precious metals and often adorned with jewels. Especially in the Early Middle Ages, they are of a special form, designed to be suspended by chains at an altar, shrine or image...
s and gold 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...
es that had originally been offered to the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
by the Kings of the Visigoths
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
in the seventh century in Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, as a gesture of the orthodoxy of their faith and their submission to the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The most valuable of all is the votive crown of king Reccesuinth
Reccesuinth
Recceswinth, or Reccesuinth, Recceswint, Reccaswinth, Recdeswinth, Recesvinto , Reccesvinthus ; was the Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia in 649–672: jointly with his father from 649 and as sole king from 653.Beginning in 654 Recceswinth was responsible for the promulgation of a...
with its blue sapphires from the former Ceylon, now Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, and spectacular pendilia
Pendilia
Pendilia are pendant or dangling ornaments for a piece of metalwork such as a crown, votive crown, crux gemmata, or kamelaukion, and are a feature of Early Medieval goldsmith work...
(hanging jewels and ornaments). Though the treasure is now divided and much has disappeared, it represents the best surviving group of Early Medieval Christian votive offerings, and was probably comparable to groups deposited in other major European shrines that have now disappeared.
The treasure, which represents the high point of Visigothic goldsmith's work, was dug between 1858 and 1861 in an orchard called Guarrazar, in Guadamur
Guadamur
Guadamur is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2008 census , the municipality has a population of 1819 inhabitants....
, very close to Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The treasure was divided, with some objects going to the Musée de Cluny
Musée de Cluny
The Musée de Cluny , officially known as Musée National du Moyen Âge , is a museum in Paris, France...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and the rest to the armouries of the Palacio Real in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(today in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain
National Archaeological Museum of Spain
The National Archaeological Museum of Spain is a museum in Madrid, Spain, located beside the Plaza de Colón , sharing its building with the National Library....
). Subsequently most of the Treasure of Guarrazar was stolen and has disappeared.
Some comparable Visigothic filigree
Filigree
Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...
gold, was found in 1926, at Torredonjimeno
Torredonjimeno
Torredonjimeno is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2007 census , the city has a population of 14010 inhabitants.-External links:* - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía...
in the province of Jaén, consisting of fragments of votive crowns and crosses.
History
The Visigothic period (409-711) provides an interesting chapter in the history of Guadamur.In August 1858, heavy storms in Guadamur uncovered a series of tombs at the site of the gardens of Guarrazar. These remains were found by neighbours Francisco Morales and María Pérez.
Description
The jewellery found at Guarrazar is part of a continuous tradition of Iberian metalworking that goes back to prehistoric times. These Visigothic works were influenced heavily by the ByzantinesByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, but the techniques of gem encrustation found at Guarrazar were practised throughout the Germanic world
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
and the style of the lettering was Germanic too. The crowns, however, were purely Byzantine in form and never meant to be worn. They were gifts to the church, to be hung above the altar.
The most valuable remaining pieces of the find are the two royal votive crowns: one of King Reccesuinth
Reccesuinth
Recceswinth, or Reccesuinth, Recceswint, Reccaswinth, Recdeswinth, Recesvinto , Reccesvinthus ; was the Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia in 649–672: jointly with his father from 649 and as sole king from 653.Beginning in 654 Recceswinth was responsible for the promulgation of a...
and one of King Suinthila. Both are of gold, encrusted with sapphires, pearls, and other precious stones. Suinthila's was stolen in 1921 and never recovered. There are several other small crowns and many votive crosses. There were belts in the original find as well, but these have since vanished.
These findings, together with other of some neighbors and with the archaeological excavation of the Ministry of Public Works and the Royal Academy of History (April 1859), formed a group consisting of:
- National Archaeological Museum of SpainNational Archaeological Museum of SpainThe National Archaeological Museum of Spain is a museum in Madrid, Spain, located beside the Plaza de Colón , sharing its building with the National Library....
: six crowns, five crosses, a pendant and remnants of foil and channels (almost all of gold).
- Royal Palace of MadridRoyal Palace of MadridThe Palacio Real de Madrid is the official residence of the King of Spain in the city of Madrid, but it is only used for state ceremonies. King Juan Carlos and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace, choosing instead the more modest Palacio de la Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid...
: a crown and a gold cross and a stone engraved with the Annunciation. A crown, and other fragments of a tiller with a crystal ball were stolen from the Royal Palace of Madrid in 1921 and its whereabouts are still unknown.
- National Museum of the Middle AgesMusée de ClunyThe Musée de Cluny , officially known as Musée National du Moyen Âge , is a museum in Paris, France...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
: three crowns, two crosses, links and gold pendants.
There were also many fragments of sculptures and the remains of a building, perhaps a Roman sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
or place of purification. After its dedication to Christian worship as a church or oratory, it housed a number of graves. A skeleton lying on a bed of lime and sand was found in the best preserved grave. Its well-preserved stone slate has a Latin inscription that mentions a priest named Crispín, dating from 693 (51st year of the reign of Égica, year of the Sixteenth Council of Toledo
Sixteenth Council of Toledo
The Sixteenth Council of Toledo first met on 25 April 693, the second of Egica's three councils.In 692, the archbishop of Toledo, Sisebert, led a rebellion with many nobles to install one Suniefred as king...
). This slate is now in the National Archeological Museum of Spain in Madrid. The inscription on the Sónnica cross, a piece preserved in Paris, gives an indication about the name of this church.
According to some hypothesis, the monastery of Sancta Maria in Sorbaces of Guarrazar served as a hideout for the real treasure of the court, Toledo churches and monasteries to prevent their capture by the Muslims' invasion of Spain.