Napoleon Tiara

Napoleon Tiara
The Napoleon Tiara

The Napoleon Tiara was a papal tiara given to Pope Pius VII by Emperor Napoleon I in 1805 following the pope's coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the French.[1]

The tiara, which was of traditional papal tiara design, was designed and manufactured by Henry August and Marie-Etienne Nitot of the House of Chaumet in Paris. Some of the jewels and decoration for this tiara came from earlier tiaras smashed and stolen by the troops of the French Directory in 1798. The great emerald stolen by Napoleon's troops, which had once been on the Tiara of Pope Julius II, was placed on the tiara in the monde.

Tiaras were traditionally in the region of 2 to 5 lb (0.9 to 2.3 kg) in weight. The Napoleon Tiara, however, was made a massive 18 lb (8 kg). In addition it was made too small to fit comfortably on a pope's head. It was speculated that both its weight and size were chosen to humiliate the pope, who could not wear such a tiara, or if he did, would risk serious neck injury.

In any case, neither Pius VII nor his successor wore it for reasons unconnected with its size and weight. They saw it as the product of Napoleon's theft as it was made from past tiaras French troops had stolen, and Napoleon who had driven Pius's predecessor into exile, had stolen the Vatican Archives and forced Pius against his will to preside over Napoleon's coronation. The tiara originally contained three inscriptions glorifying Napoleon. After the fall of Napoleon, Cardinal Consalvi, the Cardinal Secretary of State, ordered the removal of the inscriptions.[citation needed]

The Vatican later adjusted the size of the tiara to enable it to be worn. It was used as the coronation tiara for a number of popes, most notably Pope Pius IX on 21 June 1846.[2] It was last worn in the First Vatican Council in 1870.[3]

With the exception of the emerald in the monde, all the jewels were removed on papal orders and replaced by replicas made of coloured glass on the orders of Pope Benedict XV. The jewels were then sold, with the money raised used to aid victims of the First World War.[4]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Cavendish, Richard"Napoleon is Crowned Emperor of the French", History Today, Volume 52 Issue 12, 2004. accessed July 20, 2009.
  2. ^ The United States Catholic Magazine And Monthly Review, Volume V, 1846, p.454.
  3. ^ Notes and Queries, A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc., Eighth Series, Volume Ninth, January-June 1896, London, Jan. 4th, 1896, pgs. 9, 10, article by Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, Papal Chamberlain of Honour, beginning in 1869, to both Pius IX and Leo XIII.
  4. ^ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Feb. 3, 2006.

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Napoleon — For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). Napoleon I …   Wikipedia

  • Napoleon I of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name=Napoleon I title=The Emperor of the French King of Italy Mediator of the Swiss Confederation Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine caption=Napoleon by Jacques Louis David (1812) reign=20 March 1804–6… …   Wikipedia

  • Napoleon Bonaparte —     Napoleon I (Bonaparte)     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Napoleon I (Bonaparte)     Emperor of the French, second son of Charles Marie Bonaparte and Maria Lætitia Ramolino, b. at Ajaccio, in Corsica, 15 August, 1769; d. on the Island of St.… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Tiara — Papstkrone (Tiara) Tiara Pauls VI …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Tiara of Pope Pius VII — The Tiara of Pope Pius VII was the first metallic tiara manufactured to replace the papal tiaras stolen and smashed on Napoleon s orders. It was given to Pope Pius VII in 1820. Though of traditional papal tiara design and decorated by jewels, it… …   Wikipedia

  • Napoleon and the Catholic Church — Pius VII with Cardinal Caprara, papal legate to France. Painting by Jacques Louis David. The relationship between Napoleon and the Catholic Church was an important aspect of his rule, which contributed to his rise in power, and also led to his… …   Wikipedia

  • Decoration of the Papal Tiara — Close up of the papal tiara of Pope Paul VI housed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC From the 15th century when the papal tiara received its third and final tier, the decoration of papal tiaras… …   Wikipedia

  • Papal Tiara — The Papal Tiara, also known as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum , and in Italian as the Triregno , is the three tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Papier-mâché Tiara — Given both the circumstances of its manufacture, and what it was made from, the papier mâché tiara remains unique not just among papal tiaras but among crowns in general.OriginsIn 1798, Pope Pius s predecessor Pope Pius VI had been forced into… …   Wikipedia

  • La coronación de Napoleón — (Le Sacre de Napoleón) Jacques Louis David, 1805 Óleo sobre lienzo • Neoclasicismo 629 cm × 979 cm Museo del Louvre, París …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”