Crown of Charlemagne

The Crown of Charlemagne was the ancient coronation crown of Kings of the Franks, and later Kings of France after 1237. It was probably originally made as a simple circlet of four curved rectanglar jewelled plates for Charles the Bald, but later, four large jewelled fleur-de-lis were added to these four original plates, probably by Philip Augustus around 1180 and surmounted by a cap decorated with precious stones. At this time a similar but open crown, the one of the queen, existed too. One of them was melted down in 1590 by the Catholic League during the siege of Paris. The remaining crown was used up to the reign of King Louis XVI, who was crowned in 1775 in the Cathedral in Reims. French kings had also their personal crowns, worn after the coronation, during the banquet, like Saint Louis, Henry IV or Louis XIV, The main cupboard of the treasure of Saint Denis with four crowns including the ones of Charlemagne down right and of the Queens down left. One of the seven cupboards of the treasure of Saint Denis with four crowns including the one of Saint Louis down right Crown of Saint Louis. which were later donated to the treasury of the Abbey of Saint Denis near Paris, The royal crowns in the treasure of Saint Denis in 1706, from Dom Michel Félibien, Histoire de L'Abbaye Royale de Saint-Denys en France Plates of the treasure from Dom Michel Félibien, Histoire de......
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