On crowns, royal or otherwise
There’s a lot of interest in crowns these days, with King Charles III getting ready for his coronation in the spring. The English monarchy is the last royal house in Europe where the monarch and his family wear crowns, tiaras, etc., on a regular basis. They are also the last royal house to stage a big coronation do; but then, they were one of the first. Anglo-Saxon kings wore ornate helmets to signify their status (the OE term for a crown is cynehelm, literally “royal helmet”). The first Anglo-Saxon king to be crowned with what we would call a crown was Edgar the Peaceable in 973. He held the ceremony at Bath after receiving the submission of all the other kings of the island (e.g., the Welsh and Scots) to signify his status as king of all of Great Britain. The ceremony organized for him for that occasion provides the basic structure of the English coronation rite that is still in use, and will be substantially the rite that Charles will receive his crown in.
Edgar’s crown was a circlet of some sort, not a helmet. And he was anointed by Archbishop Dunstan in a religious ceremony. He was consciously imitating the marks of imperial power inherited from the Romans. And so, in order to explain what a crown is and what it signifies, we have to go back to the Greco-Roman world to discuss their understanding of monarchy and its signifiers. Which means we have to go back to the world of Koine Greek – the world of the New Testament, where crowns are mentioned rather frequently.
There are two words commonly translated as “crown” in the New Testament: diadema and stephanos. The two are very different. The diadem was originally a cloth headband whose ends hung down in the back. These would be embroidered and frequently set with small gems. They were an emblem of divinity. A person who wore a diadem was claiming to be more than mortal, a child of the gods, a god on earth. If you look at an old silver dollar with the head of Liberty on it, you will notice that Lady Liberty is wearing two things on her head. There is a conical felt cap, the pileus or “freedman’s cap” which slaves who had obtained their freedom wore as a status marker. She is also wearing a headband – a diadem – because she is a goddess.
The statue of Liberty in New York Harbor has a diadem with spiky bits projecting upward. This is not a medieval circlet, but a “radiant” crown of the diadem sort typical of later Roman imperial diadems. The cloth headband eventually became a circlet of precious metal, frequently with a starburst decoration, which the spiky projections on Lady Liberty’s diadem are supposed to be. They are light rays in material form, if you will, and still the emblem of a divinity.
The stephanos was what the Romans commonly called a corona. It was a circlet or wreath of leaves or grasses worn by the winners of athletic or artistic competitions or as a reward for military achievements. If a contest crown, the leaves of it would be those sacred to the patron god or goddess of the games in whose name they were held. Different divinities’ games used laurel, olive, or other leaves. Military crowns were given for valor and great victories in the field. Julius Caesar had been awarded the corona civica, or civic crown, a chaplet of oak leaves, for his military prowess. Sulla had been awarded the corona graminea or grass crown, for his rescuing an entire legion as the commander of a relieving force. The grass crown was the highest award the Roman republic could confer on an officer.
The seven-headed dragon in the book of Revelation is wearing diadems on his heads because he is a false god. Meanwhile, the twenty-four elders “cast down their crowns” – i.e., their stephanoi, the honors achieved in their lifetimes, at the feet of him who sits upon the throne and the Lamb, from whom comes all that makes their honors possible. The elders – leaders of Israel and the Church – are not royal persons.
Crowns used by the various emperors in Roman and Byzantine time tended to be hollow metal circlets, often with enamel artwork. Eventually, arches were added to the tops of them in medieval times, and these arched crowns signified “imperial” crowns; that is, the wearers thereof had no earthly superior as their overlord. Minor kings, dukes, and other nobles also wore crowns for many hundred years, and these typically did not have arches. The red or purple hat showing through the metal in a crown, along with the ermine trim along its base, are parts of what is called a cap of maintenance, a velvet stocking cap which makes wearing a heavy metal crown more comfortable, as well as adding to the splendor of the presentation. They are a late medieval innovation.
When the Olympic Games were re-launched at the end of the 19th Century, winners of the various events not only received medals, but were crowned with wreaths of leaves. Early film of the ceremonies where people in track uniforms are wearing leaves on their heads looks odd to us. Crowning athletes soon ceased. Today, athletes, artists, and military personnel are mostly decorated with medals, collars, and badges to acknowledge the many noteworthy things they have achieved. However, oak leaves are still used as a badge to signify the rank of major (gold oak leaves) and lieutenant colonel (silver oak leaves) and equivalent ranks in the US Armed Forces, and oak leaf clusters are added to certain badges in some militaries to indicate special honor or to indicate that the award has been earned more than once. In Scouting, an Eagle Scout who earns additional merit badges beyond the number required is awarded metal palm leaves to wear on the ribbon of their medal for every five additional badges.
Edgar’s crown was a circlet of some sort, not a helmet. And he was anointed by Archbishop Dunstan in a religious ceremony. He was consciously imitating the marks of imperial power inherited from the Romans. And so, in order to explain what a crown is and what it signifies, we have to go back to the Greco-Roman world to discuss their understanding of monarchy and its signifiers. Which means we have to go back to the world of Koine Greek – the world of the New Testament, where crowns are mentioned rather frequently.
There are two words commonly translated as “crown” in the New Testament: diadema and stephanos. The two are very different. The diadem was originally a cloth headband whose ends hung down in the back. These would be embroidered and frequently set with small gems. They were an emblem of divinity. A person who wore a diadem was claiming to be more than mortal, a child of the gods, a god on earth. If you look at an old silver dollar with the head of Liberty on it, you will notice that Lady Liberty is wearing two things on her head. There is a conical felt cap, the pileus or “freedman’s cap” which slaves who had obtained their freedom wore as a status marker. She is also wearing a headband – a diadem – because she is a goddess.
The statue of Liberty in New York Harbor has a diadem with spiky bits projecting upward. This is not a medieval circlet, but a “radiant” crown of the diadem sort typical of later Roman imperial diadems. The cloth headband eventually became a circlet of precious metal, frequently with a starburst decoration, which the spiky projections on Lady Liberty’s diadem are supposed to be. They are light rays in material form, if you will, and still the emblem of a divinity.
The stephanos was what the Romans commonly called a corona. It was a circlet or wreath of leaves or grasses worn by the winners of athletic or artistic competitions or as a reward for military achievements. If a contest crown, the leaves of it would be those sacred to the patron god or goddess of the games in whose name they were held. Different divinities’ games used laurel, olive, or other leaves. Military crowns were given for valor and great victories in the field. Julius Caesar had been awarded the corona civica, or civic crown, a chaplet of oak leaves, for his military prowess. Sulla had been awarded the corona graminea or grass crown, for his rescuing an entire legion as the commander of a relieving force. The grass crown was the highest award the Roman republic could confer on an officer.
The seven-headed dragon in the book of Revelation is wearing diadems on his heads because he is a false god. Meanwhile, the twenty-four elders “cast down their crowns” – i.e., their stephanoi, the honors achieved in their lifetimes, at the feet of him who sits upon the throne and the Lamb, from whom comes all that makes their honors possible. The elders – leaders of Israel and the Church – are not royal persons.
Crowns used by the various emperors in Roman and Byzantine time tended to be hollow metal circlets, often with enamel artwork. Eventually, arches were added to the tops of them in medieval times, and these arched crowns signified “imperial” crowns; that is, the wearers thereof had no earthly superior as their overlord. Minor kings, dukes, and other nobles also wore crowns for many hundred years, and these typically did not have arches. The red or purple hat showing through the metal in a crown, along with the ermine trim along its base, are parts of what is called a cap of maintenance, a velvet stocking cap which makes wearing a heavy metal crown more comfortable, as well as adding to the splendor of the presentation. They are a late medieval innovation.
When the Olympic Games were re-launched at the end of the 19th Century, winners of the various events not only received medals, but were crowned with wreaths of leaves. Early film of the ceremonies where people in track uniforms are wearing leaves on their heads looks odd to us. Crowning athletes soon ceased. Today, athletes, artists, and military personnel are mostly decorated with medals, collars, and badges to acknowledge the many noteworthy things they have achieved. However, oak leaves are still used as a badge to signify the rank of major (gold oak leaves) and lieutenant colonel (silver oak leaves) and equivalent ranks in the US Armed Forces, and oak leaf clusters are added to certain badges in some militaries to indicate special honor or to indicate that the award has been earned more than once. In Scouting, an Eagle Scout who earns additional merit badges beyond the number required is awarded metal palm leaves to wear on the ribbon of their medal for every five additional badges.