Crown of Bolesław I the Brave

The Crown of Bolesław I the Brave (in Polish: Korona Chrobrego, also known in Latin as the Corona Privilegiata) was the coronation crown of the Polish monarchs.

The origins of the Polish crown are shrouded in mystery. According to legend the story dates back to the Congress of Gniezno in the year 1000, when Bolesław I the Brave, Duke of Poland, received from Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor a replica of the Holy Lance and a crown, both symbolising royal power. The crown was lost in the course of history, maybe taken away to Germany in 1036 by Queen Richeza. It was only in 1320 that a new set of regalia was prepared for the coronation of King Ladislaus the Short and survived until the 18th century.

The crown along with the crown jewels was kept in the cathedral treasury at Wawel Castle. During the reign of the Jagiellon dynasty it was moved to the Crown Treasury of the castle. The crown was often removed from the Wawel, for example in 1370, when Louis I of Hungary took it away, returning in 1412. In the 17th century the crown was moved to Warsaw for the coronations of the queens. During the Swedish Deluge in the years 1655-1661, the crown was hidden away in Spiš in today's Slovakia. In the 18th century it moved around again, particularly to Silesia and Moravia. Although returned to Wawel Castle in 1730, only three years later it was taken again to Warsaw. In 1734 the crown was left at the Pauline Jasna Góra Monastery, where it remained until 1736. On the occasion of the coronation of Stanisław August Poniatowski on November 25, 1764 in St. John's Cathedral, Warsaw, the crown was transported from Kraków to Warsaw for the last time. It returned to Wawel Castle where it remained until its theft.

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