Portuguese Crown Jewels

The Portuguese Crown Jewels were the pieces of jewelry, regalia, and vestments worn by the Monarchs of Portugal during the time of the Portuguese Monarchy. Over the nine centuries of Portuguese history, the Portuguese Crown Jewels have lost and gained many pieces. Most of the current set of the Portuguese Crown Jewels are from the reigns of King João VI and King Luís I.

By the reign of King Manuel I (1495–1521), Portugal had already a lavish set of jewels, the king having been one of the most powerful men in the world at the time and having been known to show off.

In early 1581 King António I fled to France after King Philip I was made the King of Portugal. António I took with him the Portuguese Crown Jewels, including many valuable diamonds. Being well received by the French Queen Consort, Catherine de' Medici, he sold her some of the pieces of the Portuguese Crown Jewels in return for France's support in his plans to reclaim the throne of Portugal and depose Philip I.

After several failed attempts to reclaim the Portuguese Crown, António I fell into poverty. His poverty led him to sell many of the remaining diamonds. The last and finest diamond of the Portuguese Crown Jewels, the Sancy, would be acquired by Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy, from whom it would make its way to Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully. From Maximilien, the diamond would finally go to join the French Crown Jewels.

During the Portuguese Restoration War, João II of Braganza sold many of the Portuguese Crown Jewels to finance the war with Spain. When João II became King of Portugal as João IV and deposed the Philippine Dynasty in 1640, he placed his crown with a statue of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception and said that she was the "true Queen of Portugal". Since then, Portuguese monarchs did not have a coronation but instead an acclamation. Before the assumption of the Portuguese throne by the Philippine Dynasty, the Kings of Portugal used to be anointed and crowned in the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon.

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