A hoop crown (german: Bügelkrone or ''Spangenkrone'',Hartman

entries "Spangenkrone, Bügelkrone" la, faislum),Lohrmann (1973), p. 764 arched crown, or closed crown, is a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

consisting of a "

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

around the temples and one or two bands over the head".Kornbluth (1990), p. 61 First used by the

Carolingian dynasty The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

,Schramm (1956), p. 888 hoop crowns became increasingly popular among royal dynasties in the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

,Schramm (1959), p. 562 and the dominant type of crown in the

Modern Era The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

.Schramm (1959), p. 561

Origins

Hoop crowns were introduced to Germanic Europe by the

, who usurped the throne of the

Frankish Empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

from the

Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

in 751. However their use dates back to the end of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

.Grierson, P. (1993). Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, 2: Phocas to Theodosius III, 602-717. Universidad de Harvard. Estados Unidos. The Carolingian hoop crown was most probably derived from the contemporary Germanic hoop helmet (german: Spangenhelm). The oldest such crown is the ''Crown of

Saint Faith Saint Faith or Saint Faith of Conques (Latin: Sancta Fides; French: Sainte-Foy; Spanish: Santa Fe) is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Chr ...

'' in

Conques Conques (; Languedocien dialect, Languedocien: ''Concas'') is a former Communes of France, commune in the Aveyron Departments of France, department in Southern France, in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region. ...

, worn either by Pepin I (797–838) or Pepin II (823–864) of

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

. Other Carolingians known to have worn hoop crowns are Louis II "the German" (806–876), Charles II "the Bald" (823–877) and Odo of Vermandois (910–946).

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

(742–814) possibly wore a hoop crown, although the obscurities of contemporary portraits, in particular on

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

s, mean that this cannot be stated with certainty.RGA V (1984), p. 371 Sometimes, the Carolingian hoop crowns were combined with a cap, worn beneath. Though hoop crowns were characteristic for Carolingian kings, there were several other types of crowns worn by the members of this dynasty. For example, Charlemagne also wore a crown shaped like a collar with an attachment on the front side. The features most Carolingian crowns had in common were "cap or bands over the head, edge-bands, and

pendilia Pendilia (singular pendilium; from Latin ''pendulus'', hanging) or pendoulia (the Greek equivalent), are pendants or dangling ornaments hanging from a piece of metalwork such as a Crown (headgear), crown, votive crown, crux gemmata, or kamelaukio ...

". Some of the Carolingian crowns were imitations of contemporary Byzantine Imperial crowns, which had the shape of a closed cap (

kamelaukion A kalimavkion ( el, καλυμμαύχιον), kalymmavchi (καλυμμαύχι), or, by metathesis of the word's internal syllables, kamilavka (russian: камилавка), is a clerical headdress worn by Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catho ...

). In turn, Byzantine Emperor Justinian I "the Great" (483–565) had hoops attached to his crown to carry a cross above it, creating the prototype of later hoop crowns.

Spread

Hoop crowns became popular in

late medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

Europe. The Holy Roman

Imperial crown An Imperial Crown is a crown used for the coronation of emperors. Design Crowns in Europe during the Middle Ages varied in design: During the Middle Ages the crowns worn by English kings had been described as both closed (or arched) and op ...

was a hoop crown.

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

king

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

wore a hoop crown, and in the 12th century, the

kings of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...

amended their collar with two hoops. In both cases, the object of adopting a hoop crown was not to appear to occupy a position of inferiority to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

. William's crown was modelled after the crown of

emperor Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

and similarly decorated with twelve types of gems.Schramm (1956), p. 756 In addition, William had

sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was'' and other ...

and virga created, resembling the imperial insignia. However, not all late medieval crowns had hoops. For example, the 15th-century

kings of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

wore crowns of the lilly type, a collar decorated with four lilies. The hoop crown became the prevalent type of crown in the Early Modern Age.

Sources

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoop Crown Crowns (headgear)

Origins

Spread

See also

Sources

References

Bibliography