Crown of James I
| Crown of James I | |
|---|---|
 The crown in a a 1618 portrait of James I | |
| Details | |
| Country | Kingdom of England |
| Made | 1603 |
| Arches | 2 |
| Material | Gold |
| Notable stones | Black Prince's Ruby[1] |
| Successors | State Crown of Charles II |
The Crown of James I was a crown created for the 1603 coronation of James I of England.[2] It featured in a 1633 van Dyck portrait of Charles I and is not subsequently mentioned in the schedule of regalia broken up in 1649 during the English Civil War.
History
[edit]At his coronation, James I was crowned with St Edward's Crown before donning his own crown to depart Westminster Abbey.[3] The crown is described in detail in an inventory of 'Jewelles remayninge in an yron cheste in the secrete jewelhouse wthin the Tower of London' taken in 1604–5,[4] and again in a 1606 list of items to be annexed to the Crown:[5]
'Item, a Crown Imperiall of gould, set about the nether border with nyne pointed diamonds, and betwene every diamond a knot of pearl, set by five pearles in a knot; in the upper border eight rock-rubies and twenty round pearlees; the foure arches being set each of them with a table diamond, a table ruby, an emerald; and uppon two of the arches eighteen pearls, and uppon the other two arches seventeen pearles ; and betweene every arch a great ballace sett in a collett of gould, and uppon the toppe a very great ballace pierced, and a little crosse of goulde upon the toppe, enamelled blewe.'
The 'very great ballace pierced' on the top of the crown is the Black Prince's Ruby which James had inherited from Elizabeth I.[1] James annexed his crown, the Tudor Crown and some other items to the Crown in 1606.[5] James funded his royal progresses by the sale of some of Elizabeth I's jewels and some of the gold and silver plate in his treasury. He asked Sir James Cotton to investigate the precedent for selling items in the crown jewels, though he could not decide whether to part with his own crown.[6]
The crown featured in several portraits of James by Paul van Somer and a posthumous portrait by van Dyck, as well as in two portraits of Charles I, who was more commonly depicted with the medieval Tudor Crown.
Gallery
[edit]-
James I, 1618 -
James I, circa 1618 -
James I in coronation regalia, circa 1620 -
James I, after 1622 -
Posthumous portrait of James I, circa 1632 -
Charles I and his family, circa 1632 -
Charles I, 1633
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See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Roe, F. Gordon (1937). Coronation Cavalcade: The Story of the British Crown. London: P.R. Gawthorn Ltd. p. 65. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ Steeholm, Clara and Hardy (1938). James I of England: the Wisest Fool in Christendom. London: Michael Joseph. p. 252. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^ Nichols, John (1828). The Progresses of King James the First in Four Volumes. Vol. I. London: J.B. Nichols. pp. 232–233. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ St John Hope, William Henry (July 1902). "The King's Coronation Ornaments". The Ancestor; a Quarterly Review of County and Family History, Heraldry and Antiquities. II. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co: 73–74. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ a b Nichols, John (1828). The Progresses of King James the First in Four Volumes. Vol. II. London: J.B. Nichols. pp. 44–45. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ Barker, Brian (1979). The Symbols of Sovereignty. Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 46. ISBN 9780715376492. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
