Commonly known, the main insignia of royal power is the crown, the material symbol of sovereignty and indivisibility of the kingdom. The first rite during the coronation of the kings of Poland was the anointing of the head, chest, back and shoulders of the king-elect with holy oils by the bishop. Next, the ruler received a sword, with which he made the sign of the cross, as a symbolic promise that he would defend the country and the faith. Only the next act was to place a crown on his head.
The crown was already claimed by Poland’s first historical ruler, Prince Mieszko I, who was baptised in 966. His son Bolesław Chrobry also claimed it after the Congress of Gniezno (1000), when he was symbolically crowned by Emperor Otto III. However, Boleslaw Chrobry was crowned at the end of his life in 1025 in Gniezno by the Polish bishops, but neither this symbol of royal majesty nor his images have survived.
The oldest surviving crowns in Poland are three ducal diadems from the 13th century. Among Polish royal crowns, only the third one, made for the coronation of Wladyslaw Lokietek, is known from descriptions and drawings. It has since been called the Chrobry’s Crown, after the first king of Poland. A similar tradition was started by the kings of Hungary, using the name St Stephen’s Crown.
The Chrobry’s Crown was mentioned in the first place in successive inspections of the treasury at the Wawel Royal Castle. It is known from descriptions and drawings that it was composed of gold segments set with precious stones and pearls, which, when joined by hinges, formed a circle. It was closed by two smooth lunettes, above the intersection of which was placed a golden globe with a cross. The royal attribute had ten segments, each ending in a heraldic lily at the top. The appearance of the crown is also known from the reign of Stanislaus Augustus. The royal court painter Krzysztof Józef Werner made a portrait of the king in his coronation attire in 1764, and Marcello Bacciarelli, when painting the image of Bolesław Chrobry a few years later, dressed the king in this very crown.
The Chrobry’s Crown was used during the coronations of most Polish kings until the time of the Partitions of Poland. Unfortunately, at the end of the First Polish Republic, it was lost when, after the Kościuszko Uprising, soldiers of the Prussian army robbed the Wawel treasury in 1795. During the Partitions of Poland, however, a legend was born that the custodian of the treasury, Fr Sebastian Sierakowski, had managed to hide it. Today, only a replica is known, which was made in 2001-2003.