Thepapal tiara is acrown that was worn bypopes of theCatholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. It was last used byPope Paul VI in 1963, and only at the beginning of his reign.
The nametiara refers to the entire headpiece, including the various crowns, circlets, and diadems that have adorned it through the ages,[1][2] while the three-tiered form that it took in the 14th century is also called thetriregnum[3][4] or thetriple crown,[5] and sometimes as thetriple tiara.[6][7][8]
From 1143 to 1963, the papal tiara was solemnly placed on the pope's head during apapal coronation. The surviving papal tiaras are all in the triple form, the oldest from 1572. A representation of the triregnum combined with two crossed keys ofSaint Peter is used as a symbol of thepapacy and appears on papal documents, buildings andinsignia, and on theflag of Vatican City. Actual use of the papal tiara has declined since the reign ofPope Paul VI, the last pope to have a coronation ceremony. Starting withPope Benedict XVI, popes have also stopped incorporating a papal tiara into their coats of arms.
The papal tiara originated from a conicalPhrygian cap or frigium.[9][10] Shaped like acandle-extinguisher, the papal tiara and the episcopalmitre were identical in their early forms.[9]
Names used for the papal tiara in the 8th and 9th centuries includecamelaucum,pileus,phrygium andpileum phrygium.[9]
A circlet of linen or cloth of gold at the base of the tiara developed into a metal crown, which by about 1300 became two crowns. The first of these appeared at the base of the traditional white papal headgear in the 9th century.[11][12] When the popes assumed temporal power in thePapal States, the base crown became decorated with jewels to resemble the crowns of princes.[11] Innocent III is represented with an early tiara in a fresco at Sacro Speco and on a mosaic fromOld Saint Peter's, now in theMuseo di Roma.[13] A similar tiara, conical and with only one crown, is seen worn bypope Clement IV in frescoes from the 13th century inPernes-les-Fontaines, France.[14]
The second crown is said to have been added byPope Boniface VIII as signifying both his spiritual and temporal power, since he declared that God had set him over kings and kingdoms.[9][15] Boniface VIII's tiara is represented with two crowns in his statues and tomb byArnolfo di Cambio.[16] The addition of a third crown is attributed toPope Benedict XI (1303–1304) orPope Clement V (1305–1314), and one such tiara was listed in an inventory of the papal treasury in 1316[9] (see "Tiara of Saint Sylvester", below). The first years of the 16th century saw the addition of a small orb and cross to top the tiara.[17]
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The third crown was added to the papal tiara during theAvignon Papacy (1309–1378), giving rise to the form called the triregnum.[18][19]
After Pope Clement V atAvignon, various versions of the three-crown tiara have been worn bypopes also inRome down toPope Paul VI, who wascrowned with one in 1963.[citation needed]
Lord Twining wrote of a tiara of Pope Boniface VIII that became known as the Tiara of Saint Sylvester:
UnderBoniface VIII (1294–1303) the hood of theregnum was lengthened and thecirclet was greatly enriched with precious stones, while toward the end of his papacy a second circlet was added. The increased length had the symbolical meaning of dominion of theuna sancta ecclesia over the earth, and demonstrated the meaning of the papalunam sanctum. In the inventory of 1295, the second year of Boniface's papacy, the head-dress, which is now usually referred to as a tiara, is described as enriched with 48rubies balas, 72sapphires, 45praxini oremeralds, numerous little balas rubies and emeralds and 66 largepearls. At the summit was a very large ruby.
Boniface VIII was succeeded in 1303 byBenedict XI, who took the tiara toPerugia. After his death in 1304 there was a period of eleven months before a new Pope succeeded. The Archbishop of Bordeaux was chosen and took the title ofClement V. He removed the papal seat from Rome to Avignon and the tiara was brought toLyons from Perugia for his coronation on 14 November 1305. In the inventory which was taken in 1315–16 Boniface VIII's tiara is again described and can be identified by the mention of the large ruby, which is recorded as missing. It is described as having three circletscorona quae vocatur, regnum cum tribus circuitis aureis. It therefore must have been between the taking of the two inventories in 1295 and 1315 that the second and third circlets were added to the tiara. It was during this period that thefleur-de-lis was used to decorate the circlets. The tiara was kept in the Papal Treasury at Avignon untilGregory XI took it back to Rome, which he entered on 17 January 1377. In 1378 Robert of Geneva was elected anti-Pope taking the styleClement VII, and he removed the tiara from Avignon. When the Spaniard, Pedro de Luna, was elected anti-Pope in 1394 styling himself Benedict XIII, he took the tiara from Avignon to Spain, where it remained until Aphonso V of Aragon failed in his attempt to renew the schism, and on his withdrawal of support from the anti-Pope Clement VII in 1419, the tiara was returned to Rome.[20]
In the 14th century, the tiara of Boniface VIII began to be called the Tiara ofSt. Sylvester, and became venerated and considered as a relic. This was no doubt suggested by theDonation of Constantine, but it now came to be used only at the coronation of popes, starting withGregory XI in 1370 and his successorUrban VI in 1378. It was used at no other ceremonies and was kept in the Lateran Treasury. It was last used at the coronation ofNicholas V (1446–55), and in 1485 it was stolen and no more is heard of it.[21]
Twining also notes the various allegorical meanings attributed to the three crowns of the papal tiara, but concludes that "it seems more likely that the symbolism is suggested by the idea that took shape in the 13th and 14th centuries that the Emperor was crowned with three crowns—the silver crown of Germany atAix-la-Chapelle, theiron crown of Lombardy atMilan orMonza and thegolden imperial crown at Rome and therefore the Pope, too, should wear three crowns."[22]
Like a bishop's mitre, a papal tiara has attached to it twolappets,[23][24][25][26] a pair of streamers[26] orpendants that inLatin are calledcaudae orinfulae.[15] These are usually attached at the rear of the tiara, again as on a bishop's mitre, although the mosaic of Pope Clement VIII wearing a triregnum shows them placed forward of the ears. All extant tiaras have them placed at the rear.[citation needed] The lappets, sometimes called "fanons" according to the 2nd definition of the word, are likely relics of the cord used to secure the original form of linen cap or turban around a bishop's head.
The 1911Catholic Encyclopedia describes the lappets on a bishop's mitre as trimmed on the ends with red fringe.[27][28]
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Pope Paul VI wascrowned with a tiara at the papal coronation. As happened sometimes with previous popes, a new tiara was used, donated by the city ofMilan, where he wasarchbishop before his election. It was not covered in jewels and precious gems, and was sharply cone-shaped. It was also distinctly heavier than thePalatine Tiara previously in use.[29] Near the end of the third session of theSecond Vatican Council in 1964, Paul VI descended the steps of the papal throne inSt. Peter's Basilica and ascended to the altar, on which he laid the tiara as a sign of the renunciation of human glory and power in keeping with the renewed spirit of the council. It was announced that the tiara would be sold and the money obtained would be given to charity.[30] The tiara was purchased by Catholics in theUnited States and is now kept in theBasilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception inWashington, D.C.[29][31] It is on permanent display in Memorial Hall along with thestole thatPope John XXIII wore at the opening of the Second Vatican Council.[32]
Paul VI's abandonment of use of one of the most striking symbols of the papacy was highly controversial with manyTraditionalist Catholics, some of whom continue to campaign for its reinstatement.[33] Certain voices went so far as to brand Paul VI anantipope, arguing that no valid pope would surrender the papal tiara.[34][35]
His immediate successor,Pope John Paul I, decided against a coronation, replacing it with an "inauguration". It was officialized in 1996 within the apostolic constitutionUniversi Dominici gregis[36] after which Benedict XVI and Pope Francis did not have a coronation rite with the Papal Tiara.[37] After John Paul I's sudden death,Pope John Paul II told the congregation at his inauguration: "This is not the time to return to a ceremony and an object considered, wrongly, to be a symbol of the temporal power of the Popes."[38]
Paul VI's 1975Apostolic ConstitutionRomano Pontifici Eligendo on the manner of electing the Pope, still envisaged that his successors would be crowned.[39] Pope John Paul II, in his 1996 Apostolic ConstitutionUniversi Dominici gregis, removed all mention of a papal coronation, replacing it with a reference to an "inauguration".[40] The use of Papal Tiara in solemn ceremonies was left by Paul VI.[41]
Though not currently worn as part ofpapal regalia, the papal tiara still appears on thecoat of arms of the Holy See and theflag of Vatican City. Later in his reign John Paul II approved depictions of his arms without the tiara, as with the mosaic floor piece towards the entrance of St Peter's Basilica, where an ordinary mitre takes the place of the tiara. Otherwise, until the reign ofBenedict XVI the tiara was also the ornament surmounting a Pope's personal coat of arms, as a tasseled hat (under which a 1969 Instruction of the Holy See forbade the placing of a mitre, a second hat)[42] surmounted those of other prelates.Pope Benedict XVI's personal coat of arms replaced the tiara with amitre containing three levels reminiscent of the three tiers on the papal tiara, with a rare exception which the tapestry used during the Sunday Angelus incorporated the personal coat of arms with the papal tiara version in October 2010.[43] Vatican spokespersonFederico Lombardi clarified that the tapestry was a gift “without any intention of changing the crest”, and will be modified to include the official coat of arms.[44] The mitre was retained onPope Francis' personal coat of arms.[45] TheCoat of arms of Pope Leo XIV also replaced the tiara with the triband mitre.
In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the documentOrdo Rituum pro Ministerii Petrini initio Romae Episcopi that confirmed the choice of Pope John Paul II to refuse the tiara and the incoronation rite.[46][47]
In May 2011, Pope Benedict XVI received a special tiara by Dieter Philippi,[48] a Germanchief executive officer of a telecommunication company who had commissioned the gift from an artisan workshop located inSofia.[49]Pope Francis also received a gift of a tiara made by North Macedonian nuns in 2016. Neither of these gifted tiaras was ever worn by the recipient.[50]
Each year, a large papal tiara is placed on the head of the famous bronze statue ofSaint Peter inSt. Peter's Basilica from the vigil of theFeast of the Cathedra of Saint Peter on 22 February until theFeast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June.[51] This custom was not observed in 2006, but was reintroduced in 2007.[citation needed]
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Although often referred to asthe Papal Tiara, historically there have been many, and 22 remain in existence. Many of the earlier papal tiaras (most notably the tiaras ofPope Julius II[a] and that attributed toPope Silvester I) were destroyed, dismantled or seized by invaders (most notably byBerthier's army in 1798), or by popes themselves;Pope Clement VII had all the tiaras and papal regalia melted down in 1527 to raise the 400,000 ducats ransom demanded by the occupying army ofHoly Roman EmperorCharles V. Over twenty silver tiaras exist, of which the earliest, the sole survivor of 1798, was made forPope Gregory XIII in the 16th century. On 21 March 1800 as Rome was in the hands of the French,Pius VII was crowned in exile, inVenice, with apapier-mâché tiara, for which ladies of Venice gave up their jewels.
Many tiaras were donated to the papacy by world leaders or heads of states, including QueenIsabella II of Spain,William I (German Emperor), EmperorFranz Joseph I of Austria andNapoleon I of France. The tiara provided by the last was made from elements of former papal tiaras destroyed after the capture of Rome, and was given to Pius VII as a 'wedding gift' to mark Napoleon's own marriage toEmpress Josephine on the eve of his imperial coronation. Others were a gift to a newly elected pope from the See which they had held before their election, or on the occasion of the jubilee of theirordination or election.
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In some instances, various cities sought to outdo each other in the beauty, value and size of the tiaras they provided to popes from their region. Examples include tiaras given to Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, the former by John's home region, the latter by Paul's previous archiepiscopal see ofMilan on their election to the papacy.
Popes were not restricted to a particular tiara: for example, photographs show Pope John XXIII, on different occasions, wearing the tiara presented to him in 1959,Pope Pius IX's 1877 tiara, and Pope Pius XI's 1922 tiara.
Pope Paul VI, whose bullet-shaped tiara is one of the most unusual in design, was the last pope to wear a papal tiara (though any of his successors could, if they wished, revive the custom). Most surviving tiaras are on display in the Vatican, though some were sold off or donated to Catholic bodies. Some of the more popular or historic tiaras, such as the 1871 Belgian tiara, the 1877 tiara and the 1903 golden tiara, have been sent around the world as part of a display of historic Vatican items. Pope Paul VI's "Milan tiara" was donated to and is on display in the crypt church of theBasilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception inWashington, D.C.,United States of America.
Most of the surviving (three-crown) papal tiaras have the shape of a circularbeehive, with its central core made ofsilver. Some were sharply conical, others bulbous. Except for that of Pope Paul VI, all were heavilybejewelled. The three crowns are marked by golden decorations, sometimes in the form of crosses, sometimes in the shape of leaves. Most are surmounted by a cross set above amonde (globe), representing the universal sovereignty of Christ.
Each tiara had attached to the back twolappets; highly decorated strips of cloth embroidered with golden thread, bearing the coat of arms or another symbol of the pope to whom the tiara had been given.
There are two rather unusual tiaras: thepapier-mâché tiara made whenPope Pius VII was elected and crowned in exile, and the one made forPope Paul VI in 1963, which is somewhat bullet-shaped, contains few jewels and, instead of being adorned by three coronets, is marked with three parallel circles and has a double-tiered crown at its base.
The tiara given toPope Pius IX in 1877 by the Vatican'sPalatine Honor Guard in honour of his Jubilee is strikingly similar in design to the earlier tiara of Gregory XVI. It remained a particularly popular crown, worn by, among others,Pope Pius XI,Pope Pius XII andPope John XXIII.Pope Pius XI's 1922 crown, in contrast was much less decorated and much more conical in shape.
Except for thepapier-mâché tiara, the lightest tiara was that made for Pope John XXIII in 1959. It weighed just over 0.9 kg (2.0 lb), as did the 1922 tiara of Pope Pius XI. In contrast, the bullet-shaped tiara of Pope Paul VI weighed 4.5 kg (9.9 lb). The heaviest papal tiara in the papal collection is the 1804 tiara donated byNapoleon I to celebrate both his marriage to Josephine and his coronation as French emperor. It weighs 8.2 kg (18 lb). However it was never worn, as its width was made, some suspected deliberately, too small for Pope Pius VII to wear.[b]
A number of popes deliberately had new tiaras made because they found those in the collection either too small, too heavy, or both. Rather than use the papier-mâché tiara, Pope Gregory XVI had a new lightweight tiara made in the 1840s. In the 1870s, Pope Pius IX, then in his eighties, found the other tiaras too heavy to wear and that of his predecessor, Pope Gregory, too small, so he had a lightweight tiara made also. In 1908 Pope Pius X had another lightweight tiara made as he found that the normal tiaras in use were too heavy, while the lightweight ones did not fit comfortably.
New methods of manufacture in the 20th century enabled the creation of lighter normal tiaras, producing the 900 g (2.0 lb) tiaras of Pius XI and John XXIII. That, combined with the existence of a range of lightweight tiaras from earlier popes, meant that no pope since Pius X in 1908 needed to make his own special lightweight tiara.
There is no certainty about what the three crowns of the tiara symbolise, as is evident from the multitude of interpretations that have been and still are proposed. Some link it to the threefold authority of the "SupremePontiff: Universal Pastor (top), Universal Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (middle) and Temporal Power (bottom)".[54] Others interpret the three tiers as meaning "father of princes and kings, ruler of the world,vicar of Christ".[17] The words that were used when popes were crowned were:Accipe tiaram tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse patrem principum et regum, rectorem orbis in terra vicarium Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum ("Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art father of princes and kings, ruler of the world, vicar on earth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever").[55][c]
Yet others have associated it with the threefold office ofChrist, who is Priest, Prophet and King,[57] or "teacher, lawmaker and judge".[58] Another traditional interpretation was that the three crowns refer to the "Church Militant on earth", the "Church Suffering after death and before heaven", and the "Church Triumphant in eternal reward".[59] Yet another interpretation suggested by Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, who designed Pope Benedict XVI's tiara-less coat of arms, was "order, jurisdiction and magisterium",[60] while a further theory links the three tiers to the "celestial, human and terrestrial worlds," which the pope is supposed to symbolically link.[61] Lord Twining suggested that just as the Holy Roman Emperors were crowned three times as king of Germany, king of Italy and Roman emperor, so the popes, to stress the equality of their spiritual authority to the temporal authority of the emperor, chose to be crowned with a tiara bearing three crowns.[62]
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The papal tiara was never worn for liturgical celebrations, such asMass. At such functions the Pope, like other bishops, wore a mitre. However, a tiara was worn during the solemn entrance and departure processions, and one or more could be placed on the altar during the elaborately ceremonialPontifical High Mass.
The tiara was thus worn in formal ceremonial processions, and on other occasions when the pope was carried on thesedia gestatoria, a portable throne whose use was ended byPope John Paul II immediately after his election in October 1978. His short-lived predecessor, John Paul I, also chose initially not to use it, but relented when informed that without it the people could not see him.[citation needed][d] The papal tiara was also worn when a pope gave his traditional Christmas and EasterUrbi et Orbi blessing ("to the City and the World") from the balcony of St Peter's – the only religious ceremony at which the tiara was worn.
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The most famous occasion when the tiara was used was the papal coronation, a six-hour ceremony, when the new pope was carried in state on thesedia gestatoria (portable throne), with attendants fanning the pontiff withostrich-featheredflabella to the location of the coronation. Traditionally, coronations took place in St Peter's Basilica.[63]
At the moment of the coronation, the new pope was crowned with the words:
Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that you are Father of princes and kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Pope Paul VI opted for a significantly shorter ceremony. As with all other modern coronations, the ceremony itself was only symbolic, as the person involved became Pope andBishop of Rome the moment he accepted hiscanonical election in thepapal conclave. The two subsequent popes (John Paul I andJohn Paul II) abandoned the monarchial coronation, opting instead for a coronation-less investiture. In 2005,Pope Benedict XVI took a step further and removed the tiara from his papal coat of arms, replacing it with amitre.
Only one other Catholic see uses the tiara in its coat of arms: thePatriarchate of Lisbon.[65] The title of Patriarch of Lisbon was created in 1716 and has been held by thearchbishop of Lisbon since 1740. The coat of arms of the Holy See combines the tiara with the crossed keys of St. Peter, while that of the Lisbon Patriarchate combines it with a processional cross and a pastoral staff. TheArchbishop of Benevento also uses the tiara in its coat of arms.[citation needed]
The 16th-centuryOttoman SultanSuleiman the Magnificent commissionedVenetian craftsmen to makea 4-tiered tiara modeled on the papal design, to demonstrate that his power and authority asCaliph exceeded that of the Pope. This was a most atypical piece of headgear for an Ottoman sultan, which he probably never normally wore, but which he placed beside him when receiving visitors, especially ambassadors. It was crowned with an enormous feather.[66]
Conversely, the papal coronation ceremony, in which the Pope was fanned withflabella (long fans ofostrich feathers) and carried on thesedia gestatoria (portable throne), was based on the Byzantine imperial ceremonies witnessed in medievalConstantinople.[citation needed]
the solemn ceremony of the inauguration of the Pontificate(at n. 92).
Use of the Tiara, a ritual during solemn ceremonies, was abandoned during the Papacy of Paul VI.
L'attuale legislazione ha confermato la scelta di Giovanni Paolo I di rifiutare la tiara e il rito dell'incoronazione.
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