Crown of Charlemagne. — This crown, used at his coronation
at Rome as Emperor of the West, is set with large diamonds,
emeralds, sapphires, and other gems. This symbol of imperial
power, together with the gold throne, two gold shields, and
other valuable treasures, was plundered from his tomb at Aix-laChapelle, in the middle of the twelfth century, by Frederick
Barbarossa, and subsequently employed at the coronation of
the German emperors ; it is kept at Vienna as a relic of
antiquity.
Crown of Hungary. — This venerable diadem, called the
"Crown of St. Stephen," formerly used at the investiture of
the Magyar princes with sovereign power, and worn by the
first of this line of kings in 1072, was pledged by Elizabeth,
Queen of Hungary, to Frederick IV., of Germany, in the
fifteenth century. Accounts of its subsequent history vary ;
according to one statement, it has been kept in a place of
concealment ever since the subversion of the Hungarian kingdom, while another places it in possession of the House of
Austria.
An enumeration of the gems of this ancient crown gives the
following summary : Fifty-three sapphires, fifty rubies, nearly
three hundred and forty pearls, only one emerald, and no
diamonds.
Iron Crown of Lombardy. —This famous diadem preserved in
the Cathedral of Monza, Italy, dates from a very early period,
possibly, before the sixth century, and figures also in modern
history. It was used at the coronation of thirty-four Lombard
kings, the Emperor Charles V., Napoleon I., in 1805, and of
Ferdinand I., in 1838. This crown is not made of iron, as the
name seems to imply, but consists of a broad hoop of gold
embellished with different kinds of precious stones, and
encloses a narrow circlet of iron, made, according to tradition,
