long
time, and from whom it took its name, Henry III. of France borrowed it.
He attempted to pledge it, and so raise money for the payment of his
mercenaries ; and for this purpose he intended sending it to
Switzerland. He therefore consigned it to a trustworthy person, who,
however, was not able to reach the end of his journey, for on the road
he was attacked and killed by robbers, which came to be heard of some
years after, although at the time nothing was known of it. It appears,
however, that the king's messenger, wishing to save the gem confided to
his care, swallowed it, to disappoint the robbers. We have not heard
how the magistrates of the place became aware of the fact, but it is
certain that the dead body was disinterred, and the brilliant being
found in its stomach, was restored to the house of Sancy.
One
of the barons of this family gave it to King James II. of the Stuarts,
when in exile at St. Germain, and he sold it for 625,000 tornesi to
Louis XIV. Thus the Sancy entered the French treasury.
In
the inventory made in 1791 it is valued at one million francs. When, in
1792, the royal treasury was robbed, it disappeared. In 1835 it was
found again in the hands of a partisan of the Bourbons, who sold it to
the Master of the Hunt of the Emperor Nicholas for 500,000 roubles. Now
it belongs to the family De-midoff, of Petersburg.
The
second diamond cut by Berqueen was given by Charles the Bold to Pope
Sixtus IV. As described by Benvenuto Cellini, it always afterwards
remained
