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http://www.mfa.gov.hu/sajtoanyag/sajto19.htm
The institution of kingship in Hungary was established by King Stephen I,
who was later canonized. His work of organizing the state and the church
was embodied in the royal crown, which he received from Pope Sylvester II
in the year 1000. He had himself crowned with it on the first day of the
new millennium, while the rest of Europe quaked at the prospect of the end
of the world and the coming of Antichrist.
This crown received from the Pope had a double significance. On the one
hand it meant that the Hungarian king was spiritually a direct dependant
of the Pope, and not, therefore, a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor. So it
symbolized, within bounds, the sovereignty of the kingdom. On the other
hand, it was an emblem of secular rule given by the Pope to the king so
that he might support the aspirations of the Roman Catholic Church in the
country.
In depictions of the time, this crown bears no resemblance to the crown of
today. The crown of King Stephen was the kind of jeweled open crown worn
by almost all European monarchs at the turn of the millennium.
Although the first crown disappeared, the belief persisted for centuries
in Hungary that the Holy Crown was identical with the one donated by the
Pope to crown the king who founded the state. So what happened to the
original Crown of St Stephen?
The most likely of the many views expressed by historians is that the
original Hungarian crown was plundered by Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor.
Since Hungarian sovereignty was temporarily suspended at the time, Henry
returned the crown to Rome, where it vanished, or at least its fate is
unknown.
The present crown, however, is also a relic of St Stephen. It is probably
an amalgam of a reliquary for a skull and a Greek crown presented in about
1074 to King Géza I by the Byzantine Emperor Michael Ducas. It is presumed
that the Holy Crown known today, symbolizing Hungarian kingship, existed
by 1166. So the finest, most radiant relic of Hungarian history is more
than 800 years old.
However, the crown went through every conceivable adventure down the ages.
There can hardly be another historical art object that has been hidden in
as many countries, places, castles, mansions and fortresses.
Battles and wars were fought and thrones toppled for possession of it. On
occasions it has been lost while being brought back to Hungary from
abroad. There were characters in history who simply purloined it, and
others who kept it in secret. It has even been pawned, and buried during
flight. It has been taken out of the country many times, and on each
occasion, its return was a cause for solemn, national celebration. A
special institution was set up to protect it, with guards chosen from the
highest men in the land and a special military detachment.
Supporters of the extreme right-wing Hungarian government at the end of
the Second World War took the crown to the West, where it came into the
hands of the US military. The crown and other crown jewels were then kept
in the United States, and some repairs even done to them, until 1978, when
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, at the behest of President Carter,
ceremoniously returned them to Hungary. Since then, the crown and regalia
have been on public display at the Hungarian National Museum.
The crown has two parts. Most researchers agree that these were merged in
the last quarter of the 12th century.
On the lower part of the crown, which is of Greek origin, one of the
enamel plates shows the bust of a king with the legend in Greek, "Geza,
Loyal King of Turkia" (i.e. Hungary). On the king's head is a diadem that
resembles the lower part of the crown without its upper parts and
pendants. This, as mentioned, was presented by the Byzantine emperor to
Géza, whose consort was the daughter of a Byzantine patrician. The upper
part of the present crown closely resembles a medieval reliquary for a
skull. In its original form, the bands forming a cross may have been
adorned with pictures of the twelve apostles, surmounted by a plate
holding the four bands together and bearing a picture of Christ Enthroned.
When the reliquary was incorporated into the crown, one panel was cut from
each band, leaving a total of eight pictures of apostles.
---------------------------
http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pictures/history/Hungary/hungcro.txt
Here you can find pictures of the Holy Crown.
---------------------------
Catholic Saints on-line:
http://www.catholiconline.org/saints/saints/astericus.html
St. Astericus
d.c. 1035 Feastday: November 12
A Benedictine bishop and ambassador to King Stephen of Hungary, the one who bro
ught the Holy Crown to St. Stephen. Astericus was born in Bohemia. After becomi
ng a Benedictine, he accompanied St. Adalbert to the missions. Appointed the fi
rst abbot of Brevnov, he was also named abbot of Pannonhalma in Hungary. As the
king's ambassador, he went to Rome to negotiate the recognition of Hungary by
Pope Sylvester II. In some lists he is called Anastasius.
-------------------
http://www.acronet.net/~magyar/english/96-07/CrownThoughts.html
Thoughts On The Hungarian Holy Crown
by Miklós Nagy and István Szigeti
The highest power is given to the Holy Crown, in other words, the
Hungarian Holy Crown is always above the King.
The Hungarian Holy Crown is the sole proprietor including the entire
country, the King and all the wealth of the country.
The Hungarian Holy Crown is the entire state and society.
The members of the Hungarian society are members of the Hungarian Holy
Crown.
The power of the Hungarian Holy Crown is given by the mutual consent of
the members of the Holy Crown, and consequently,
The wellspring of all rights in Hungary is the Hungarian Holy Crown.
(Miklós Nagy 1938 )
The center from which everything emerges and returns, the whole in which
the eternity was called to earthy presence, the members of the ever
renewing Hungarian political nation with her king becomes an ideal
incorporate; everything else is subsequent and works with the associated
organs in an internal unison. (Miklós Nagy)
The Hungarian Holy Crown represents God's kingdom in Heaven and on the
Earth. This is the mystery of the Hungarian Holy Crown. (István Szigeti)
-----------------------------------
And a newer item, an earlier posting on the HAL:
A letter from Bob King, chief-of-staff to Rep. Tom Lantos (USA):
The Holy Crown was carried to Hungary in January 1978 aboard a U.S.
government military aircraft. It was not AirForce 1, because President
Carter was on AirForce 1 at the same time traveling from India to Brussels
or Paris and then back to Washington. As I recall the details and the
timing, the military aircraft picked up the Holy Crown at Fort Knox where
it was kept for some 25 years. It was brought to Andrews Air Force Base in
Maryland. The plane with the Crown and the most members of the delegation
left Andrews AFB sometime in the evening of January 4, 1978 or early in
the morning of January 5. The plane with crown and delegation landed in
Budapest on the evening of January 5. I cannot tell you whether the crown
with delegation left on the evening of the 4th or the morning of the 5th
because I joined the delegation in Budapest (I went to Warsaw with
President Carter aborad AirForce 1 and then spent a couple of days in
Munich before going on to Budapest for the Return Ceremony). If the
aircraft had long-distance capacity, and could fly non-stop to Budapest,
it would have left Andrews on the Morning of the 5th. If the plane was one
of the short distance planes that the Military uses, they would have left
on the evening of January 4th and stopped in Gander, Newfoundland and
again in Shannon, Ireland. It was certainly in Maryland on January 4,
1978, and it may have been there for a few hours on the 5th as well. Good
luck.
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