Orphan (imperial crown)
The orphan (lat. Orphanus ), often referred to as the sage , was the most famous and completely unique gemstone of the German Middle Ages. It was in the imperial crown , the most important part of the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire .
history
Since around 1200 the orphan , as the guiding stone and the epitome of the crown, has also become a popular symbol of imperial rule in German-language poetry . Poets like Walther von der Vogelweide and Otto von Botenlauben allude to him, and the historicizing adventure story about Duke Ernst gives a fictional story of origin. The naturalist Albertus Magnus described the orphan as a pale red stone in a gemstone study around 1250.
The orphan has not been mentioned since the middle of the 14th century; it is not clear why. It is generally believed that it was lost and that the gap in the crown was filled by another stone. Modifications to the crown that indicate lost parts must be proven.
However, it cannot be ruled out that the orphan lost his mythical exaggeration as the guiding star of all princes (Walther von der Vogelweide) and that his role was forgotten. So, under the sober gaze of modern times, it could have become the ordinary gemstone as it is still on the crown. Albertus attests to a discrepancy between myth and empiricism as early as the 13th century when he pointed out that the orphan allegedly once shone at night , which is no longer true.
There are also contradicting information about the actual shape and color as well as the exact location on the crown in the sources and consequently in the scientific and historical literature.
The name
"Orphan" means something like "unique piece" (also a single line in the rhyme doctrine).
Mentions of the orphan
Walther von der Vogelweide
|
Diu krône is the parent, then the künic Philippes sî. |
The crown is older than King Philip is. |
Otto von Botenlauben
The minstrel Otto von Botenlauben alludes to the orphans in the 5th line of the single stanza from the carbuncle stone:
- Karbvnkel is called ain stain,
- It is said of him how he borrows machines.
- it is min - and it is wise:
- to hole he lit in the rine.
- the king has the orphan,
- that ime nobody shines lat.
- dirre to me as ime tvt who:
- keep is min vrowe than him.
The orphan is here - similar to Walther von der Vogelweide - pars pro toto , that is, he means the whole crown. The king, to whom the crown with the orphan does not appear, is generally understood to mean one of the double- elected kings of the Staufer period who - at least at the time of the coronation - was not in possession of the imperial crown. Such [counter] kings without an imperial crown existed in 1198 ( Otto IV. - crown in the possession of Philip of Swabia ), 1208 (Otto IV. Sole king, but the crown of Bishop Konrad von Speier kept under lock and key at Trifels Castle) and 1215 / 1219 ( Friedrich II. - Crown owned by Otto IV.).
Albertus Magnus
The naturalist and philosopher Albertus Magnus gives a very vivid and precise description of the color of the orphan, but it is rather unlikely that he should have had the opportunity to take a close look at the imperial crown himself. Following his metaphor, the stone was the color of thin red wine or a red wine sorbet:
- as if the brilliant white of snow had penetrated the clear red of wine and this had prevailed.
However , he does not speak of a milky veil , which is often used as an argument for the fact that it may have been an opal.
- Orphanus est lapis qui in corona Romani imperatoris est, neque unquam alibi visus est, propter quod etiam orphanus vocatur. Est autem colore vinosus, subtle having vinositatem, et hoc est sicut si candidum nivis candens seu micans penetraverit in rubeum clarum vinosum, et sit superatum ab ipso. Est autem lapis perlucidus, et traditur quod aliquando fulsit in nocte, sed nunc tempore nostro non micat in tenebris. Fertur autem quod honorem servat regalem.
Place of attachment
There are contradicting information about the place where the orphan was affixed to the imperial crown. According to the available sources, two places come into question, the front plate of the imperial crown and the neck plate. In the following, the arguments for and against the respective location are presented.
Attachment to the faceplate
A large stone is missing from the front plate of the imperial crown, which has been replaced by a smaller one.
Attachment to the neck plate
It is believed by some that the orphan is identical to the stone that is second from the top in the center row.
So when Walther von der Vogelweide actually describes today's imperial crown and describes the large stone on the neck plate as the orphan, the question arises why the stone was mentioned that was above the neck, not the forehead of the king. The reason could be given: "During the ceremony, the princes should line up behind the king as if behind a guiding star."
On the other hand, exactly this star on the neck plate, a hyacinth , is said to be a replacement after the coronation of Joseph II in 1764. The original stone can still be seen on a very detailed colored engraving by Johann Adam Delsenbach .
literature
- Reinhart Staats : Theology of the Imperial Crown. Ottonian “Renovatio Imperii” in the mirror of an insignia (= monographs on the history of the Middle Ages. 13). Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7772-7611-1 , pp. 75-87.