The Papal Tiara

In my recent article about the Pope inaugurating his Petrine ministry at the Vatican a week last Sunday and his taking possession of the Lateran last Sunday I stated my great regret at the fact that the Popes since Paul VI abandoned wearing the tiara, and gave away the one his old diocese of Milan had given him upon his election. Since 2005, it is no longer used it on their coats of arms; as I pointed out in my note about Papal Heraldry saecular monarchs use a crown on their arms whether they are actually crowned or not, or even if they do not actually have a crown.

The excellent website produced by Allan  Barton The Antiquary marked the new Pope’s inauguration with a video about the history of this distinctive piece of insignia, about earlier ones which no longer survive, about the Papal Coronation and about the splendid collection of tiaras in the Vatican.

Although much of this was not new to me it was good to see so comprehensive marshalling of the relevant material. One thing where I might disagree slightly is that I think it was Boniface VIII, and not his one of his successors who added the two additional circlets above the original jewelled band of the Tiara. One I suspect sat immediately on top of that jewelled band, and was not immediately distinct from it. I say this because I think I saw in the printed inventory of Boniface VIII’s possessions mention of a Tiara with three crowns. Just when you want to have a book to hand…. I am open to correction on the point. Such a change would certainly fit with Boniface’s sweeping vision of Papal authority, and, lest you think the author of Unam Sanctam belongs to the medieval past, do not forget what Pius XII wrote in Mystici Corporis in 1943:

That Christ and His Vicar constitute one only Head is the solemn teaching of Our predecessor of immortal memory Boniface VIII in the Apostolic Letter Unam Sanctam; and his successors have never ceased to repeat the same.

One thing that I did learn from the video was that Julius II’s tiara survived until the French invaded the Papal States at the very end of the eighteenth century. Nor did I know of Benedict XV selling jewels from the tiaras to fund relief work in the First World War. The tradition of churchmen selling plate and jewels in aid of good and worthy causes is, of course, a long-standing one.

Although I suspect Allan Barton is not quite so much an enthusiast for the Papal Tiara as I am I certainly would recommend the video, which can be seen at The History of the PAPAL TIARA

The effect of watching the video was, of course, to make me yearn for, believe all the more, in its return to use.