The so-called Funeral Crown, also known under its Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 name as the Corona Funebris or Funebralis, was a part of the Polish Crown Jewels

Polish Crown Jewels

The only surviving original piece of the Polish Crown Jewels from the time of the Piast dynasty is the ceremonial sword - Szczerbiec. It is currently on display along with other preserved royal items in the Wawel Royal Castle Museum, Kraków....

.
It was probably lost before 1669.

History

The crown was executed around 1586 for funeral ceremonies to Stephen Báthory of Poland and was bequeathed to the State Treasury of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 16th century. It was described in an inventory from the early seventeenth century as silver gilded funeral crown with an orb and sceptrum

Sceptre

A sceptre is a symbolic ornamental rod or wand borne in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia.-Antiquity:...

 and an inscription of King Stephen. The crown was intended for funeral ceremonies of the Polish monarchs and was placed on the corpse of the deceased, laying in the so-called Castrum doloris

Castrum doloris

Castrum doloris is a name for the structure and decorations sheltering or accompanying the catafalque or bier that signify the prestige or high estate of the deceased. A Castrum doloris might feature an elaborate baldachin and would include candles, possibly flowers, and in most cases coats of...

. When the last of the Jagiellons

Jagiellon dynasty

The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...

, Sigismund II Augustus

Sigismund II Augustus

Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...

, died in Knyszyn

Knyszyn

Knyszyn is a town in north-eastern Poland, northwest of Białystok. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , and was formerly in the Białystok Voivodeship ....

 and transport of the Crown Jewels from the treasury in Kraków to Podlaskie was impossible, the so-called Hungarian Crown

Hungarian Crown

The Hungarian Crown was a part of the Polish Crown Jewels. It was made in the 16th century, resembling the Crown of Saint Stephen, as a private crown of John II Sigismund Zápolya.- History :...

was used as an exequial crown instead.

Further reading

• Jerzy Lileyko. Regalia Polskie. Warszawa 1987. ISBN 83-03-02021-8
• Janusz Miniewicz. Tajemnica polskich koron. Czy jest szansa ich odnalezienia?. Nowy Sącz 2006. ISBN 83-924034-2-8
• Michał Rożek. Polskie koronacje i korony. Kraków 1987. ISBN 83-03-01914-7