Crown of Napoleon
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The '''Crown of Napoleon''' was a [[coronation crown]] manufactured for the self-proclaimed Emperor [[Napoleon I of France]]. He used it in his [[coronation]] on [[December 2]] [[1804]]. Napoleon called his new crown the '''Crown of Charlemagne''', the name of the ancient royal coronation crown of France that had been destroyed in the [[French Revolution]], a name which allowed him to compare himself to the famed [[mediæval]] monarch [[Charlemagne]], King of the [[Franks]] and [[Holy Roman Emperor]].
==Origins==
[[Image:Jacques-Louis David 006.jpg|thumb|left|300px|''Coronation of Napoleon'', memorialised by [[Jacques-Louis David]].]]
The [[French Revolution]] of the 1790s had led to the destruction of most of the ancient [[French Crown Jewels]] along with the eventual abolition of the [[French monarchy]] and the [[execution (legal)| execution]] of King [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] and Queen [[Marie Antoinette]].
When Napoleon I declared himself [[French Emperor]] a decade later he decided to create new Imperial [[regalia]], the centrepiece of which was his ''Charlemagne crown''.
==Usage==
[[Image:Ingres, Napoleon on his Imperial throne.jpg|thumb|right|Napoleon on his Imperial throne (wearing his laurel leaf crown). <br><small>painting by [[Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres]] in 1806.</small>]]
In the coronation itself, which took place not in the traditional location of French royal coronations, the [[Cathedral]] in [[Reims]], but in [[Notre Dame de Paris|Notre Dame]] in [[Paris]], he actually used two crowns. Initially he placed a laurel crown of the Roman emperors on his own head. Afterward he briefly placed the imperial Charlemagne crown on his head, then touched it to the head of his empress, Josephine.
==Design==
As was the norm with [[Europe]]an crowns, Napoleon's crown is made up of eight [[half-arch (crowns)|half-arch]]es which meet at a golden globe, on top of which is placed a cross.
The crown itself is mock [[mediæval]] in style, reliant totally on gold and metallic decoration and devoid of the major covering with diamonds and jewels fashionable in crowns made later in the 19th century.
==After the Empire==
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Bokassa.jpg|thumb|120px|left|Emperor [[Bokassa]]]] -->
The ''Crown of Napoleon'' was used until his second overthrow in 1815. King [[Louis XVIII of France|Louis XVIII]], brother of Louis XVI, was installed on the throne as [[King of France]] following Napoleon's overthrow. In contrast both to his brother and to Napoleon, the new king opted not to have a coronation. When his brother, [[Charles X of France|Charles X]] became king in 1824, he reinstated the traditional monarchical coronation in Reims and was crowned using the remaining pre-revolutionary French royal crown, the [[Crown of Louis XV]]. No more French coronations, either imperial or royal, followed Charles X's overthrow in 1830.
When [[Napoleon III]] proclaimed himself French emperor in 1852 he opted to neither have a coronation nor wear Napoleon I's crown. Nevertheless, a crown was created for Empress [[Eugenie de Montijo|Eugenie]], the [[Crown of Empress Eugenie]].
==Sale of the French Crown Jewels==
In 1885, to impede any further attempts at royal or imperial restorations, the French National Assembly opted to sell most of the French Crown Jewels. Only a handful of crowns were kept for historic reasons, and they had their precious jewels replaced in them by decorated glass. Napoleon I's crown was one of the few kept. It is now on display in the [[Louvre]] museum in [[Paris]].
{{crowns}}
[[Category:Crowns|Napoleon]]
[[Category:19th century in France]]
[[Category:House of Bonaparte]]
[[Category:Napoleon]]
[[is:Kóróna Napóleons]]