Crowns and anointings: the history of the Danish crowns

We stand here in the treasury beneath Rugenborg Castle with the oldest surviving royal crown in Denmark before us Peter you know something about this don't you A crown crafted by a goldsmith in Odense in 1596 first used at the coronation of Christian IV in the same year What makes this royal crown Christian IV's crown so unique So it's simply a fantastic piece of goldsmithing truly on the highest European level Still one can't help wondering how it ended up with a goldsmith in Odense on Funen We know he at least received drawings from Hamburg It's incredibly detailed in its execution It's heavy—weighing 2.8 kilograms A crown is a heavy burden for a king It is adorned with numerous figures depicting the king's duties toward his people Is it essentially a kind of campaign poster in reality Yes or perhaps in reality a promise One could say that no one could actually see it on the coronation day since no one came close enough Where the master could that was what mattered most And as we look at each other there we see a bird Yes a bird with spread wings and small chicks at its feet And actually it's supposed to be about a pelican and at that time people believed pelicans slashed themselves to death And fed his children with blood And this should be seen as a symbol that the king must be willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of his people And next to that we have a woman sitting on a lion with a heavy burden on her shoulders Yes on the other three roofs we have three different figures These are virtues that is categorized qualities The figure seated here a woman resting on the back of a lion holds a heavy object over her head It must convey the strength for the king must be strong And then on our opposite side we have a woman sitting with weight and difficulty We can best interpret this as justice—justice is what the king must uphold And here on the left side we have a woman with two children That should represent maternal love Thus the king must care for his people as a mother cares for her children That’s the entire story embedded within the crown And it's indeed a crown that's also somewhat excessive at this point given that it's open French and English pounds are closed but this one is open Could it also be a deliberate choice by Christian IV to step down We believe so We truly believe that yes Because at this point Christian IV had an unresolved issue with the Swedes Regarding the use of the three crowns of the Kalmar Union in its heraldic shield So we speculate that Christian IV fashioned his crown using one of the lesser crowns from the Kalmar Union To emphasize for the Swedes that it is he not the Swedes who rules over the Kalmar Union here Now we've discussed how each king gets his own crown made When it came time to crown his son Frederik III the king actually found himself short on funds And in fact there's no budget to make a new crown And this crown is additionally forged in Germany So what do you do then with Frederik III to be crowned Frederik III sends some men to Hamburg where it is being prepared And it sets them free to find the crown And they’ll have to pay off the loan plus the interest that’s attached to it So one comes home with the crown But Frederick III after all thinks the crown is so creakily old-fashioned So we're forced to make a landing So he gets six rivets installed into the crown so it nearly lands in the helmet It was taken away later We have a miniature portrait of Frederick III showing him here with the crown And that also means the crown that Frederick III wears at his coronation It's not heavy it weighs 4.8 kilograms No almost 5 kilograms on the head And one might reasonably wonder a bit about the fact that he couldn’t afford to have a new crown made He apparently still had two kilograms of gold he could put into that thing So the story doesn't quite add up And then when Christian V —that is Christian IV's grandson—comes to be crowned well that's the end of it That just doesn't fly anymore—it's frankly a bit outdated Even though Christian V actually had a deep appreciation for what Christian IV had accomplished so Christian V decides well then we'll keep Christian IV's crown in its original form Frederik III's efforts are highlighted and then Christian IV's crown is brought to Rosenborg chosen as the treasury and passed through the boat Then he uses those two kilos of lovely gold from that effort to make a new crown for himself And is that the crown we're about to look at now Yes And here we stand before the fulfillment of the wish that Christian V had o create a new crown to replace the one refashioned by Christian IV which his father Frederik III had worn A highly French-inspired crown First and foremost we can see that it is closed And it's not nearly as colorful as Christian IV's crown A completely different kind of crown Peter Yes So that was indeed the new ideal that emerged in kroner There was also a trend with crowns And that's exactly what you're saying about the white stones The crown is set against a backdrop of large colorful unique stones There are approximately 2 600 diamonds on the crown And there are thus two very large blue sofas and two red grenades above the ears The large sapphire on the front actually has a story It is one of the few stones in the royal collection with ancient history It is said that Christian I received it during his journey to Italy in 1474 as a bribe from the Duke of Lombardy It's not entirely clear what the bribe entailed but it involved Christian I traveling to Rome and he was to meet the pope and request permission to establish a monastery in Copenhagen This took place in 1479 And he got that stone from the heart of the pope because he had to slip in a favorable word on behalf of the pope With some soil that the heart longed for And then he got the stone Then it was brought home and remained in the treasury at Gotthard Castle for many years until Christian IV had it brought to Copenhagen He stared at the riding gear that Christian IV's horse had worn the very same gear Christian IV had saved from the coronation And it also saved his eldest son as well as the wedding attire of the chosen prince Christian Then Christian V decided to place it permanently just above the king's forehead on the crown It's quite striking that intense blue shade really Moreover it's also a crown which despite appearing simple is actually filled with various symbols We could start from the top Yes from the top we have the ridged blade e globe of the world with a cross upon it where the Lord sits there and the world bends above or the beams meet above the king's head and highest of all sits the lord himself And as we go further down So those poles are firmly stuck in eight palm fronds I mean palm fronds also directing attention to Christianstøv in Roseland on Palm Sunday There's another small detail you actually need to know otherwise you'd never notice it There's actually a small monogram hidden behind this diamond right above Sofien Yes there's indeed a large diamond sitting above Sofien And it is the largest diamond on the crown On the reverse side there is a crown-adorned C5 meaning Christian the Fifth He who is the creator of the crown A kind of small signature A small signature yes It belongs not to art but to the king Yes it's quite a magnificent example of a royal crown which was last used during the final anointing of Christian VIII in 1840 Men it's still occasionally in use from time to time It still has one function left Yes and that's just how it is when the king passes away his coffin placed on display in the church of Christiansborg Palace on Loris' Day Thus one takes the crown here at Rosenborg Castle and places it on the coffin's lid It was last used therefore when the queen's father passed away in 1972 And it's been over 50 years now It was located there alongside the other crown jewels in the chest It was the crowns that were part of the regalia and here we have the other items that belong specifically to the coronation regalia Peter Yes first and foremost there's the soap dispenser over here to the left with a small crown It is heavy the burden the king bears beneath the anointing crown And the three items are still used as they are displayed at King Loris's castrum And then we have one more small item—the tiny jar containing the fortunate anointing oil with which the king was anointed Peter this is a well-protected room we've just entered Well it's practically the very best thing we might as well call it that Yes but why is it the best This is the royal chamber It was here that the monarchy kept the crown and those symbols indicating absolute power So it was simply the beating heart of autocracy that lay here Actually it takes three keys to get into this room in reality Yes they said the king had the only key so without the king's key no one could enter here Shouldn't we try opening some of these cabinets here They're practically secret cabinets You can actually see quite clearly how some of the objects were arranged That’s indeed the case So the two kroner have indeed been up on those two pegs up there And clearly visible are the soapstone carvings rice paddies and swords placed down front Thus the king's crown here and the queen's here The scepter here Yes and then the soap holder and the sword in the last one There's a string attached to each of the two And if you pull on it the crown spins around I simply have to try it Try seeing if it works I'm pulling Yes it truly does You could simply see the crown from every angle without having to turn it with your hands Yes Can you imagine the special guests walking in and seeing this room—and what was hidden inside Yes well it was the king's finest achievement after all And there were also things in the other cabinets that the king enjoyed showing me So it must be perfectly clear that whenever the king has had visitors from his colleagues he's come here opened the cabinet and pulled the string So the regalia are placed up here What else is stored in this cabinet On the back wall and it might be hard to imagine now there used to hang the salvaging cup The crown had been lying on the top shelf in its case So it was simply all the symbols on the recording It's right here This room is almost the heart of the monarchy in reality Yes