The Papal Tiara, also known as the Triple Tiara, Triregnum or Triregno [1], is the three-tiered papal crown formerly worn by popes up to and including Pope Paul VI, who was crowned in 1963. Though not worn by either of Pope Paul's successors, Popes John Paul I and John Paul II it remains the symbol of the papacy and the Holy See, featuring in the coat of arms of the Vatican and on many papal coats of arms.
Shape of the Triple Tiara
Almost all surviving Triple Tiaras are shaped similarly, in the form of a circular beehive, with its central core made of silver. Within that one shape, a number of variations occured. Some were sharply conical, others bulbous. All tiaras but the final one were heavily covered in jewels. Each tiara was structured in the form of three crowns marked by golden decorations, sometimes in the form of crosses, sometimes in the shape of leaves. Most were topped off by a crucifix. The tiara of Pope Gregory XVI (given to him in 1834) involved three golden circles inlaid with diamonds over the central silver core of the crown, above each of which a series of golden 'clovers' shapes, inlaid with jewels. (See photograph opposite of Pope Pius X wearing that tiara.) In contrast the 'Belgian' tiara given to Pope Pius IX in 1871 had its conical shape almost hidden beneath three layers of upright golden decoration inlaid with jewels, making it the most unusual (and perhaps for that reason least worn tiara in photographs) in the papal decoration. (The picture below of Pius XI shows him wearing what appears to be the 'Belgian Tiara'.)
The tiara given to Pope Pius IX in 1877 by the Vatican's Palatine Honour guard is strikingly similar in design to the earlier tiara of Gregory XVI. It remained a particularly popular crown, worn by among others Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII (who was crowned with it) and Pope John XXIII. Pope Leo XIII's crown, in contrast was much less decorated and much more conical in shape. John XXIII is pictured wearing it below. Apart from the odd looking Belgian Tiara of 1871, the most unusual was the final tiara made, for Pope Paul VI in 1963. (A photograph of his coronation is reproduced below.) Shaped like a cross between a beehive and a bullet, and made of silver, it contained few jewels, making it considerably lighter than earlier tiaras. The three tiers were represented simply by three circles at points running around the exterior.
Meaning of the Triple Tiara
Pope Pius XI (1922-1939)
the 1871 Belgian Triple Tiara of
Pope Pius IX
Quite what the three crowns of the Triple Tiara symbolise is disputed. Some have linked it to the threefold authority of the Supreme Pontiff: Universal Pastor (top), Universal Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (middle) and Temporal Power (bottom). Others have given a spiritual interpretation, the three-fold office of Christ, who is Priest, Prophet and King. Other theories suggest the three crowns refer to the 'Church Militant on earth', the 'Church Suffering after death and before heaven', and the 'Church Triumphant in eternal reward'. Yet another theory suggests they represent the Pope's roles as lawgiver, judge and teacher.
Origins
According to James Charles Noonan in The Church Visible, the bottom of the three crowns appeared at the base of the mitre in the ninth century. When the popes assumed temporal power in the Patrimony of St. Peter (known generally as the Papal States), the base crown became decorated with jewels to resemble the crowns of princes. A second crown was added by Boniface VIII in 1298 to symbolize spiritual dominion. Very soon after, in or around 1314, a third crown and lappets (cloth strips) were added.
Usage
The Triple Tiara was not used for liturgical ceremonial, such the celebrating High Mass. Instead it was used exclusively in formal ceremonial possessions to and from St. Peter's Basilica or St. John Lateran (the cathedral of the pope as Bishop of Rome), usually when the pope was being carried in the papal sedan or portable throne, whose use was finally ended by Pope John Paul II in October 1978. (John Paul I had initially decided not to use it, only to relent when informed that without it he could not be seen by people. John Paul II opted to use what became known as a pope-mobile when appearing outdoors.) In addition, the triple tiara was used for 'solemn acts of jurisdiction' where the pope appeared 'in state', for example in making a statement ex-cathedra (using Papal Infallibility).
Undoubtedly the most famous occasion when the triple tiara was used was the Papal Coronation, when, in a six hour long ceremony, the new pope would be carried in state to the location of the coronation (usually St. Peter's Basilica or in the case of Pope Pius XII, on the balcony outside), or on some occasions in the Sistine Chapel.
Not just one Tiara
Though people often talk about the Papal Tiara, in fact there were many. Unfortunately many of the earlier papal tiaras were destroyed, dismantled or seized by invaders (notably Napoleon's army). However approximately a dozen triregnos exist, of which the earlier dates from the reign of Pope Gregory XIII in the sixteenth century.
Many crowns were donated to the papacy by world leaders or states, including Napoleon I of France, Queen Isabella II of Spain and the King of Belgium. Others were provided to a newly elected pope by the See which they had held prior to their election. In some instances, various cities sought to outdo each other in the beauty, value and size of the Triple Tiara they provided for 'their' pope. Examples include triregnos given to Popes John XXIII and Paul VI by their previous Sees, Venice and Milan, on their election to the papacy in 1958 and 1963 respectively. Nor was a pope restricted to wearing just one tiara: Pope John XXIII, for example, was photographed on different occasions wearing his own tiara presented in 1958, Pope Pius IX's 1877 tiara, or one of Pope Leo XIII's tiaras.
Pope Paul VI, whose bullet-shaped tiara is one of the most unusual in design, was the last pope to date to wear a triple tiara, though it remains open to any of his successors to reinstate both the coronation ceremony and the use of any one of the tiaras. Surviving tiaras, with the exception of that of Pope Paul VI, are on display in the Vatican.
The Papal Tiara and the '666' Myth
One common myth surrounding the papal tiara involves the claim that the words Vicarius Filii Dei exist on the side of a papal tiara. The myth centres on the widely made claim that, when numerised (ie, when those letters in the 'title' which have roman numeral value are added together) they produce the number '666', described in the Book of Revelations as the number of the anti-christ (whom some have claimed would 'wear' a crown similar to a triple tiara). This claim has been made by some fundamentalist protestant sects who believe that the pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church is the anti-christ. Some reports have even suggested the 'existence' of a photograph of a papal funeral at the start of the twentieth century (which probably means the funeral of Pope Leo XIII in 1903 but could possibly be Pope Pius X's in 1914) showing the words on a papal tiara.
Not one shred of evidence in reality exists. In the first case, whether or not the numerised total of the letters in Vicarius Filii Dei produce the total '666' is irrelevant because no such title actually exists for the papacy or the Holy See. Secondly, All of the tiaras manufactured since the creation of photography still exist and none of them have the words Vicarius Filii Dei on them. Thirdly, no-one has ever produced the supposed photograph which allegedly shows a triregno with those words on it. Fourthly, even if a triple tiara with those words on it did exist and had been photographed (presumably placed on the coffin of the late pope), in the absence of modern photographic technology or even zoom lens, with constant movement during the funeral ceremony and slow shutter speeds, the chances a camera being able from a distance (and given the restrictions imposed on photographers during a papal funeral, it would have to have been at a distance) to capture lettering on a tiara are remote in the extreme. (One of the websites 'claiming' such a photograph exists shows a photograph of a papal tiara placed on top of the glass-sided coffin of Pius X at his canonisation. Even in the 1950s when that picture was taken, the photographic technology was so poor neither the pope's remains nor the tiara could be clearly seen.) The story has all the hallmarks of a classic urban myth.
Pope Paul VI: The last Crowned Pope
As with all previous popes, Pope Paul VI was crowned with a tiara at the papal coronation. As happened sometimes with previous popes, a new tiara was used, one donated by the city of Milan in honour of Paul's elevation; he had been Cardinal Archbishop of Milan up to his election. Pope Paul's tiara was quite different to earlier tiaras. It was not covered in jewels and precious gems, but was sharply cone-shaped. It was also distinctly lighter than earlier tiaras.
Pope Paul VI was the last pontiff to wear a tiara. At the end of the Second Vatican Council, he descended the steps of the papal throne in St Peter's Basilica and laid the tiara on the altar in a dramatic gesture of humility and as a sign of the renunciation of human glory and power in keeping with the renewed spirit of the Second Vatican Council. It marked a renunciation of one of the three possible reasons for the existence of the three tiers of the crown; secular power, which in any case had ended in 1870 when the Papal States joined the rest of Italy to form the Kingdom of Italy. Popes initially refused to accept their loss of the Papal States. In an act of defiance, they refused to leave the Vatican, describing themselves melodramatically as the 'prisoner in the Vatican'. Paul's removal of his tiara was intended to forever symbolise the papacy's renunciation of any desire for secular power.
Pope Paul's decision to abandon the use of one of the most striking symbols of the papacy, the Papal Tiara, proved highly controversial with conservative Catholics, many of whom continue to campaign for its re-instatement. Some indeed branded him an anti-pope, arguing that no valid pope would surrender the papal tiara. At least one 'claimant' to the papacy after Paul VI's death, Clemente Dominguez y Gomez, of the conservative catholic Palmar de Troya movement, and who was 'proclaimed' as 'pope Gregory XVII' by his followers in Seville, Spain in 1978, was 'crowned' using what a 'new' 'papal tiara', showing the power of its symbolism. (See picture below). However not all self-proclaimed rival 'popes' have opted for a 'tiara'. Reverend Father Lucian Pulvermacher, OFM Cap., who was 'proclaimed' as 'pope Pius XIII' in the United States in 1998, did not opt for a 'coronation', possibly because his 'church', unlike the Palmar de Troya movement, seems to lack the sort of major resources required to mount such a ceremony.
Pope Paul's tiara was presented to the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception by the Apostolic Delegate to the United States on February 6, 1968 as a gesture of Pope Paul VI's affection for the Catholic Church in the United States. It is on permanent display in Memorial Hall along with the stole of Pope John XXIII, which he wore at the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
A Final End to the Triple Tiara?
In 1978, one of Pope John Paul I's first decisions on his election was to dispense with the millenium-old papal coronation and the use of a papal tiara. Though perhaps understandable, given Pope Paul's gesture a decade earlier (Paul VI never wore a Triple Tiara again) it still caused some surprise. Instead the new pope was installed in a new low key 'inauguration' ceremony, so low key indeed that he had it moved to the morning so as not to disrupt Italian soccer coverage, which would normally be shown in the afternoon. After Pope John Paul I's sudden death less than a month later, the new pope, John Paul II, opted to continue with John Paul I's precedent of replacing the papal coronation with a low key inauguration.
Though unworn, the tiara remains the symbol of the papacy, and still features on the coat of arms of popes, including the uncrowned popes John Paul I and John Paul II. With the disappearance of the papal coronation, the British Monarch now remains the only major monarch to receive a coronation. All others, like modern popes, are inaugurated into office. Though a future pope could decide to be crowned and wear one of the Triple Tiaras, such a development seems unlikely, with the Papal Crown, like the crowns of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Spain, remaining an unworn symbol of their office, confined to a museum.
One of the papal tiaras remains in use, however, as is placed on the head of a statue of St. Peter to honour him as the first pope on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29.
List of Papal Tiaras still in existence
- Tiara of Pope Gregory XIII (sixteenth century)
- Tiara of Pope Pius VII (1804, from Napoleon)
- Tiara of Pope Gregory XVI (1834)
- Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1854, from Isabella II of Spain)
- Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1871, from the King of the Belgians)
- Tiara of Pope Pius IX (1877, from the Holy See's Palatine Honour Guard)
- Tiara of Pope Leo XIII (1888)
- Tiara of Pope Leo XIII (1903)
- Tiara of Pope Pius XI (1922)
- Tiara of Pope John XXIII (1958)
- Tiara of Pope Paul VI (1963)
See also:
Note
[1] Sub accounts of the papal tiara call it the Triregno, others the triregnum. The Holy See's press office uses the latter name.
External links
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/claims.htm - Website critical of the papacy that contains information on Papal Tiaras and coronations
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14714c.htm Catholic Encyclopædia entry on the papal tiara
http://www.truecatholic.org/pope/ - conservative 'catholic' website of self-proclaimed 'Pope Pius XIII' which criticised 'anti-pope' Pope Paul VI for 'abandoning' the papal tiara. (It contains a photograph of Pope Paul laying his tiara on the altar in St. Peter's Basilica at the end of Vatican II).
wearing the specially produced 'triple tiara' with which his supporters crowned him in 1978 in Seville
http://www.geocities.com/rexstupormundi/papalmonarchy.html - unofficial 'papal monarchy' site
http://www.ewtn.com/jp2/papal3/pontif.htm contains a page on the papal tiara
http://www.piusxiipope.info/papacy.htm contains a colour picture of Pope Pius XII wearing a papal tiara
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sp_ss_scv/insigne/triregno_en.html Holy See Press Office information on the papal tiara
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/7170/ibio1.htm website of 'pope Gregory XVII', who was 'crowned' as Pope Paul VI's 'successor' by his supporters in the catholic breakaway Palmar de Troya movement in 1978