Shape of the Triple Tiara
Main article: Decoration of the Papal Tiara
Each tiara contained at the back two lappets; highly decorated strips of cloth stitched with golden thread, on which the coat of arms or other symbol of the pope to whom the individual tiara had been given, were stitched.
There are two other unusual tiaras: a papier-mâché tiara made when Pope Pius VI was in forced exile without a normal papal tiara to be crowned with, and the one made for Pope Paul VI in 1963. Shaped like a cross between a beehive and a bullet, and made of silver, Pope Paul's tiara contained few jewels. The three tiers were represented simply by three circles running in parallel around the exterior.
The tiara given to Pope Pius IX in 1877 by the Vatican's Palatine Honour guard in honour of his Jubilee (see photograph below) 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 and Pope John XXIII; both were crowned using it. Pope Pius XI's 1922 crown, in contrast was much less decorated and much more conical in shape.
Weight of the tiara
A number of popes deliberately had new tiaras made because they found those in the collection either too small, too heavy or a combination of both. Rather than use the papier-mâché tiara, Pope Gregory XVI had a new lightweight tiara made in the 1840s. In his eighties during the 1870s, Pope Pius IX found the other tiaras too heavy to wear and found that of his predecessor, Pope Gregory, too small, so he had a lightweight tiara made also. In 1908 Pope Pius X had another lightweight tiara made as he found that the normal tiaras in use were too heavy, while the lightweight ones did not fit comfortably.
New methods of manufacture in the twentieth century enabled the creation of lighter normal tiaras, producing the 2 lb (900 g) tiaras of Pius XI and John XXIII. That, combined with the existence of a range of lightweight tiaras from earlier popes, meant that no pope since Pius X in 1908 has needed to make their own special lightweight tiara.
Symbolism of the Triple Tiara
Just what the three crowns of the Triple Tiara symbolise is disputed. Even the Holy See and Vatican City, which are two distinct entities, give different nuanced interpretations on their websites. The former link it to the threefold authority of the 'Supreme Pontiff: Universal Pastor (top), Universal Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (middle) and Temporal Power (bottom)' (Holy See interpretation) (http://www.ewtn.com/jp2/papal3/tiara.htm|) while the latter interpretes the three tiers as meaning 'Father of princes and kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour Jesus Christ' (Vatican interpretation) (http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sp_ss_scv/insigne/triregno_en.html|). When popes were crowned, the following words were used:
Accipe thiaram tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse Patrem Principum et Regum, Rectorem Orbis, in terra Vicarium Salvatoris Nostri Jesu Christi, cui est honor et gloria in sæcula sœculorum.
(Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, Vicar of Our Savior Jesus Christ on earth, to him be the honor and glory forever and ever.)
However ultimately no-one knows what they symbolise for all the theories, including the words used in the coronation, either pre-date or post-date the addition of the third level to the tiara. The various meaning may well have emerged to justify a three-tiered crown created in that format for completely different reasons.
The continuing symbolism of the tiara can be seen in the decision of one self-proclaimed 'Pope Gregory XVII', Clemente Domínguez y Gómez of the Palmarian Catholic Church, who believed that he was the rightful successor of Pope Paul VI, to be crowned with his own tiara in a ceremony in Spain in 1978. (Image of his coronation with his own version of a papal tiara is at the bottom of this page.)
Origins
According to James-Charles Noonan[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara#endnote_Noonan) the lowest of the three crowns appeared at the base of the traditional white papal headgear in the ninth century. When the popes assumed temporal power in the Papal States, the base crown became decorated with jewels to resemble the crowns of princes. He suggested that a second crown was added by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298 to symbolize spiritual dominion. Very soon after, in or around 1314, a third crown and lappets (cloth strips) were added; Pope Clement V was the first to wear the triple tiara. Though a powerful symbol of the papacy, it has not always been respected even by its wearers. One mediæval pope, Innocent VIII, even pawned off his papal tiara. A Protestant theory is that the three crowns (triregnos) fulfilled Daniel's prophecy in the seventh chapter of his book in which the "little horn" of the Roman Papacy uproots three kingdoms before it.
However not all sources agree with this chronology.
Usage
The Papal Coronation
Main article: Papal Coronation
Undoubtedly the most famous occasion when the triple tiara was used was the papal coronation, when, in a six-hour ceremony, the new pope would be carried in state on the sedia gestatoria (portable throne - see image of Pope John XXIII above), with attendants fanning the pontiff with ostrich feathers (fans can be seen in the background of photograph of Pius XI above) to the location of the coronation. Traditionally coronations took place in or in the environs of St Peter's Basilica. [12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara#endnote_hp)
- Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father of princes and kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Pope Paul VI opted for a significantly shorter ceremony than the traditional six hour ceremony previously performed.
As with all other modern coronations, the ceremony itself was only symbolic; the person duly elected became pope and Bishop of Rome the moment he accepted his election in the Conclave, as popes John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI showed by declining a coronation. However the ceremony was not abolished and remains an option for future popes.
The Papal Tiara and the 666 controversy
One common controversy surrounding the papal tiara, particularly coming from Seventh-day Adventists and other Protestants, involves the claim that the words Vicarius Filii Dei (Vicar of the Son of God) exist on the side of one of the tiaras. The controversy centres on the widely made claim that, when numerised (i.e., when those letters in the 'title' that have Roman numerals value are added together) the words produce the number '666', described in the Book of Revelation as the Number of the Beast (who some have claimed would 'wear' a crown similar to a triple tiara). This claim has been made by some evangelical Protestant groups who believe that the pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church is the Antichrist. Heretics dating back to the Cathars and Waldensians in the thirteenth century also held this view of the Church.
Four sources are sometimes given to back up the claim, including two witnesses who claimed to have seen Pope Gregory XVI wearing a tiara with Vicarius Filii Dei on it in 1832 and 1845,[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara#endnote_Smith) the supposed existence of an early twentieth century papal funeral showing a tiara with the writing, and the fact that the tiara with the writing was used to crown Eugenio Pacelli as Pope Pius XII in 1939.
None of the claims hold up to scrutiny. One of the occasions where the Pope was 'seen' wearing the tiara was supposedly during a Pontifical High Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. In fact popes never wore tiaras during Mass. It was never used as a liturgical item. In addition the tiara used for Pius XII's coronation in 1939 could not have been worn by Gregory XVI as it was manufactured thirty-one years after Gregory's death. All the tiaras potentially worn by Gregory still exist; none have writing, nor does the tiara worn by Pius in 1939.
Finally, no evidence as to the existence of the supposed photograph has been produced, nor is it credible that a black and white photograph, taken from a distance inside a darkened St. Peter's Basilica, in the absence of modern photographic technology or even zoom lenses, could have picked up writing on a far-away tiara, had such writing existed. A photograph of a tiara supposedly on the coffin of Pope Pius X, at his canonisation in 1954 -- but in actuality part of the decorations at the base of one of the columns supporting the bronze baldachin over the main (papal) altar in Saint Peter's Basilica -- decades after the supposed original photograph, could not see the jewels on the tiara, much less any supposed writing.
Many historians, academics and mainstream religious leaders view the story as a classic anti-Catholic myth, a story for which no evidence has been found, even by the Seventh Day Adventists who have spent over a century extensively searching for the evidence. Finally, the title Vicarius Filii Dei itself is not a common papal title; however, the Donation of Constantine uses it to refer to St. Peter specifically.
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 from earlier tiaras. It was not covered in jewels and precious gems, but was sharply cone-shaped. It was also distinctly lighter in weight than earlier tiaras.
Pope Paul's tiara was presented to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. 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 permanent end to the wearing of the Triple Tiara?
the new pontiff is to be crowned by the senior cardinal deacon. [15] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara#endnote_paul6constitution)
The existence of this requirement suggests that Pope Paul believed his decision not to wear his tiara was purely a personal decision and was not intended to set future policy on the use of papal tiaras. John Paul I, after what was called a "long and tedious argument" in which he insisted he did not want to be crowned, was instead installed in a revised and simpler Papal Inauguration Mass, 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. [16] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara#endnote_Yallop)
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 modest inauguration, though he did say in his Inauguration homily that it was simply "not the time" to wear a tiara, while dismissing the claims made that the tiara in some way represented the continuation of papal claim to temporal power.
Pope John Paul II explicitly mentioned the word 'inauguration' rather than coronation in his 1996 Apostolic Constitution, in which he wrote
However the phraseology is descriptive, not prescriptive. Instead of explicitly speaking of an 'inauguration ceremony' or 'the Papal Inauguration Mass' it spoke simply of the 'ceremony of the inauguration of the pontificate', an ambiguous phraseology, especially with the inclusion of the word 'the', as any number of different types of ceremonies, even coronations, can be described amounting to the inaugurating (ie, ceremonial beginning) of a pontificate. John Paul's terminology left it up to his successor to decide what sort of solemn ceremony to use to inaugurate his pontificate. All it explicitly required was that some solemn ceremony take place.
With the disappearance of the papal coronation, the British monarch is now the only monarch in a western country to receive a coronation. All others, like modern popes, are inaugurated into office. However, the tiara has not been abolished, merely laid aside in terms of usage. Thus a future pope could decide to be crowned and wear one of the Triple Tiaras: the recent increased usage of some traditional elements, most notably the Tridentine Mass, which in an about turn is now being approved for usage more widely,[18] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara#endnote_Tridentine) might open up the prospect of a return of what was the papal symbol pre-Second Vatican Council.
Should Benedict XVI issue his own Apostolic Constitution on events surrounding the selection of a pope, Benedict XVI may opt to reinstate the requirement for a coronation, allow John Paul's non-perscriptive terminology to continue to be used, or explicitly require a formal Papal Inauguration as the only option.
One of the papal tiaras remains in use, however; it 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.
Tiara envy
Conversely, the papal coronation ceremony, in which the Pope was fanned with Ostrich feathers and carried in a sedia gestatoria (portable throne), was based on ceremonies witnessed in Constantinople in the Middle Ages.
The triple tiara in Tarot
Medieval tarot cards contained a card showing a woman wearing a papal tiara and known as the Papess/High Priestess. The meaning and symbolism of the card is uncertain. The crowned woman has variously been identified as Pope Joan (a supposed woman pope who featured in medieval myths—some cards also show a child; the Pope Joan myth had suggested that Joan, who had disguised herself as a man and been elected pope, had been found out when she gave birth during a papal procession), Mary, Mother of God, Cybele, Isis, or Venus. The use of a papal tiara worn by a woman in cards produced during the Protestant Reformation, and the use of apparent images of 'Pope Joan' and her child, has been seen as a Protestant attempt to ridicule the papacy.
The papal tiara however disappeared from later cards, who showed the Papess wearing more standard medieval female headgear. The tarot cards also contained a representation of the pope, in some cases crowned with a papal tiara.[19] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara#endnote_tarot)
Footnotes
- ^ Some accounts of the papal tiara call it the Triregno, others the triregnum. The Holy See's press office uses the latter name.
- ^ Papal Inauguration Homily of Pope John Paul II, L'Osservatore Romano (Text of the Homily) (http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1138)
- ^ website of a priest who is an expert on ecclesiastical heraldry (http://www.home.earthlink.net/~herald97/guyselvester/)
- ^ "The use of the crozier and mitre in the coat-of-arms is suppressed." Section 28. Instructions on the Dress, Titles and Coats-of-Arms of Cardinals, Bishops and Lesser Prelates by Pope Paul VI, published in L'Osservatore Romano, 17 April 1969.
- ^ Designed by Ambrogio Foppa with a massive cost of 200,000 ducats, one third of the papacy's annual income, at a time when a parish priest was paid 25 ducats a year.
- ^ To give a comparison in weights, St. Edward's Crown, with which British monarchs are crowned, weighs only 4 lb 12 oz (2.155 kg). Yet Queen Elizabeth II after her coronation commented how the crown "does get rather heavy". Similarly King George said after the Delhi Durbar in 1911 how the Imperial Crown of India "hurt my head as it is rather heavy". Yet both these crowns are lighter than most papal tiaras, and less than a third of the weight of the 1804 tiara given to Pius VII by Napoleon. Gyles Brandreth, Philip & Elizabeth (Century, 2004) p.311. and "The Crown Jewels" published by the Tower of London.
- ^ Papal Inauguration Homily of Pope John Paul II, L'Osservatore Romano (Text of the Homily) (http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1138)
- ^ [http://www.newmanhouse.ca/desouza/jpii-art1.html National Post article, 16 October ]