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The Monomachos crown depicts Constantine IX and his fellow Zoje and Theodora, surrounded by vines and birds. | Credit: Alamy
Name: Monomacha crown
What is it: A series of enameled gold panels
Where is he from: Ivanka near Nitros and the village in Central Slovakia
When it was made: Between 1042 and 1050 AD
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What does this say about the past:
1860 The farmer stretched out the field in Central Slovakia when he visited an impressive panel with a gold Byzantine crown. For more than a century, experts claimed whether it belonged to the 11th-century ruler Constantine IX Monomachos and how the crown ended in the far northern countries. Byzantine Empire;
Constantine IX reigned from 1042 to 1055. His name “monomachos” means “one who fights one” or, in principle, “Gladiator” in Greek, is distinguished as part of an aristocratic family acting in the Byzantine Empire politics. However, he was not born in a royal family and ruled the Emperor just because he was a spouse of Empress Zoje, and they shared the throne with Zoje’s sister Theodora.
Monomacha crown, collection Hungarian National Museum in Budapestconsists of seven gold plates, each with rounded top and colorful enamel decorations. The largest of the plates is 4.5 -inch (11.5 centimeters) in height and depicts Constantine IX, holding the cavalry standard in the right hand, and the purple silk roll on the left, both of which were imperial symbols of leadership. The Greek inscription on the central panel reads: “Constantine, Roman Emperor, Monomacha.”
Flanking Konstantin IX is a panel depicting the Empress Zooe on the right and the left – Empress Theodora. Both Greek are marked as “the most devout”. When rounded by the crown, there are four groups decorated with dancers, and the personification of two virtues: justice and humility.
According to the Hungarian National Museum, symmetrical holes on the sides of the golden plates may mean that they were originally attached to the cloth cover, not attached together into a separate crown.
However, the meaning of the crown and the person to whom it really belonged was discussed for decades.
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To 1994Byzantine scientist Nikolaos Oiconomides said the crown was actually a falsification of the 19th century based on these statements about unusual imperial clothing choices, Greek notes, along with the discovery of the crown in present -day Slovakia, from the imperial Byzantine -bizarre power seats in the imperial Byzantine. Istanbul;
But art historian Edel denied those statements a 2000 InvestigationBy specifying the similarities of the art of the imperial clothing and other Byzantine art, the fact that Greek mistakes are mainly accents that show a simple shift, and noted that the crown in the nitra could have accessed as a diplomatic gift from Constantine IX to the local ruler.
The Crown of Monomacha is one of three surviving Byzantine crowns, but it is now impossible to draw final conclusions about many aspects, Kiss said. Additional research is needed to fully understand the value of the gold panel headgear.