Richard II's Jewels

One of the many fascinating documents preserved in the English archives is a very detailed inventory of the royal treasure, drawn up for Richard II in 1398-99. This lists 2,300 items, and in the new edition by Jenny Stratford it runs to 105 pages. Of those 2,300 items, only one can be identified today. This is the crown used by Richard's first queen, Anne of Bohemia. It was later given to the usurper Henry IV's daughter Blanche when she was married to Ludwig, son of the Holy Roman Emperor. It has been in Bavaria ever since.

It consists of a hinged circlet with tracery and blue enamel plaques supporting twelve finely worked fleurons into which are set twelve sapphires, thirty-six balas rubies, 132 pearls and thirty-six diamonds. It was valued in 1398-99 at £246.

Contemplate the lovely crown shown in the picture above, valued at £246, and then consider that the king's coronation crown, inherited from his grandfather Edward III, was valued at £33,584:

It was described as having two "great" (Oriental) rubies and an unspecified number of balas rubies, sapphires, emeralds and freshwater pearls and weighed 184 troy ounces, although it was the gems, not the gold, that made it so valuable.

What did that even look like? It is certainly not this crown, shown on Richard's head in the Wilton Diptych. No doubt it was too heavy to wear except during the coronation or some similarly august event. But what a thing it must have been.

Quotations are from Chris Given-Wilson's review of Stratford's book, in the June 28 TLS.