Tea at Trianon: The Tiaras of the Popes: Pope Pius XI

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, May 5, 2023

The Tiaras of the Popes: Pope Pius XI

From The Liturgical Arts Journal:

The papal tiara is, of course, one of the most widely known and recognized symbols of the papacy, though it should be noted that it is not a liturgical one and, as such, its use was limited to non-liturgical ceremonial occasions or as part of papal processions. Historically first mention of this headdress dates back to the early eighth century -- though its form was not the same as we now know it today, being instead a white. helmet like headdress. It is thought by the tenth century the first circlet "crown" would appear (at the base), eventually transforming into two crowns under Pope Boniface VIII in the thirteenth century, and finally to the triple crown we now know by the mid fourteenth century. The symbolism of this triple crown was intended to signify the triple power of the Roman pontiff as the father of kings, governor of the world and Vicar of Christ on earth. However, in addition to this symbolism, it was also said that the triple crown symbolized the Church Triumphant, the Church Militant and the Church Suffering. (Read more.)