Decoration of The Papal Tiara - Multiple Tiaras

Multiple Tiaras

Further information: List of papal tiaras in existence

Unlike most monarchies, the papacy did not have one special crown that was used by all popes. In part that was due to the series of destruction of old tiaras that has occurred when at various times Rome had been invaded and papal property, including tiaras, stolen. In part, during the 19th century it was due both to the growing wealth of some Catholic sees, which enabled them to donate expensive new crowns to the papacy when their cardinal was elected pope, and also the political travails of mid and late 19th century popes.

Catholic states like Spain and Belgium donated expensive crowns to Pope Pius IX as symbolic acts of support; following his restoration to Rome after the collapse of the Roman Republic in 1850, and following his loss of Papal States in 1870 respectively, with new tiaras arriving from the Queen of Spain and the women in the Royal Court of the King of the Belgians in 1855 and 1871. Monarchs who had also clashed with the Church, such as Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, also used the donation of tiaras as a way to make peace with popes.

Others also donated tiaras to commemorate the jubilees of various popes. The fact that the late 19th century saw the second and third longest papal reigns (to that point) of Pius IX (31 years) and Leo XIII (25 years) provided additional jubilees; their length of time since ordination, length since entering the episcopate, length of papal reign, etc. This period saw the largest accumulation of papal tiaras in modern times, with both popes accumulating 10 tiaras between them, with Leo receiving an unprecedented solid gold tiara in 1903 to commemorate his Silver Jubilee on the papal throne. Leo received two alone to celebrate his Golden Jubilee as a priest, one of which was from Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany.