To this day, both the king and the queen are only symbols of "royal power", and real power has been handed over to every Englishman.
Glacier Think Bank Researcher 丨 Guan Buyu
The "weight of the crown" is first and foremost in the physical sense.
There are many crowns in the Jewelry of the British Royal Family, and the popular saying is that the Queen has fourteen crowns. In fact, most of them are ornaments, used in informal occasions, and can also be worn by other female royals, temporarily borrowed from the Queen, or authorized by the Queen for long-term use. These are not official crowns.
The crown in the strict sense of the word currently in use mainly refers to two crowns, the Crown of St. Edward and the Crown of the Empire. Both are used in the formal process of the Queen's coronation.
Among them, the Crown of St. Edward is a "coronation professional household", and the Queen has only worn it on coronations. The Queen will see the St. Edward Crown again until 2018. That year was the 65th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and the BBC made a documentary.
▲ St. Edward's Crown (Photo/Network)
After 65 years, the crown of St. Edward was once again placed in front of the Queen, who looked at it and said, "Is it still that heavy?" Then he lifted it up and said, "At that time, I felt that it weighed a ton....This gold is also solid, right?" ”
The main structure of the St. Edward's Crown is indeed made of pure gold, and with the inlaid jewelry, it weighs 2.23 kilograms. If you can't imagine the feeling of the Crown of St. Edward on your head, you can find a normal enamel pot to experience.
2.23 kg is still the weight of later generations, and charles II of the Stuart dynasty wore the rebuilt St. Edward's crown in 1661, weighing 5 kg.
The second crown, the Imperial Crown, which appeared at the coronation ceremony, was created by Queen Victoria in 1838.
The Imperial Crown and the St. Edward's Crown are very similar in shape, but the main structure is made of silver and cleverly hollowed out, which is much lighter than the St. Edward's Crown. Queen Elizabeth wore it in the second half of her coronation, but the silver crown was still too heavy. So after the coronation, the Queen returned with the light George IV Crown, a private piece of jewel dedicated to informal occasions.
Since then, the Queen has only attended the Imperial Crown on major occasions such as the opening ceremony of the Parliament. The Crown of St. Edward was quietly stored in the Royal Jewellery gallery in the Tower of London, where the Queen never expected to see it for 65 years.
▲ Queen Elizabeth II at the coronation ceremony (Photo/Network)
The weight of the crown did not leave a good memory for the queen. Recalling the coronation, the Queen said, "(Wearing it) you can't look down at the speech, you have to pick it up, or your neck will break and it will fall off." ”
The physical weight of 2.23 kilograms is barely tolerable, but the weight of power carried by the crown is full of dangers. The crown fell, the neck was broken, and it did happen, and the unflattering crown of St. Edward was a testimony.
01
The Crown of St. Edward, originally belonging to edward the "confessor" of the Anglo-Saxon dynasty in England.
King Edward reigned from 1042 to 1066 and was known for his religious piety, from which the title of "confessor" was derived. Canonized by the Pope after his death, he was the only two saintly kings in the Middle Ages, the other being Saint Louis of the Capetian dynasty of France two hundred years later.
The king's devotion to religion never paid off, which will be repeatedly verified in later history. Edward's reign was plagued by internal and external difficulties, and his death opened the door to disaster. The heirs fought for the right to inherit the crown, and the final winner was the king's cousin William, Duke of Normandy, who came to England as a conqueror, known as the "Conquest of Normandy". Edward's crown and the Normandy monarchy system combined the 1.0 version of the English monarchy.
Compared with the kings of Europe, the power of the British crown is much higher than that of the kings of Europe.
In the current popular saying in China, the British monarchy is closer to the "Qin system". There is no "vassal of the vassal is not my vassal", and all lords are to be loyal to the king. William the Conqueror also counted the land and population of the country, and the results of the compilation of households and people were called the "Book of The Last Judgment". This means that the obligation to the king will continue until the end of the world. The rights of the British aristocracy were also highly restricted, the territory was scattered and contiguous, and it was also subject to the surveillance of the sheriff.
In addition, the British aristocracy did not have the right to be exempt from tax, and they paid a higher poll tax than others, which was a major feature of britain.
William the Conqueror wanted to suppress potential challengers by strengthening the kingship, but like all monarchs, the power challenge always came from a close relative. First William's eldest son, Robert, raised his spear at his father, and after William's death, there was a fight between three adult sons. The most ruthless was William's fourth son, Henry, who rushed into the treasury as soon as his father gasped and weighed his inheritance - 5,000 pounds of silver. He later assassinated his third brother, William II, the second monarch of the Normandy dynasty, and imprisoned his eldest brother Robert for 28 years after blinding him.
Such a drama of fatherly kindness and filial piety, brotherhood and brotherhood was repeated in successive British dynasties, and the crown of the saints stood with the blood stains of blood and blood, and there was no holiness to speak of. However, the tyrants ascended to the throne in a pool of blood, and the crown of St. Edward with its own "divine aura" has been carefully guarded.
Until new "players" join Game of Thrones and change the rules of the game. In 1649, Charles I, the second monarch of the Stuart dynasty, was killed on the guillotine, and the crown of St. Edward was destroyed.
02
Charles I's wearing of the Crown of England was a series of unexpected results. It all started with his father, James I.
Before becoming King of England, James. Stuart was originally James VI of Scotland. What Europeans call "a certain world" is easily misunderstood as the lineage order designed by Qin Shi Huang, but in fact this is a misunderstanding caused by translation.
James VI was the ninth king of the Scottish Stuart dynasty, and if he followed the invention of Qin Shi Huang, he should be called "Su IX" or "Stuart IX". James VI means only the sixth James, the sixth King of Scotland named "James".
Elizabeth I (Photo/Network)
James VI and Elizabeth I, the last Queen of the Tudor Dynasty of England, were relatives, and Queen Elizabeth was never married and was known as the "Virgin Queen". She left a will when she died, passing the throne to James VI.
Picking up a kingdom is not magical in European aristocratic circles. Miraculously, James's British crown was bought with his mother's life. James VI's mother, Queen Mary, was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth and fled to England after being deposed by the Scottish nobility.
Queen Elizabeth did not welcome her cousin, who had the right to the throne, and after putting her under house arrest for eighteen years, she decided to put her to death, with Mary plotting the assassination of Queen Elizabeth.
The queen on the throne wanted to execute a deposed queen for no reason, the problem was revenge from Mary's son. Therefore, Queen Elizabeth revealed her intentions to James VI in advance, and did not expect James's reply to be very blunt, as long as my aunt let me inherit the British throne, my mother was at the disposal of my aunt. The two sides had so happily negotiated, poor Mary. Stuart was shot three times on the execution table before he lost his breath, in exchange for his son's second crown.
James, who succeeded to the English throne, was the first king to be called James, so the English called him "James I", but the Scots still called him "James VI". James wears two crowns, which is not the same as Scotland and England combined into one, but a "co-owner union". Scotland retained an independent parliamentary and administrative system, and to this day Scotland retains much of its sovereignty and sense of independence.
James I switched the throne with his mother, but did not exchange it for a pleasant reign. In terms of political achievements, James I actually did a good job. At this time, the Continent was in flames, and James I's early days in power skillfully balanced diplomatic relations, winning long-term peace for Britain. He also succeeded in the colonization of North America and the unfinished business of Elizabeth I.
However, his achievements did not allow James I to win the support of the British. Like his mother, James I had a strong Catholic complex, and because of his arrogant character, he was unabashedly unpopular with the Protestant aristocracy in England. The union of Scotland and England also caused a lot of troubles, and the two sides of the magnates competed for the dominance of the government and made many contradictions, which made James I unpopular on both sides.
Therefore, James's last fourteen years in power were in a "hanging state", and all government affairs were run by favored ministers. James I had the good fortune of Long Yang, and the criteria for choosing a favored subject were useless except for handsome appearance, so it was even more unpopular.
The Stuart dynasty began in such an unpopular way. Before Charles I took over, this new dynasty was already overcast.
03
Charles I was the second son of James I and had no connection with the throne. His brother Henry was good-looking and physically strong. Charlie suffered from rickets as a child, a sick bean sprout, who was too weak to miss his father's coronation. Charlie, who survived rickets, was also not well developed, short in stature, and had language problems, stuttering and words that did not meet his expectations.
According to royal custom, as the second son of the king, Charles was made Duke of York and trained in the direction of a soldier. At the age of eight, Charles wore tailor-made full-body armor, a small and delicate set of armor that is still preserved in museums in Britain. Despite his poor congenital conditions, Charlie was not resistant to it and was quite enthusiastic about military learning. With the help of excellent teachers, he overcame his physical defects and was quite military.
Charles also had no ambitions to covet the throne, was loyal to his father and worshipped his brother Henry. If the normal trajectory is followed, Charles will most likely go down in history as an upright and loyal Duke of York, which will be regarded as a clear stream and a good story in the long tradition of the British royal brothers.
Unfortunately, his brother Henry died of a sudden illness at the age of eighteen, which completely changed Charlie's fate. Charlie became heir to the throne and took over the crown at the age of 25. A good Duke of York, instead, became a bad Prince of Wales and an even worse King.
Successful military education makes Charlie's character strong and upright, but he is also stubborn and conceited, and easy to impulsive. If Charles I had worn the crown in the Middle Ages, these would not be any disadvantages. Richard, the legendary idol of the Middle Ages, "The Lionheart", is such a knight king. However, the complicated situation in Seventeenth-century England, even if the "Lionheart" is reborn, may not be able to cope with it. Charlie, a small man who seriously lacks personal charm, is even more step by step.
The British king at that time had to deal with two major problems, the first was religion, and the second was finance. The Protestant Reformation was completed as early as the Tudor dynasty, and Protestantism became the state religion, with the king serving as the leader of the church. This gave the British crown a big step forward. However, this is a step into the trap.
After brutal repression, the ancient traditions of the Catholic faith still have a strong vitality, with hardcore supporters at all levels. In the late Tudor period, England was already tossed by religious contradictions. Catholic supporters and Protestant supporters alternated powers, caught in a vicious circle of bloodbath.
The problem was not solved by the establishment of the Stuart dynasty, but became more difficult to solve. "Church leaders" became the king's greatest negative asset. In Britain, this sacred and glorious title binds the crown to unsolvable religious hatred, which is either hated by Protestants or hostile to Catholics, and looks like it will never be peaceful.
More deadly, religious disputes have had a direct impact on Britain's international relations. From diplomatic alliances to royal marriages, they are extremely sensitive. The Catholic countries of Spain and France were the enemies of the British Protestants, and any disturbance would trigger the frenzy of religious wars. However, these continental powers were all more powerful than Britain, and the price of their exculpatory was protracted war.
War costs money, and the king has no money. Religious issues have raised new financial problems.
According to the ancient tradition, the king was required to maintain the expenses of state affairs with his own income, which was the basis of the king's power. This means that the more the kingship expands, the more the money bag becomes stretched. The new power of the "church leaders" brought new sources of wealth to the king, far from enough to support the expenditure of the religious cause. Thus, even Henry VIII, who initiated the Reformation, lost interest in the "sacred cause" of constantly overdrawing the royal family's financial resources in his later years.
The Stuart monarchs were even less in the mood to enjoy the glory of "church leaders", and the cost of maintaining power was so heavy that power itself became a burden.
Thus, beginning with James I, more actively sought reconciliation with the Catholic Church. However, such a cause that offended half of his subjects was accompanied by great political risks, and Charles I had no talent to match it. He was too impulsive and too blunt.
Portrait of Charles I (Photo/Network)
After becoming crown prince, Charles I began a willful cause of death. He first planned an unpopular Catholic marriage for himself, trying to marry a Spanish princess, ignoring even the dissuasion of James I. Unsurprisingly, the Spanish royal family rejected Charles I's "impure faith" and refused the marriage.
Charles returned to England in disgrace, only to be cheered by the Londoners, who mistakenly thought that the failed blind date would make the young prince change his mind.
Charlie's reaction also deepened the misunderstanding of The British Protestants, who were indeed rejected for the marriage proposal, dragging Britain into the religious war in Europe and losing without suspense. Worse than losing the war, he eventually married a Catholic princess, only to change from Spain to France. The Scottish royal family has a long history of marriage with the King of France, and if there is no foreshadowing of the previous mistakes, this marriage will not be so unpopular.
The coronation did not mature Charles I either, and he went on a rampage as always.
It is a well-known fact that the king's personal purse has long since dried up. Charles I needed his subjects to pay more taxes, no different from the kings of the past. If Charles I had danced with long sleeves like Elizabeth I, it would not have been impossible to coax Parliament to approve new taxes.
However, he did not have Elizabeth I's clever tongue comparable to Shakespeare's, only poor language skills and impulsive character, which made all possibilities impossible. Charles I simply kicked the parliament off on its own. As for the money bag, it can only rely on the left side of the door, and the sale of knighthoods, royal monopoly rights, judicial fines and other royal ancestral crafts are all used. In the end, however, it was impossible to sustain huge defence expenditures and had to reopen Parliament.
In fact, the king's demands were not excessive, with coastal defense levies in the interior to increase sea power and new taxes to maintain a standing army. It was only the reopening of the parliament that was worse than the one that was shut down, and the accumulated resentment over the years made the king even more unpopular.
Whether the king's request was reasonable or not, the deputies did not want to satisfy him. As a result, the two sides turned their faces, and the king and his own parliament went to war.
The course of this civil war was unexpectedly complicated, and the result was rather straightforward. Charles I was defeated, endured betrayal and a tailor-made trial, and died on the execution table like his grandmother, Queen Mary. However, Queen Mary was deposed and beheaded in front of a few great nobles. Charles I, as reigning king, lost his head in the midst of public attention and cheers.
The St. Edward's crown fell.
04
Charles I cursed himself as a tyrant at the time of his death, but he did not do more than the heirs of the St. Edward's Crown.
He had no royal monopoly than Elizabeth I, the beloved queen who sold playing cards with royal permission. In a bid for the monopoly of the two liquors, the Queen's two lovers fought fiercely and even sparked an attempted coup.
In terms of the art of killing people and seizing wealth, Charles I was far inferior to Elizabeth I's father, Henry VIII, the Reformed king who ransacked churches and monasteries throughout England and destroyed many famous families on a variety of charges, from treason to fornication with the queen or assisting the queen in fornication. He had been married six times, one was imprisoned and abused, one had his head beheaded, and the other was hanged, and wearing a green hat was nothing.
The only real atrocity to be called a real atrocity is to personally lead the guards to Parliament to arrest the deputies, which the Parliament hates. However, compared with the tyrant created by the parliamentarians themselves, Charles I was nothing at all.
Portrait of Cromwell (Photo/Network)
After Charlie's head fell to the ground, civil war hero Cromwell soon became the uncrowned king of England.
Cromwell was a hero and devout Protestant who defeated the king, and it was only natural to seize power. But, like the king, he wanted a standing army for sacred religious causes. The elders of the Council were unwilling to give it to the king, nor to Cromwell. But Cromwell could take it himself. The soldiers he brought to Parliament were not the "goods" of the King's Guard, but the real "iron army".
This time parliament did not resist and dissolved the matter. Cromwell not only formed a standing army as he wished, but also took the crown away. But instead of putting the St. Edward's crown on his head, he dismantled it and melted it into gold coins.
Cromwell did not need a crown, he called himself the "Protector" and formed a military-dominated regime. The most glorious record was the conquest and "punishment" of the "evil" Catholic neighbors, the Irish, and the record of slaughtering most of the country. His glorious record in the foreign war was the victory over the Netherlands, which was also a Protestant country but also an economic competitor of Britain, and Cromwell was not soft.
These brilliant achievements once satisfied the British people. Cromwell did everything they wanted, pure Protestantism, iron-blooded warriors, Stuarts couldn't do it, Cromwell did it. However, the British soon found their ideal rule so unbearable.
In England during the Protectorate era, the asceticism was suffocating. Liquor stores, gambling and playing cards are all religious taboos and are strictly prohibited. Piety is always the good of other people's families, and it is really my turn to know how painful it is.
The martial arts of the Protectorate are not free, and after falling out with the Parliament, the Protector has no other way to make money, or the traditional business of killing people and seizing wealth. The long-persecuted Catholics have run out of oil and water, and the Protectors have their eyes on wealthy Protestants, and former parliamentarian partners are ready-made fat chickens.
At the time of the fall of Charles I, there were about 450 members of parliament, and after the purges of the Protectorate era, there were only 15 survivors left. The property left behind by those who died and fled, like the royal property, was divided up and auctioned off, and became the military expenses of the protector. Remember that when Charles I personally arrested him in a furious manner, there were only 12 or 8 members on the list.
Although the rule of the Protectorate was unbearable and the domestic situation was always in turmoil, his power was solid. The British themselves created a true tyrant, and knowing his might, they could only swallow the bitter fruit. But like all tyrants, Cromwell tied power together, and the end of the government was inevitable.
Cromwell died in September 1658, and his son Cromwell Jr. succeeded him as Protector, but was ousted less than a year later.
In 1660, Charles returned with a younger face.
05
It took Cromwell nearly 4 years to smash the crown to become the protector of the uncrowned king. Only a year after his death, the Stuart dynasty was restored.
In fact, the English Parliament, which had reopened in 1659, had already declared the restoration of the monarchy, and the subsequent King Charles II had not yet reached an agreement with the parliamentary representatives, which showed the eagerness of the English parliament and the people.
Fortunately, Charles II did not inherit his father's stubborn, tolerant and easy-going character reduced many of the obstacles to negotiation.
Charles II's early years were fraught with hardships and hardships, in order to escape England nine deaths. Charles II was 1.9 meters tall and dark-skinned, making him conspicuous in the crowd. Cromwell's tight rule and high rewards made it difficult to escape. It was only with the help of many low-level Catholic civilians that they were able to flee England. He once hid from a search on an oak tree, so many places in The United Kingdom later claimed that their oak tree was the legendary "Royal Oak Tree".
He also disguised himself as a woodcutter and a servant to fool through, an experience unimaginable to successive British monarchs. After escaping to Europe, Charlie's life was not good, once poor with only a shirt, and when he was most depressed, he relied on his brother to go out to work to survive - Charlie was too tall and could easily reveal his identity. His great cause of restoration had no economic basis and was busy writing letters to potential supporters or investors asking for help. Although Charlie did not become the "King of Migrant Workers", he gained the "good name" of "Beggar King".
These experiences made Charles II one of the most unique kings in English history.
In bargaining with Parliament over the conditions of restoration, Charles II showed a high degree of flexibility and principle. He agreed to keep the revenge of killing his father to a minimum, that is, to ask only the chief evil to pardon the rest, which made the frightened British feel at ease to accept his return. But Charles II insisted on religious tolerance, giving every Englishman "freedom of conscience" in the realm of faith.
More importantly, he gave up the recovery of the royal family property that had been divided up for auction and accepted the annual appropriation from the parliament as compensation. This compromise is significant because it means that the British Crown has since become the "working man" of Parliament, and can no longer dissolve Parliament at will.
These elements culminated in the Breda Declaration issued at the time of the Restoration, ushering in a whole new era.
Now the financial problems were largely thrown to Parliament, and the king had to clean up the religious mess. In various encounters during the escape, he had a deep understanding of religious tolerance. Under Charles II, the Puritan precepts were swept away, and England was restored to a joyful atmosphere. Charles II himself was known for his witty humor, especially "micro-service private visits", haunting small bars and brothels. So he was later dubbed the "King of Joy" by the British, half grateful for bringing new joy to England, and the other half mocking him as a superficial hedonist.
Portrait of Charles II (Photo/Network)
Charles II was indeed a hedonist. He was known for his lust, but there were fourteen verifiable mistresses, leaving behind a large number of illegitimate children. However, he is not superficial. His queen was unable to bear children and left no legal heirs. Countless people suggested that he divorce and change his wife, but he refused. Both out of pity for the queen and to avoid the association of Henry VIII by the people, the tyrant's Reformation was originally intended to divorce and change wives.
Charles II's seemingly cynical, inadvertently witty remarks have extraordinary insights. In the last moments of his life, he said to his ministers, "Gentlemen, I am sorry to die at this time," expressing his concerns about his younger brother James, the heir to the throne. Charles II liked his brother, but he was not at ease with James's religious enthusiasm for Catholicism.
However, he did not desperately give his brother the last lesson, and in the private testament, he only asked his brother to treat his mistress kindly, one was a noble duchess, the other was a prostitute. A wise monarch never asks others to do things he can't do. Changing religious fervor was something that King James II could not do. Being kind to the mistress of the elder brother is something that the younger brother James can do.
Charles II was not worthy of "greatness", but wise enough. He did not allow the Stuart dynasty to pursue for generations, but he allowed the people to enjoy a happy period of peace and prosperity.
When the news of the death of the "Happy King" came out, London and the whole of Britain fell into grief. This king, who was often ridiculed by the people, was also sincerely mourned by the people. A prince who once destroyed a country, and a king who had a vendetta against his father for more than half of his people, it is not easy to achieve such an achievement.
06
Charles II, at the time of the Restoration, rebuilt the Crown of St. Edward, and the main structure alone weighed more than 2 kilograms, plus various accessories and precious stones, weighing 5 kilograms.
▲ St. Edward's Crown (Photo/Network)
This weight is also too heavy for the 1.9-meter giant Charlie. Although there is no accurate data record of the original St. Edward's crown, it is speculated that the remake of the St. Edward's crown is not similar to the original, but only unrelated, based on the surviving portraits and the nature of the contemporaneous crown ornaments.
Is this just the malicious ostentation of the "Happy King" to compensate for the difficult early experience, or is it to remind himself of the "weight of the crown"? Unknown.
What we do know is that as the crown became heavy, the kingship of England quickly became lighter. Historians in the genealogy of knowledge portray this process as if it were planned to run silky, but James II's Catholic cause finally turned over, and he was fully capable of starting another civil war, but gave up. The kingship once broke his father's neck, and James II did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past.
The crown was handed over to her daughter and son-in-law, and Mary II and William III became joint monarchs. History calls it the "Glorious Revolution," and its greatest achievement was a series of legislation that "restricted the power of the crown." According to the textbook classics, these pieces of legislation laid the foundations of modern British politics. This statement is as cute and innocent as "princes and princesses live happily ever after."
It is of course important to legislate to restrict rulers, but why are rulers willing to be restricted? The royal family accepted these restrictions in large part because of the personal factors of the new kings and queens.
Mary had no interest in politics and left the administration to her husband. William was an authentic foreigner, unfamiliar with the British conditions, could not speak English, coupled with the cautious character of Mune, and rarely intervened in government affairs, which gave the parliamentary politics room for growth. If a Henry or John had sat on the throne, things wouldn't have gone so well.
The second major setback in British royal power was the "Three Georges" of the Hanoverian dynasty. George I was German, similar to Wilhelm III' situation. George II was in constant opposition to the Crown Prince, with chaotic family affairs, inability to be strong, and signs of mental abnormalities in his later years, and his control declined. The most important is George III, the "mad king" who reigned for 60 years, half crazy and half awake, and the kingship was often wasted.
▲Queen Victoria (Photo/Network)
The final setback was the second half of Queen Victoria's reign. In her youth, the queen was elizabethan, passionate and political. But after the widowhood, the queen entered a semi-reclusive state due to grief, and the royal power regressed again.
Almost every setback to British monarchy was fixed in the form of unwritten conventions, a feature of Britain's constitutional system. The advantage is that there is almost no heavy cost of political strife and social division, and everything happens silently. The downside is... Those "isms" who firmly believe in the power of black and white letters and the shedding of blood to progress are not at ease and are not satisfied.
So now the crown has reached the third Charlie, giving them hope. After all, the first Charlie lost his crown and his life, which is so impressive.
As for the zealous spectators who expect the crown to fall because of the evil it carries, there may not be much justice. They just want to be the new perpetrators, and they don't mind getting their hands dirty if sin can do them a little good.
▲ King Charles III of the United Kingdom (Photo/Network)
Whether or not the third Charles would end the British monarchy did not depend on him. The crown is worn on his head, but the "weight of the crown" has been transferred to the whole of British society. To this day, both the king and the queen are only symbols of "royal power", and real power has been handed over to every Englishman.
From this point of view, the crown seems to have the need to continue to exist, because the brilliant jewels that shine under the gaze of thousands of people are the glory of the empire and the painful lessons of countless blood stains. There are lessons of breaking the crown to cheer for tyrants, there are lessons of religious fanaticism and bloodshed, and there are lessons of power struggle and cannibalism.
The heavy crown is a conspicuous warning of how much the British have paid to move from barbarism to civilization. This is a traditional value, a priceless treasure of a nation.